Fun Facts

The original EHS nickname was the "Grapepickers" — a reference to Escondido's status at the time as a major producer of grapes and wine.
Originally, the EHS campus didn't have a bell. Instead, a Gong was used to signal the end of classes. The EHS yearbook has always been named "The Gong" in honor of this piece of EHS History.
One day, two male students grew tired of not having a place to swim and cool off during hot summer days, so they began digging a hole. The boys got some assistance from their friends, and two years later, EHS had its very own swimming pool. The school district cemented the pool in 1909.
In 1915, Escondido High graduate Cliff Cravath hit a major-league record 24 home runs for the Philadelphia Phillies, who advanced to the World Series that season. His record stood until 1919 when Babe Ruth hit 29 home runs.
The 1919 EHS faculty and staff consisted of only eleven people — a far cry from the hundreds of faculty and staff members it takes to run a present-day high school and school district.
1921 marked the first time that hot breakfasts and lunches were served on-campus at Escondido High.
In the 1920's, EUHSD began to offer a post-graduate program to those EHS graduates who couldn't afford to move away and attend a major university. This program marked the beginnings of what is now EUHSD's Adult Education and ROP program.
Under the direction of Coach Harry Wexler, EHS athletics thrived. Never before had football and other sports won so many championships. Some stories say that it was around this time that the EHS nickname changed to the Cougars. The suspected reason: Wexler graduated from Washington State, and their nickname was the Cougars.
Each year at the start of football season, it was an EHS tradition to kick off the season with a large bonfire and pep rally. This ritual continued for decades, but it somehow came to an end as time marched on.
1941 marked the year that the school newspaper, "The Cougar," celebrated it's tenth anniversary. At this time, the paper was published weekly, and students had to buy it through a subscription plan. In '41, circulation hit an all time high with 350 subscriptions being sold.

955 marked the first year of Chick Embrey's long tenure as coach of the football team. Under Coach Embrey, EHS produced the most successful football teams it ever had, and the Cougars dominated local football for years. Today, the field at Wilson Stadium is named after Coach Embrey.
1962 was the first year that a color picture section was added to The Gong.
EHS students were treated to a surprise when they came to school on December 13th, 1967. For the first time since 1949, it had snowed in Escondido.
In 1970, Escondido High bought one of its very first computers. The Math Club purchased the computer as a way of generating student interest in mathematics.
Before there was MTV, there was ITV. ITV stood for instructional television, and the EHS station was known to students as KEHS. The purpose of the class was to give students exposure to the world of closed circuit television. KEHS produced a daily show called "The Morning Show" in which ITV students would broadcast the daily announcements and other stories over the TV instead of the intercom.
1976 was the first year of a new way of registering for classes known as arena registration. Under this system, students would go into the gym where the entire EHS faculty would be sitting at tables. All a student had to do was walk up to the instructors they wanted and sign up for their classes. This dramatically reduced the number of mid-semester class changes, and made for a much happier student body.