History of Terman
(Click the title above to read more about Fred Terman)In October 1999, the school district decided to add a third middle school. They chosen site for this middle school would be the site of the former Terman Junior High School. The 2001-2002 school year was the first year for the new middle school, which was located at an interim site for the 2001-2003 school years at the former Garland School.
The school district decided to name the third middle school Terman Middle School in honor of the contributions of both Lewis Madison and Frederick Terman.
When Terman Junior High school first opened in 1958, it was named after Lewis Madison Terman (1877-1956). He was a renowned Stanford psychologist of the early 1900s. He contributed to education both through his research on health and hygiene in schools and his development of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test which was used worldwide.
Frederick E. Terman (1900-1982) was the son of Lewis. Frederick was a Stanford engineering professor who encouraged his students, most notably David Packard and William Hewlett, to start up their own electronics companies in Palo Alto, hence the formation of Hewlett-Packard and the birth of Silicon Valley.
In the 1957-58 school year, Terman Junior High School opened up as an annex at Cubberley High School. In the fall of 1958, classes began on the Terman campus. The school was known as the Home of the Tigers, and its colors were light blue and white. The school district closed the school in June 1978 due to declining enrollment.
The Terman students have chosen their mascot and colors for their new school. Terman Middle School will once again be the Home of the Tigers, and its colors are gold and black.
By: R. Zhang
Part of the
Palo Alto Unified School District
Webmaster | updated 11/09