San Diego Unified School District News Releases: “CAPTAINS” APPROVED AS NEW CLAIREMONT HIGH SCHOOL MASCOT, NAME CHANGE GOES INTO EFFECT 2026-27 SCHOOL YEAR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:

James Canning, 313-580-2845, jcanning@sandi.net

"CAPTAINS" APPROVED AS NEW CLAIREMONT HIGH SCHOOL MASCOT, NAME CHANGE GOES INTO EFFECT 2026-27 SCHOOL YEAR

SAN DIEGO (February 24, 2026) – Captains will be the new mascot name for San Diego Unified School District's Clairemont High School starting in the 2026-27 school year

Captains will become the new mascot name for San Diego Unified School District's Clairemont High School starting in 2026-27 school year, if the district's Board of Education on Tues., Feb. 24 approves the recommendation after a nearly year-long community engagement process.

Karly Johnstone, Clairemont High School Principal said the community chose "Captains" for its inclusive application and being a title students can strive to attain.

Next Steps

Operations staff from the school district, along with the school's principal have already begun to identify the changes that will be required to school facilities, design a new logo, athletic uniforms, etc. The school, based on the state law has up-to three-years to make the changes, but the school community is working as expediently as possible to make the change, but it's not likely every iteration of Chieftain will change by the start of the 2026-27 school year.

Background on Name Change Process

San Diego Unified and Clairemont High School started the journey to change the name from Chieftains in April of last year when the Board of Education revised its Administrative Regulation and Board Policy 7310 to provide clearer direction on changes to school names and mascots. This came after the 2024 passage of Assembly Bill 3074 (AB3074), which prohibits "using any derogatory Native American term."

The district has had dust-ups over the years involving district school name changes, and leaders were determined to ensure this time would be different. There was a very active community engagement effort surrounding this name change. This included:

10-person Naming Committee: Area A Board Representative, Area A Superintendent, site Principal, site Athletic Director (approved by site SGT), teacher (chosen by site staff), two community members (self-nominated and selected via random draw), and two students (selected by the student body).
Open Call for Mascot Suggestions: Students, staff, and the community-at-large were invited to submit mascot suggestions, and each was discussed during town halls to determine if it would be moved to the next round. Discussion included whether the suggestion adhered to the agreed upon Naming Values as well as input from those in attendance.
Six Town Hall Meetings: Public was invited to attend and which were also live-streamed.
Community Survey: The "final four" mascot names were included in a survey in which students, staff, and the community were able to rate the four finalists. More than 500 individuals responded.
Information Posted Regularly: All information was updated on the webpage: Clairemont HS Mascot Rebranding.

To learn more about the name change of Clairemont High School mascot, click here, and to learn more about the San Diego Unified School District, click here.

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