What's a Jayhawk?

Head-Royce has one of the more unique athletic mascots in California: the Jayhawk.

But what is a Jayhawk?

There actually is no real bird called a Jayhawk.  Jayhawk is a term that came to be used just before the Civil War, in Kansas.  “Jayhawkers” were groups affiliated with the movement to make Kansas a free-state.  After the war, the term became synonymous with the people of Kansas.  Eventually, the Jayhawk was adopted as the school mascot for the University of Kansas. 

The name is a combination of two actual bird names: the blue jay (known as a noisy and quarrelsome bird that robs from others' nests), and the sparrow hawk (known as a stealthy hunter).

Why the Jayhawks?

After the Anna Head School for Girls became co-educational through the creation of the Josiah Royce School for Boys, the new Head-Royce School needed a mascot.  The students came up with three strong options:  Roadrunners, Rockets, and Jayhawks.  Eventually, the students selected Jayhawks, in large part due to the uniqueness of the nickname.  The University of Kansas is the only NCAA school that uses Jayhawk as a mascot.  Head-Royce is believed to be one of only 8 high schools in the nation with Jayhawk as its mascot.