Junior Reserves Officer Training Corps

The Goal of JROTC

To motivate young people to become better citizens. To accomplish this goal, it combines classroom instruction and extracurricular activities oriented on attaining an awareness of the rights, responsibilities, and privileges of citizenship; developing the student’s (Cadet’s) sense of personal responsibility; building life skills; and providing leadership opportunities. JROTC continues to provide extra-curricular activities that enrich our children’s lives and teach them life-long skills.

What JROTC is Not…

Cadets are organized into units along military lines and are taught by retired military personnel, but Junior ROTC does not recruit students for military service. Instead, its focus is on developing young people and orienting them positively in preparation for whatever role in life they might choose. It is in this sense that Junior ROTC is part of the Army’s service to the nation.

The Curriculum

The curriculum, taught by retired military professionals, encompasses a broad spectrum of subjects, including:

• Communication Skills
• Leadership
• Physical Fitness
• First Aid, Drug Abuse Prevention
• History, Citizenship
• Technology Awareness
• Nutrition Choices
• and many others…

Junior ROTC awards academic grades, but its true measures of success are the young people it motivates to stay in school and graduate. It also develops the personal confidence and pride in self to avoid drugs and other negative peer pressures, and attain life skills that enhance success after graduation.

Established by Congress in 1916, Army Junior ROTC has demonstrated over the decades that it works! Principals, parents, and former cadets consistently endorse the positive impact that Junior ROTC has had on the school, also on the community and the cadets themselves. 

During the past few years, and the last summer recently, the JROTC program has faced and is still facing attempts of eradication of the program. Due to a budget downfall and numerous misconceptions of what this program is actually intended to do, JROTC in SFUSD will vanish without the support of the community. JROTC cadets have fought and won in the past, and they will continue to fight again, but a much larger body of aid is deeply needed. The more students, parents, faculty, etc, that attend the many JROTC events, the more chances we have in keeping this program alive because not only does it reveal how important JROTC is to each individual cadet, whether it's the pride in being victorious during the competition or the unseen dedication during practice, but it also reveals the true nature and the leadership potential of a cadet, which will pave their way for success in the future. 

Did you know?

JROTC is the first extra curricular activity to be established ever since the school was built back in 1940.

Junior ROTC Cadets generally graduate from high school at a higher rate than the school as a whole.

The Girl's Drill Team, Boy's Drill Team, and Drum Corps are the majority of JROTC, if JROTC is gone, so are they.