A calvalcade of runners snaking around city hall and descending the Jefferson High School campus on Mission Street will kick off a weeklong celebration of the school's 75th anniversary.

The Nov. 2 citywide 5K run is just one of the many festive events cooked up by Alumni President Sidney Rasmussen and others for the gala.

"My job is to bring back old friendships," said Rasmussen, a member of the Class of 1954.

Many among the 900 alumni from Jefferson High School's classes of 1922 to 1997 are expected to turn out for the reunion of sort.

The festivities will begin with the "Indian Summer Festival" and end with a reunion dinner-dance at the Foster City Holiday Inn Select Nov. 8.

Organizers were especially stoked about the 5K walk-run race. "This is the first cross-town race in the city," said Dr. Al Sinor, Jefferson's new principal. "This is a big deal. The mayor and others will be out there."

Following the race will be breakfast, a car show, a slew of entertainment and games for kids.

Devout football fans will be able to watch the 49ers game on television with food within an arm's reach.

A homecoming for all graduates is scheduled for Nov. 7 with a morning rally in the gym, a parade, a noon football game and an evening dance.

The week's lineup provides and opportunity for the young and old generations to mesh, according to organizers, which consist of the Jefferson Alumni-Boosters, the student government and school staff.

"When I was in school, life was a lot simpler," said Rasmussen, whose daughter graduated from Jefferson in 1981. "Today's kids are freer to make more decisions - sometimes decisions they're not ready to make yet. Young people today are much more aware. They're looking more to the future."

Another major difference, she added, is that today's youth often have both parents working, whereas her generation often had at least one parent at home.

Rasmussen admitted she is constantly asked about one of her better known classmates.

Rasmussen graduated in the same class as NFL football commentator and former Oakland Raiders coach John Madden.

"He was part of our clique," she said. "He hasn't changed much. He was always very laid back. He was a man's man. One of the boys."

Digging further back into the history of the Jefferson Union High School district, alumni organizers discovered that the founders set aside $1 per year to rent a hall at the corner of Hill and Market streets after Daly City residents approved bringing a high school into the area in March, 1922.

Before then, Daly City teenagers had to choose between high schools in San Francisco and other Peninsula cities. Within a week, the student body of 38 students grew to 50.

Eight months later, residents approved a $180,000 bond to build a new campus for Jefferson High School.

After a year of heated debate, voters chose the site of the former Union Coursing dog race track between Mission and Railroad Avenue, where greyhound dogs chased rabbits as a form of local amusement.

The mission style building was demolished in the early 1960s because it was determined to be seismically unsafe and a new, architecturally-scaled down building was completed in 1963.

The school is currently undergoing a $6 million refurbishing project, which is expected to be completed next fall.

Funds for the project come from a bond issue passed in 1995. The school has also recieved a $442,000 Digital High School grant from state and federal funds.

The city boosted the school's celebration by proclaiming Nov. 2 "Jefferson Day."

Mayor Carol Klatt and Councilmember Adrienne Tissier will also be pounding the pavement in next Sunday's 5K.

For more information about the anniversary, please call (650)992-4050.