April 1, 2010 budget teach-in

On April 1, 2010, about 200 students attending Encinal High School staged a "teach-in" protest in light of possible further budget cuts from the AUSD and closure of the school. Teachers and students planned a series of classes that were divided into two sessions with a break in between that included free food (from the Barbeque Club) and live music from certain Encinal staff members. Most of the classes were led by teachers, but two were taught by seniors (including a "no boundaries" music class led by Matt Ortega). The students who attended showcased their Jet Pride by participating in a variety of unique classes including how to make salt water taffy through chemistry, protest poetry and art, a music class with no musical boundaries, and cow eyeball dissection. A small point that the coordinators of this event wanted to get across was the date that was chosen for it: April 1, 2010 was the Thursday before Encinal's spring break began.^[5]

March 2008 student walkouts

On March 5, 2008, about 1,000 students from Encinal High School walked out of class to protest the budget cuts for the 2008–2009 school year. The budget cuts were a result of the $4 billion budget cut approved by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The cuts would eliminate many school sports and Advanced Placement classes, and lay off about 46 teachers. The walkout began at Encinal High where students marched to the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) offices located on the Alameda High campus, where the 1,000 Encinal students were joined by many more students from Alameda High. After about a half-hour of chanting protests outside the District offices, AUSD superintendent Ardella Dailey invited the walking out students into the Kofman Auditorium to try to explain why the cuts were required.^[6]

Text messaging technology, as well as social networking sites, such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube, helped the students coordinate and announce the walkout. Before they reached the district office, many Encinal students text messaged students at Alameda High. Aware of the walkout only when the Encinal students reached the district office, Alameda High officials were unable to prevent their students from leaving class. They were all marked with cleared absences.

North Coast Section titles in Football

• 1980 – Encinal defeated St. Patrick 21–3
• 2008 – Encinal defeated Novato 35–28

The Jets are a member of the West Alameda County Conference (WACC 12).

Encinal High, Alameda High School, and St. Joseph Notre Dame High School collectively field men's and women's rugby union teams.^[7]

Partnership with Jetsetters

Jetsetters has partnered up with Encinal to provide ROP classes for students such as Drivers' Education, Dancing, and Arts & Crafts. They also have an after school program designed to help students in need.

Marching band

The Encinal High Jets band, the Marching Jets, is led by Band Director Anthony Gennaro. Throughout the year, the musicians compete in band reviews all over Northern California and hold the Island Winterguard show every March. During the 2005–2006 school year, the band placed in the top three in every review they entered. During the 2016–2017 school year, the band took first place in their division at every review they attended, including taking first place at the Santa Cruz Band Review for the third year in a row.

Drama

Encinal High School dramatic arts program was run by Robert Moorhead until his retirement in 2016. The drama department has performed Les Misérables, Hamlet, and The Sound of Music. In the spring of 2006 Encinal High performed Cats. In the winter of 2007, Encinal High School performed Twelve Angry Men. In 2008 they performed Angels in America. They were the first high school to do so. They also performed Carousel. In 2009 they became one of the first schools in the country to perform the school edition of Rent. In 2010 they performed the classic musical West Side Story. In 2011 they performed their version of Seussical, a Dr. Seuss musical. In 2012 they performed the classic musical Anything Goes. In 2013 they performed a high school version of the musical Hair, although without the nudity of the traditional version. In 2014 they performed the musical Hairspray. In 2015 they performed In the Heights. In 2016 they performed Annie.

The TV show MythBusters sometimes used the school's facilities in its experiments, including the pool and football field. In December 2009 President Obama posed for a photo with Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage from the show while holding an Encinal Jets hooded sweatshirt.^[8] Hyneman's spouse Eileen Walsh was a teacher at the school.

FM radio station

Encinal High students operate the low-power FM radio station KJTZ-LP.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Mascot

The school mascot is a Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk attack jet, a tribute to the military heritage of the town and to the now-closed Naval Air Station on the west end of the island. In 2004 there was a dispute as to whether the mascot symbolized war, and some people wanted to have it removed. The jet was not removed, after a show of support from the students and the community.