Galileo Academy is located in the historic north end of San Francisco, and was originally built in 1921.

Galileo has an internal television network, G-House TV, which is broadcast by students of the Media Arts Pathway.

As the story goes, Galileo Galilei was told to deny his scientific findings that the earth moved, or be punished - so he did as he was ordered.

On December 10, 1920, Major Joseph P. Nourse, who had been actively engaged in educational work in the city for many years, became the first principal of Galileo High School.

Throughout the summer, carpenters were busy converting the Red Cross Building, located on Fulton Street near the Civic Center.

[7] On August 1, 1921, Galileo High School welcomed its student body into the remodeled facilities.

Planned with the intention of housing one of the best educational institutions in the country, it was equipped to offer the highest type of academic curriculum in addition to training in commercial and technical branches.

[9] During the 1970s, Galileo went through an extensive refit where most, if not all, student facilities were moved across the street onto Fort Mason.

On September 25, 2007, while some construction workers were digging the courtyard, they found a time capsule which was thought to be lost forever by the Class of 1982.

[14] It was uncovered that day, but was filled with water, as well as a yearbook, a frisbee, a Rubik's Cube and a Mighty Lion T-shirt.

It was buried shortly after the class of '82 graduated, but, in 1997, a search for the time capsule over every square foot of the courtyard turned up nothing.

On October 31, 2007, the courtyard partially reopened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by the ASB officers, followed by a celebration and a contest.

[15][16] Students in their sophomore, junior and senior years can participate in one of the five career pathways or academies.

Galileo is located in far northern San Francisco, in the Russian Hill neighbourhood near Fort Mason.

[22] Special bus service exclusively serves students in SFUSD, and only drops off passengers.

In 1988, the Lions defeated McAteer High School becoming the first football team in San Francisco history to go 12–0.

Four years later in 2013, the Lions (led by quarterback Kyle Nelson and running back Ronzel Fox) prevailed once again over the Lincoln High Mustangs in the AAA-Turkey Bowl by a score of 34–30.