John C. Fremont High School

John C. Fremont Senior High School
John C. Fremont High School Find a path, or make one!
Location
7676 South San Pedro Street Los Angeles, California 90003
Information
Type	Public
Established	1924
School district	Los Angeles Unified School District
Principal	Balderas
Faculty	211
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	5,083
Color(s)	Cardinal and Gray
Nickname	Pathfinders
Newspaper	'Pathfinder'
Website	Official website

John C. Fremont Senior High School is a Title 1 co-educational public high school located in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Fremont is in a region known as South Los Angeles (known de facto as South Central). Fremont serves several Los Angeles neighborhoods and the unincorporated community of Florence-Graham; some sections of Florence-Graham are jointly zoned to Fremont and David Starr Jordan High School. The Avalon Gardens public housing project is zoned to Fremont.

The school first opened in 1924 and is named after John C. Frémont. The school is in LAUSD's District 7 and runs on a three-track system. There are 5,083 students enrolled (2,914 more than the state average), with 11% of the student body African-American and 89% Latino. The name of the school newspaper is "The Pathfinder".

History

Fremont opened in 1924. It will reduce its number of students when South Region High School 2 opens in 2011.

Small school learning communities

John C. Fremont High School was one of the first schools^{[citation needed]} in the United States to divide the school into "small schools". Each of the thirteen Small Learning Communities (SLCs), averaging 400 students each, is given a section of the school campus, and most of the classes take place in that section. For example, one of the small schools might be assigned classes on the first and second floors of the main building. The students of this small school would have the majority of classes in those two floors. The purpose of the small schools is to allow personalization of instruction, due to the concern that students may become lost in a large school.

As of July 6, 2010, when the school undergoes reconstitution, the thirteen SLCs will be dissolved and in their place will be six Academies of 500 students each on the three Tracks, consisting of grades 10, 11, and 12. The 9th graders on each Track will have their own Center, with 600 students each.

Reconstruction

The Los Angeles Unified School District will shut down the school, dismiss all of its staff, and reopen from scratch. The strategy, dubbed "reconstruction", will attempt to address the school's severe drop-out rate, which hovers at around 50%. The strategy is supported by the superintendent, Ramon C. Cortines, and the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. The move is opposed by the United Teachers Los Angeles and many Fremont teachers.

Statistics

• Number of Teachers : 211 (State Average: 58)
• Academic Performance Index: 459 (State Average: 670)
  • Ranked 1 out of 10
• Students Per Computer: 4 (State Average: 4)
• Students Per Teacher: 24 (State Averrage: 24)
• In the reading section of the California Achievement Test (CAT/6), only 3% of the students scored at the 75th percentile or higher. 13% of the students scored at the 50th percentile or higher.
• In the language section of the CAT/6, only 4% of the students scored at the 75th decile or higher. 15% of the students scored at the 50th percentile or higher.

Fremont High School

• In the math section of the CAT/6, only 3% of the students scored at the 75th percentile or higher. 11% of the students scored at the 50th percentile or higher.
• In the science section of the CAT/6, only 2% of the students scored at the 75th percentile or higher. 11% of the students scored at the 50th percentile or higher.
• On the verbal section of the SAT 1, the school average is 360 (State Average: 496).
• On the math section of the SAT 1, the school average is 379 (State Average: 519).
• 52% of the seniors take the SAT (State Average: 39%).
• 18% of the students take Advanced Placement classes (State Average: 22%).
• 5% of the student graduates attend a University of California.
• 15% of the student graduates attend a California State University .
• 28% of the student graduate attend community college.
• 25% of the students graduate (State Average: 90%).
  • Roughly a 75% drop out rate. (This percentage has lower in the past years, significantly)

Notable alumni

Eric Davis

• Merl Combs, major league baseball player
• Clint Conatser, major league baseball player
• Dick Conger, major league baseball player
• Willie Crawford, major league baseball player
• Brock Davis, major league baseball player
• Eric Davis, major league baseball player
• Bobby Doerr, major league baseball player
• Dan Ford, major league baseball player
• Al Grunwald, major league baseball player
• Kenneth Hahn, Los Angeles county supervisor and City Council member
• Doug Hansen, major league baseball player
• Candy Harris, major league baseball player
• George Hendrick, major league baseball player
• Nippy Jones, major league baseball player
• Chet Lemon, major league baseball player
• James Lofton, Major League Baseball player
• Gene Mauch, major league baseball player and manager
• Leon McFadden, major league baseball player

Congressman Henry Waxman

• Catfish Metkovich, major league baseball player
• Ron Miller, former USC and L.A. Rams end, President and CEO of Walt Disney Productions in the early 1980s
• Bud Stewart, major league baseball player
• Dwight Taylor, major league baseball player
• Bobby Tolan, major league baseball player
• Raymond Washington, a founder of Crips
• Bob Watson, major league baseball player
• Representative Henry Waxman of California's 30th congressional district^{[citation needed]}
• Roy Williams, artist and entertainer for The Walt Disney Studios^{[citation needed]}
• Dr. Dre, Major Record Producer, musical artist and rapper.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Fremont High School - School Website
• [1] School Wise Press
• [2] Small School Learning community information, Los Angeles Times
• [3] Racial tension information
• [4] Press conference article