Westchester High School (Los Angeles)

Westchester High School
Location
7400 W. Manchester Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA 90045
Information
Type	Public school
Motto	Home of Champions and Scholars
Established	1957
Principal	Robert Canosa-Carr
Faculty	100
Enrollment	1,849
Campus	Suburban Los Angeles International Airport
Color(s)	White, Red and Black
Mascot	The Comets
Website	www.westchesterhs.org

Westchester High School is a public high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, Local District 3.

It is located in Westchester (Los Angeles, California), USA, a suburban neighborhood adjacent to Los Angeles International Airport and bordered by Playa Vista to the north, Inglewood to the east, El Segundo to the south, and Playa del Rey to the west.

The student population has a majority of African-American students from the small LAUSD portion of Inglewood and the LAUSD-zoned areas adjacent to Inglewood who are placed in Westchester by LAUSD districting.

Westchester, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista, and Fox Hills are within the Westchester High School attendance zone. Some sections of the unincorporated Los Angeles County community of View Park-Windsor Hills are jointly zoned to Westchester and Crenshaw High School.

Orville Wright Middle School feeds into Westchester. Westchester is located near St. Bernard High School.

History

Westchester High School opened to 500 students in September 1948 at what is now Orville Wright Middle School.

On June 1, 2011, at least 400 students walked out to protest the school's displacement of 25 teachers in addition to 10 RIF'd teachers.

Student body

During the 2004–2005 school year, Westchester had 2726 students.

• 56% were African-American
• 35% were Hispanic
• 6% were White American
• 2% were Asian
• <0% were Filipino
• <0% were Pacific Islanders
• <0% were Native American
• <3% were Caucasian

For the 2005-2006 school year, LAUSD opened new schools to relieve overcrowding in the district. LAUSD opened two high schools, Southeast High School in South Gate, California and the Santee Education Complex in Los Angeles. As a result, Westchester's student population dropped to about 1,938 – close to the level of previous years. This was a welcome change for many parents who complained of the overcrowding and disruption caused by busing more students from central Los Angeles to the Westside school.^{[citation needed]}

During the 2005–2006 school year, Westchester had 1938 students.

• 68% were African-American
• 25% were Hispanic
• 4% were White American
• 2% were Asian
• <1% were Filipino
• <1% were Pacific Islanders
• <1% were Native American

The Westchester campus also houses an Aerospace Magnet School that enrolled an additional 362 students in the 2005-2006 school year.

For 2005–2006, Westchester Aerospace Magnet had 361 students.

• 55% were African-American
• 32% were Hispanic
• 9% were White American
• 2% were Asian
• <1% were Filipino
• <1% were Pacific Islanders
• <1% were Native American

Four additional high schools, Arleta, East Valley, Panorama, and Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, opened in fall 2006, again decreasing the number of transfer students in many schools.

Sharla Berry, a guest columnist for YES! Magazine who attended Westchester from fall 2002 to summer 2006, stated that the school's different ethnic groups interacted with each other frequently.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of Westchester High School include:

David Blu

• Hassan Adams, professional basketball player
• Trevor Ariza, NBA Player for the New Orleans Hornets
• John Bachar, World-Class Rock Climbing Free-Soloist
• Brian Barton, MLB player for the St. Louis Cardinals
• David Bluthenthal (now "Blu"), professional basketball player
• Brandon Bowman, basketball player
• Harold Bronson, cofounder of Rhino Entertainment.
• Bobby Brown, NBA player for the Los Angeles Clippers
• Gene Bruno, Acupuncturist
• Qiana Chase, Playboy playmate
• The Crusaders, a 1960s garage band who recorded possibly the first gospel rock album
• Julie Felix, singer
• Lynette Fromme, Manson Family associate
• Domo Genesis, Rapper (OFWGKTA)
• Phil Hartman, comedian and actor
• Amir Johnson, NBA Player for the Toronto Raptors
• Anissa Jones, actress
• Howard Kaylan, musician (The Turtles)
• Keisha, former adult pornography star
• Regina King, actress
• Patricia Krenwinkel, one of the infamous Manson Family killers
• Bruce Lemmerman, NFL Player for the Atlanta Falcons
• Ricky "Ric Rude" Lewis, Professional Music Producer, Songwriter
• Nia Long, actress
• Al Nichol, musician (The Turtles)
• Ken Norton Jr., NFL Player for the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers
• Chuck Portz, musician (The Turtles)
• Gabe Pruitt, NBA player for the Boston Celtics
• Bob Samuelson, professional volleyball player
• Roy Smalley, professional baseball player
• Tim Story, filmmaker
• Tyler, The Creator, Rapper (OFWGKTA)
• Mark Volman, musician (The Turtles)
• Brandon Watson, professional baseball player
• Karyn White, singer

External links

• Westchester High School website