Crenshaw High School
Crenshaw High School | |
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Location | |
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Information | |
Type | Public |
Motto | Every Cougar. College Bound |
Established | 1968 |
School district | Los Angeles Unified School District |
Dean | Mario Quijada |
Principal | Peter Benefiel |
Grades | 9-12 |
Enrollment | 1,222 |
Campus | Urban |
Color(s) | |
Athletics | Football, Baseball, Softball, Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, Boys Golf, Girls Golf, Boys Soccer, Girls Soccer, Boys Tennis, Girls Tennis, Girls Volleyball, Track and Field |
Athletics conference | Coliseum League CIF Los Angeles City Section |
Mascot | Cougars |
Website | https://www.crenshawhs.org/ |
Crenshaw High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located on 11th Avenue in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles, California.
The school first opened in 1968 and currently enrolls around 1,400 students.
History
Crenshaw High School opened in January 1968. The school drew students from several affluent neighborhoods, including Baldwin Hills and View Park-Windsor Hills, as well as a few other neighborhoods. The school's student body began with students from wealthier communities. Most of the students who attended Crenshaw High lived in or near this neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Background
Crenshaw High's rival is Susan Miller Dorsey High School. Several areas, including the wealthy unincorporated Los Angeles County community of View Park-Windsor Hills, are zoned to Crenshaw; some sections of View Park-Windsor Hills are jointly zoned to Crenshaw and Westchester High School. On August 15, 2005, Crenshaw High School lost its accreditation due to administrative fraud. The accreditation was restored on February 1, 2006.
The school is renowned for its outstanding Men's basketball program, coached for over thirty years by Legendary Head Coach Willie E. West Jr., who retired in 2007 and was succeeded by Ed Waters. The Cougars play home games at the Willie E. West Jr. Pavilion Gymnasium. The Crenshaw Cougars have won numerous L.A. City and California State basketball titles. Crenshaw also won the International High School Basketball Tournament in Ahus, Skane County, Sweden in the 1985 basketball season.In 2004 Kirk Douglas and the Amateur Athletic Foundation (AAF) donated stadium lights for the Crenshaw High School football stadium. The Crenshaw High School Varsity Football team won its first "Championship Division" Los Angeles City championship in 2005 defeating Woodland Hills Taft High School. However, a "AAA" Championship was won in 1992, defeating Chatsworth High School. Both Championship titles were under the leadership of Head Coach Robert Garrett.
Principals
The first principal of Crenshaw High School was Mr. Robert Case who opened the high school in January 1968. Former Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Sidney V. Thompson was the school's second principal. Ms. Jewell Boutte was principal in 1988 when she was awarded the prestigious Milken Educator Award for innovations she brought to the school.
Ms. Carrie Allen, formerly an administrator for the Pasadena Unified School District in Pasadena, California became principal in 2009. Ms. Allen was replaced in the summer of 2011 by Dr. Sylvia Rousseau. Dr. Rousseau was formerly the principal at Santa Monica High School and the Superintendent of a Local District in LAUSD. She has also served on the faculty at USC's Rossier School of Education. In 2013 Mr. L. R Corley became principal and served as principal until June 2018. In July 2018, Peter Benefiel became the new principal.
Sports
Football
The Crenshaw High football team, City Section champion, had played in the state championship bowl game on December 19, 2009, at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Concord's De La Salle High School defeated Crenshaw's football team 28-14 to win the state title. [1] They ended the season 14-1. The Crenshaw football team went on to and win back to back championships, under the leadership of Head Coach Robert Garrett. In 2017, Crenshaw returned to the state championship, hosting Placer High School and winning 46-43.
Titles
Crenshaw has 6 State titles in football:
1992 AAA champs
2005 Div 1 champs
2009 Div 1 champs
2009 State Runners-up
2010 Div 1 champs
2013 Div 1 champs
2017 State champs
Basketball
Under the leadership of Coach Willie West, the Crenshaw High Men's Basketball team won a world basketball championship in the 1985 basketball season. Some world basketball highlights include high scoring games with the team scoring 191 points vs. Ireland's high school basketball team and Crenshaw scoring 197 points vs. Cyprus High School of Magna, Utah. Throughout the school history the Crenshaw's men's basketball team has participated in The Les Schwab Invitational, a national tournament played in the state of Oregon along with tournaments all over the United States, even including the state of Alaska.
College recruits
Many standout athletes for Crenshaw in basketball, baseball and football have gone on to have success in college and professional careers, with Crenshaw High being often serving as a pipeline to NCAA Division I colleges such as UCLA, USC, Duke, Florida and Oregon amongst other colleges.
Demographics
The Los Angeles Unified School District website,[2] in (2015-2016) demography of the school was 77% African American, 22% Hispanic, 10% White, and 3.9% Asian with a total of 1,466 students, a drop since 2008 with 2,085 students.
Notable alumni
- Chris Brown - Major League Baseball All-Star third baseman with San Francisco Giants
- James T. Butts, Jr. - Inglewood mayor, was first black and youngest Santa Monica Police Department police chief[3]
- Darwin Cook - basketball player, selected by Detroit Pistons in 1980 NBA Draft; played with New Jersey Nets, Washington Bullets, Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs
- Greg Ducre - NFL cornerback for Pittsburgh Steelers
- D-Roc the Executioner - guitarist[4]
- Larry Elder - radio personality
- V. Bozeman - singer and actress
- Solomon Elimimian - gridiron football player[5]
- Ernie C - guitarist[4]
- Akbar Gbaja-Biamila - NFL player, broadcaster for CBS College Sports Network, co-hosts American Ninja Warrior
- Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila - Green Bay Packers football player, Packers record holder for all-time sacks
- Johnny Gray - American record holder in 800 meters, 1992 Olympic bronze medalist; 4-time Olympian; 1987, 1999 Pan Am Games champion; 7-time U.S. Outdoor national champion; 3-time Olympic Trials champion
- Dominique Hatfield - American football player
- Ice-T[4][6][7] - musician, recording artist, actor for NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- Kris Johnson - professional basketball player, son of Marques Johnson[8]
- Marques Johnson - Fox Sports analyst, former UCLA and NBA player, 1975 NCAA champion, actor in White Men Can't Jump[9]
- Left Brain (Vyron Turner) - musician
- Charles Lockett - NFL player
- Jim Looney - linebacker for NFL's San Francisco 49ers
- Mike G Michael Anthony Griffin II) - rapper and DJ, Odd Future
- Brandon Mebane - nose tackle, Los Angeles Chargers
- Kevin Ollie[10] - basketball head coach of University of Connecticut, winner of 2014 NCAA National Championship; former UConn and NBA player
- Brian Price - UCLA football player, Pac-10 Pat Tillman defensive player of the year, 2009[11]
- Hayes Pullard - linebacker for NFL's Los Angeles Chargers
- Trayvon Robinson - Major League Baseball player, Baltimore Orioles organization
- Robin Russell - drummer, member of New Birth/Nite-Liters (band)
- Schoolboy Q - musician, member of Top Dawg Entertainment
- Pamela L. Spratlen - U.S. diplomat; ambassador to Kyrgyzstan (2011–2014) and Uzbekistan (as of 2015)[12]
- Misty Stone - pornographic actress and model
- Darryl Strawberry - first overall pick in 1980 Major League Baseball Draft by New York Mets, named National League Rookie of the Year in 1983; 8-time All-Star who was part of teams winning eight World Series; hit 335 home runs with Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees
- De'Anthony Thomas - wide receiver and kick returner for Kansas City Chiefs[13]
- Stephen Thompson - assistant coach for Oregon State University, player for Syracuse
- Wendell Tyler - football player for UCLA, Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers; played in two Super Bowls
- Ellis Valentine - Major League Baseball right fielder remembered for having one of game's all-time great throwing arms;[14] first professional athlete signed out of Crenshaw when Montreal Expos selected him in 1972 Major League Baseball Draft[15]
- Donald Vega - Nicaraguan-born jazz pianist
- Lee Webb - head coach for Palos Verdes Peninsula High School and NFL player
- John Williams - LSU and NBA basketball player
- Marcus Williams - NBA player for New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies
- Michael Williams - football player
- Victor Ray Wilson - drummer[4]
- Eric Yarber - wide receivers coach for Los Angeles Rams [16]
Film locations
Crenshaw was featured in the family television series Moesha. It also used its gym for the 2006 film Bring It On: All or Nothing starring Hayden Panettiere and Solange Knowles. In 2001, the book And Still We Rise, written by Miles Corwin, chronicled the lives of twelve seniors in the Crenshaw High Gifted & Talented Magnet program in their quest to obtain an education—amidst formidable obstacles. It was also featured in the 2018 film A Wrinkle in Time.
See also
References
- ^ Ron Guild, Crenshaw, De La Salle make their own history Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine, Los Angeles Wave, December 16, 2009
- ^ http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/page?_pageid=33,54194&_dad=ptl&_schema=PTL_EP&school_code=8596
- ^ Julio Moran (July 11, 1991). "Officer From Inglewood Is Named Chief : Police: The former deputy chief will be the youngest and first black to head the city's 175-member force". LA Times. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
- ^ a b c d Marrow, Tracy; Century, Douglas (2011). "Freedom of Speech". Ice: A Memoir of Gangster Life and Redemption—from South Central to Hollywood. Random House. pp. 127–140. ISBN 978-0-345-52328-0.
- ^ Craig, Mark (May 12, 2012). "New Vikings linebacker Elimimian hits hard, no matter his size". startribune.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2014. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ Goldstein, Patrick. "The Hard Cold Rap of Ice-T." Los Angeles Times. April 24, 1988. Calendar Desk 89.
- ^ Ice-T Biography. allmusic. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
- ^ Bonsignore, Vincent (December 23, 1998). "SON SHINING; JOHNSON FOLLOWS HUGE FOOTSTEPS OF DAD, BROTHER". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved May 8, 2012.(subscription required)
- ^ Johnson Bio
- ^ "Kevin Ollie #12 Guard Archived 2008-12-23 at the Wayback Machine." National Basketball Association. Accessed October 11, 2008.
- ^ Pac-10 Football Awards and All-Conference Announced Archived December 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Pac-10.org, December 7, 2009
- ^ "U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan: Who is Pamela Spratlen?". AllGov. October 19, 2014. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
- ^ "De'Anthony Thomas". ESPN. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
- ^ Jeff Pearlman (March 26, 2001). "Launchpad". Sports Illustrated.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ "This Valentine is a Heart of Gold... and a Pillar of Character". Baseball Against Drugs.
- ^ [1]|Title= Eric Yarber Crenshaw High Alumni
External links
- Crenshaw High School official website
- Crenshaw High School profile provided by schooltree.org