- Crenshaw High School
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Crenshaw High School 
Location 5010 11th Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90043Information Type Public Established 1968 School district Los Angeles Unified School District Grades 9-12 Enrollment 2600 Color(s) Blue, Gold Mascot Cougar Website Official website Crenshaw High School is a secondary school located in South Los Angeles, California.
The school first opened in 1968 and currently enrolls an average of 2,600 students. Its address is 5010 11th Avenue, near the corner of 50th Street. The school colors are blue and gold, and its mascot is the Cougar.
Contents
History
Crenshaw High opened in 1968. The school was intended to draw students from several African-American neighborhoods, including Baldwin Hills and View Park-Windsor Hills, and a few white neighborhoods. The school's student body began as having mostly poor students because many wealthier African-American parents opted for Westside and private schools. Westside schools included Palisades High School, University High School, and Westchester High School. Many students who attended Crenshaw lived in areas to the east that were zoned to schools that were more violent than Crenshaw. The majority of baseball players were transfer students from areas to the east. Sid Thompson, the second principal of Crenshaw, said that when a student from Baldwin Hills or View Park did attend Crenshaw, the student was an athlete or a "wannabe athlete."[1] Due to discipline issues, by 1979 the school had the nickname "Fort Crenshaw."[2]
Background
Crenshaw's biggest rival is Susan Miller Dorsey High School. Several areas, including the 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 someone lying on the paperwork. The accreditation was restored on February 1, 2006.
The school is renowned for its outstanding boys basketball program, coached for over thirty years by Willie West Jr., who retired in 2007 and was succeeded by Ed Waters. The Crenshaw Cougars have won numerous L.A. City and California State basketball titles. Crenshaw was featured in the 1991 movie Boyz n the Hood, the 2000 movie Love & Basketball, from 1996 to 2001 on the UPN series Moesha, and in the 2006 film Akeelah and the Bee. It is also featured in the 2006 film Bring It On: All or Nothing. 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.[3] The book received the PEN USA West for Creative Nonfiction Award[3] and much critical praise. In 2004 Kirk Douglas and the Amateur Athletic Foundation (AAF) donated stadium lights to Crenshaw High School. 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 Coach Robert Garrett.
Ms. Carrie Allen, formerly an administrator for the Pasadena Unified School District in Pasadena, California became principal in 2009. Former Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Sidney V. Thompson was the school's second principal. The first principal was Mr. Robert Case who opened the school January 1968.
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.
Sports
The Crenshaw football team, City Section champion, played for the state championship bowl game on Saturday night, December 19, 2009 at the Home Depot Center. Crenshaw won a world basketball championship in 1985. Throughout its history, Crenshaw's men's basketball team has participated in The Les Schwab Invitational, a nationally drawing tournament played in Oregon State. Concord's De La Salle High School defeated Crenshaw 28-14 to win the state title.[4] Crenshaw has 4 titles in football 1992 Div 2 champs 2005 Div 1 champs 2009 Div 1 champs 2009 State Runner ups 2010 Div 1 champs
Demographics
According to the Los Angeles Unified School District website,[5] the current (2009–2010) demography of the school is 66.9% African American, 32% Hispanic, .5% Asian, and .1% White with a total of 2408 students.
Notable alumni
- Johnny Gray - American Record Holder in the 800 Meter, 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.
- Darryl Strawberry - All-Star, Rookie of the Year, World Champ Baseball player best known for his early years with the New York Mets.
- D-Roc the Executioner - guitarist[6]
- Ernie C - guitarist[6]
- Chris Brown - late All-Star Baseball player with the San Francisco Giants.
- Ice-T[6][7][8] - musician and actor
- Marques Johnson, basketball player, University of California, Los Angeles, LA Clippers, broadcaster, actor White Men Can't Jump[9]
- Kevin Ollie[10] - former University of Connecticut and current NBA player for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
- Donald Vega, Nicaraguan-born jazz pianist.
- John Williams, former Louisiana State University and NBA basketball player
- Darwin Cook, Basketball, NBA
- Ellis Valentine, Baseball, MLB
- Wendell Tyler, Football, UCLA, Los Angeles Rams, and San Francisco 49ers
- Larry Elder - Radio personality
- Marcus Williams - NBA
- Lee Webb - NFL
- Brian Price - UCLA football player, Pac-10 Pat Tillman defensive player of the year, 2009[11]
- Brandon Mebane - NFL, Seattle Seahawks
- Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila - Former Green Bay Packers football player and the Packers record holder for all-time sacks.
- Akbar Gbaja-Biamila- Former Oakland Raiders football player and now broadcaster for CBS College Sports Network
- Left Brain - (Vyron Turner) Rap artist and producer, Odd Future
- Victor Ray Wilson - drummer[6]
- DeAnthony Thomas - wide receiver for the Oregon Ducks football
References
- ^ Sokolove, Michael Y. The Ticket Out. Simon & Schuster. 2004. 26-29.
- ^ Sokolove 29.
- ^ a b http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Still-We-Rise-Miles-Corwin/?isbn=9780380798292
- ^ Ron Guild, Crenshaw, De La Salle make their own history, Los Angeles Wave, December 16, 2009
- ^ http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/page?_pageid=33,54194&_dad=ptl&_schema=PTL_EP&school_code=8596
- ^ 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 97804345523280.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Johnson Bio
- ^ "Kevin Ollie #12 Guard." National Basketball Association. Accessed October 11, 2008.
- ^ Pac-10 Football Awards and All-Conference Announced, Pac-10.org, December 7, 2009
External links
- Crenshaw High School website
- Crenshaw High School profile provided by schooltree.org
Los Angeles Unified School District District 3 Alternative K-12 schools Magnet 6-12 schools Alternative 7-12 schools High schools Middle schools Coordinates: 33°59′49.26″N 118°19′43.63″W / 33.9970167°N 118.3287861°W
Categories:- Educational institutions established in 1968
- Los Angeles Unified School District schools
- High schools in Los Angeles, California
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