Westchester High School (Los Angeles)

Infobox Public School
background = #f0f6fa
border = #ccd2d9
name = Westchester High School


motto =
established = 1957
type = Public school
religion =
head_name = Principal
head = Fonna Bishop
city = Los Angeles, California
country = USA
campus = Urban residential area near Los Angeles International Airport
enrollment = 1,849
faculty = 100
class =
ratio =
year =
SAT =
athletics =
colors = White, Red and Black
mascot = Comets
homepage = [http://www.westchesterhs.org/ www.westchesterhs.org]

Westchester High School is a high school located in Westchester (Los Angeles, California).

The school's mascot name is The Comets. It is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The high school, located in an oceanside community, has a more diverse mix of races than in previous years. 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 across from St. Bernard High School.

History

Westchester High School opened to 500 students in September of 1948 at what is now Orville Wright Middle School. Westchester High in the last year has been completely restructuring the school and replacing facaulity and teachers as well as improving scores.

tudent body

During the 2004-2005 school year, Westchester had 2726 students. [ [http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/ca/other/2481 Student Teacher Ratio Westchester Senior High School - Los Angeles, California - CA ] ]
* 56% were African-American
* 35% were Hispanic
* 6% were European-American
* 2% were Asian
* <0% were Filipino
* <0% were Pacific Islanders
* <0% were Native American
* <3% were CaucasianFor the 2005-2006 school year, LAUSD opened up a series of new schools to relieve overcrowding in the district. LAUSD opened two high schools, Southeast High School in South Gate, California [ [http://www.laschools.org/project-status/one-project?project_number=55.98034 Project Details ] ] and the Santee Education Complex in Los Angeles. [ [http://www.laschools.org/project-status/one-project?project_number=55A98010 Project Details ] ] [ [http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:AhHxC60i2mQJ:www.laschools.org/news/item%3Fitem_id%3D2140986+Los+Angeles+new+schools+2005+%22South+East+High%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1 403 Forbidden ] ] As a result, Westchester's student population dropped to about 1,938 - close to the level of previous years. [ [http://search.lausd.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/fccgi.exe?w3exec=school.profile.content&which=8943 LAUSD School Profile ] ] 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.

During the 2005-2006 school year, Westchester had 1938 students.
* 68% were African-American
* 25% were Hispanic
* 4% were European-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. [ [http://search.lausd.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/fccgi.exe?w3exec=school.profile.content&which=8944 LAUSD School Profile ] ]

For 2005 - 2006, Westchester Aerospace Magnet had 361 students.
* 55% were African-American
* 32% were Hispanic
* 9% were European-American
* 2% were Asian
* <1% were Filipino
* <1% were Pacific Islanders
* <1% were Native American

Four additional high schools, Arleta, [ [http://www.laschools.org/project-status/one-project?project_number=55.67307 Project Details ] ] East Valley, [ [http://www.laschools.org/project-status/one-project?project_number=55.98036 Project Details ] ] Panorama, [ [http://www.laschools.org/project-status/one-project?project_number=55A67308 Project Details ] ] 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. [ [http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1543 Westchester High Story by Sharla Berry ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8PvnQs8qkw Westchester High School a bad neighbor]
* [http://www.westchesterhs.org Westchester High School website]