University High School (Los Angeles)

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University High School

 

Established 1924
School type Public
Location West Los Angeles, California
Enrollment
Campus Urban
School colors blue, orange
Nicknames Wildcats


Alternate meaning: University High School (disambiguation)

University High School (known as Uni) is a secondary school located in West Los Angeles, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California near the border of Santa Monica. University High School is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The campus also holds Indian Springs Continuation High School.

The school's mascot was formerly the Warrior, but is now the Wildcat. The school colors are blue and orange. All Native American mascots were removed from LAUSD in the mid-1990s. Uni, uniquely though, does have specific Native American "heritage". A natural spring on the campus was used by the native Gabrielino-Tongva people, the descendants of whom continue to be active on the campus. The springs (called Kuruvungna), which produce 22,000 gallons of water each day, have never failed, even in the driest years, and their presence suggests strongly that the site was a meeting and stopping place for Native Americans over thousands of years.[1] In 1975 a grave was discovered, just below the southwest end of the main building, containing a small skeleton and soapstone bowls. This grave was dated to approximately 4000 BCE and the character of the bowls suggested kinship with the culture of Santa Catalina Island in the same era.

The award-winning, weekly school newspaper, the Wildcat, is part of the High School National Ad Network. Print issues from the school's inception as Harding High are available in the journalism archives. More recent issues are archived online at the myhighschooljournalism.org site operated by ASNE (American Society of Newspaper Editors).

Contents

[edit] History

Originally known as Warren G. Harding High School when built in 1924, the school was renamed in 1929 after UCLA moved its campus from East Hollywood to Westwood, and the reputation of former President Harding had declined. The name University is supposed to have originated because it became a site where teachers-in-training from nearby UCLA worked as assistant teachers.

One third of its class of 1942 did not graduate because of the internment of Japanese-Americans.

"Uni" was opened in 1924, and is one of very few pre-World War II high schools in Los Angeles which have been partially spared by three major earthquakes since its inception. Although the gymnasium and a beautiful and widely admired auditorium were condemned following the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, the school's original main building from 1924 remains in use to this day. The music building and gym (rebuilt in the early 1980's) are scheduled to be taken down because they sit on a fault line, against district policy. Although the music building is not in use, the gym currently is. Because the main building presents a very traditional and dignified appearance, with weathered brick and arched doorways, the campus is popular with film crews during vacations and holidays, and sometimes during school. The school is often used for filming. Several TV shows ("My So-Called Life," "7th Heaven,") and various commercials and music videos.

[edit] Neighborhoods served

Neighborhoods served by University High School include West Los Angeles, Brentwood, Beverly Glen, Brentwood Glen, Westwood, Bel-Air, and Holmby Hills. Also included in its service area are relatively distant canyon neightborhoods adjacent to the city of Beverly Hills, whose students are not within the Beverly Hills Unified School District boundaries.

Like other Westside high schools such as Westchester and Palisades, University High School enrolls a diverse mix of students from its enrollment area and various parts of the city. Two new LAUSD high schools opened in fall 2005 and three new high schools opened in fall 2006, decreasing the number of transfer students in other high schools.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Related links

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