Manual Arts High School
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| Manual Arts High School | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| 4131 South Vermont Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90037 |
|
| Information | |
| School district | Los Angeles Unified School District |
| Enrollment |
almost 4,000 |
| Type | Public |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Mascot | Toiler |
| Color(s) | Purple and Gray |
| Established | 1910 |
| Information | (323) 232-1121 |
| Homepage | Official website |
Manual Arts High School is a secondary school in Los Angeles, California.
Manual Arts, which spans grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Manual Arts falls into Local District 7 of the LAUSD. The school is located at 4131 South Vermont Avenue, between 41st Street and 42nd Street. The school's mascot is the Toiler and the school newspaper is called the Toiler Times. When it was founded, Manual Arts was a vocational high school. As of 2006, it teaches a traditional curriculum.
Several Los Angeles neighborhoods, including University Park and portions of Jefferson Park and West Adams, are zoned to MAHS.
Contents |
[edit] History
Manual Arts High School was established in 1910 in the middle of bean fields, one-half mile from the nearest bus stop. It was the third school in Los Angeles, California after Los Angeles High School and L.A. Polytechnic High School, and is the oldest high school still on its original site in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
After three semesters in an abandoned grammar school building, Manual Arts High School was opened on Vermont Avenue, a school whose name embodied her ideal of head, heart, and hand, combining to offer a creative atmosphere for the full life.
After the 1933 earthquake the entire campus was rebuilt, constituting the present Manual Arts High School campus. Pictured below is the main building, recently renamed Yvonne Brathwaite-Burke Hall. Behind left is the current Science Building.
In 1995 "The Arts" became a Pacific Bell Education First Demonstration Site joining thirteen other demonstration sites in California, and in 1996 the school was named a California Distinguished School. In 1998 Manual Arts was officially granted Digital High School status.
The 2005-2006 school year opened with wall-to-wall small learning communities (SLCs), three on each track totaling nine SLCs. Manual Arts was relieved by the opening of Santee Education Complex in 2005.[1]
The school was relieved in 2007 when West Adams Preparatory High School opened. During the same year, a section of the Manual Arts attendance zone was transferred to Belmont High School [2].
The school will be relieved by Central Region High School 16 when that school opens in 2011.[3].
The school will be relieved by South Los Angeles High School 3 when that school opens in 2012.[4]
[edit] Reflection of Change
Manual Arts has reflected the changes in the city of Los Angeles over the past eighty-nine years. Three major earthquakes, in 1933, which destroyed the original site, 1971, and 1994, and two civil disturbances, in 1965 and 1992, were probably the school's most difficult times. The school was recognized in the thirties for its excellence, supported the effort of its own Jimmy Doolittle during World War II, adopted an orphanage in Korea during the Korean War, participated in the many social changes in the sixties and was named the Ambassador High School for the 1984 Summer Olympics. Manual Arts now reflects current immigration trends and the fact that Los Angeles is the center of immigration in the United States.
[edit] Makeup of School
In 1994 the school reconfigured to a four-year, grade nine to twelve, three track, year round, "Concept 6" school that was in the midst of restructuring and the last stages of renovation. In 1995 WASC accredited the school for six years.Most of the almost 4000 students come from two middle schools, Foshay Learning Center and John Muir, although, with the addition of the Magnet school and other programs and open enrollment, students come from other parts of the city. Currently the school boasts eight successful Academies, each with its own curricular specialty.
The area around Manual Arts is one characterized by high unemployment, single parent families, a majority of families receiving AFDC, illegal immigrants, and multi-family rental housing.
The school was over 90% African-American in the 1980s and is now over 80% Hispanic, with much of that group coming from Central America. This transition has been relatively peaceful. More than half of the students list Spanish as their first language, and the school serves the third largest LEP population in the District.
[edit] Student body
The racial make-up of the school is mostly Latinos and African-Americans and the neighborhood surrounding the school reflects the same make-up
During the 2004-2005 school year, MAHS had 3,766 students [5], including:
- 3,054 Hispanics (81.1%)
- 701 African-Americans (18.6%)
- 5 White Americans (1%)
- 4 Asian Americans (1%)
- 2 Native Americans (1%)
[edit] Noted alumni
- Jon Arnett, football star, member of the College Football Hall of Fame, class of 1952
- Verna Arvey, musician and writer
- Gus Arriola, cartoonist and creator of Gordo, class of 1935
- Lyman Bostock, professional baseball player, class of 1968
- Nacio Herb Brown, songwriter, class of 1915
- Jimmy Doolittle, World War II aviator, class of 1914
- Tom Fears, professional football player, class of 1941
- Philip Guston, artist, class of 1930
- Robin Harris, comedian and actor, class of 1971
- Reuben Kadish, artist, class of 1930
- Goodwin Knight, 31st governor of California, class of 1914
- Jerry D. Page, United States Air Force General, class of 1932
- Dwayne Polee, professional basketball player, class of 1981
- Jackson Pollock, artist, class of 1930 (left before graduation)[6]
- Mark Ridley-Thomas, California State Senator, class of 1972
- Karla Hernandez, Interior Designer, TV Host
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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