| Belmont Senior High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 1575 West Second Street Los Angeles, California 90026 |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | September 11, 1923 |
| School district | Los Angeles Unified School District |
| Principal | Gary Yoshinobu |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Number of students | 5250[1] |
| Campus | Urban |
| Color(s) | green, black |
| Athletics conference | Northern League/Central League, Los Angeles City Section CIF |
| Nickname | Sentinels |
| Rivals | John Marshall High School[2] |
| Website | Official website |
Belmont Senior High School is a public high school located at 1575 West 2nd Street in the Westlake community of Los Angeles, California.[3] The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Contents |
Belmont High School opened in 1923.[4]
The Hotel Belmont was the first noteworthy building to stand atop Crown Hill, the present site of Belmont High School. Eventually, the hotel was abandoned, and later it was transformed into the private Belmont School for Girls. After the school was destroyed by fire, the grounds were left vacant, except for five oil wells and a pumping plant for the Los Angeles City Oil Field. On February 28, 1921, the Los Angeles Board of Education purchased the site for $100,000, for the purpose of constructing Belmont High School.
Belmont opened its doors on September 11, 1923, to about 500 students, all sophomores, and 28 faculty members. Most of the school's traditions were created by those pioneer students during the first months of the school's existence. The school newspaper conducted an election to select its name, with "Sentinel" easily winning over "Progress." To this day, Belmont's students are known as Sentinels. Those first students favored “Sentinels" because they were able to oversee the entire city from their "lookout" on Crown Hill. In another election, the school's colors, green and black, were selected over brown and white. A Joseph Young created masaics mural is located on the main building wall.
Belmont High School was once the largest public school in the city of Los Angeles and the largest school in California, due to the density of the Westlake district, which it served. It was also considered the largest school in the United States, with 6,342 students. What was formally the attendance area for Belmont High School has now become the Belmont Zone of Choice, where students living in this area have the option of attending one of nineteen small learning communities or pilot schools located on four different campuses within the zone: Belmont High School, Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, Edward Roybal Learning Center, and Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts.
By 2000, LAUSD devised plans to relieve Belmont of many of its students,[5] and in 2006, the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, which began sharing its attendance zone with Belmont, opened and relieved Belmont.[6]
Beginning around 2005, Belmont began a major modernization. The school was renovated, and new paint, bathrooms, doors, walls, and ceiling tiles were added. Facilities were also updated throughout the school campus to accommodate those with special needs (e.g. wheelchair ramps).
In 2007, the West Adams Preparatory High School opened and relieved Belmont; a section of the Manual Arts High School attendance zone was transferred to Belmont.[7]
Furthermore, High School for the Visual and Performing Arts (formerly known as Central Los Angeles Area High School 9)[8][9] opened in 2008 to relieve Belmont. Central Los Angeles High School 11 (Edward R. Roybal (formerly Belmont) Learning Center)[10] and Central Los Angeles High School 12 opened in fall 2009.[11]
In 2009, the opening of the Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez Learning Centers relieved Belmont.[12]
Beginning with the 2010 school year, it will serve students from 6th grade to 12th grade, with the middle school named Sal Castro Middle School on the campus. The Belmont football stadium will be named for Dentler Erdmann, its long time faculty member.
Belmont High School hosts three Small Learning Communities (SLC's; also called academies) which specialize in a career pathway:
Belmont High School makes an appearance in the 2011 video game L.A. Noire.
|
||||||||||||||