Alexander Hamilton High School (Los Angeles, California)

Infobox School2
name = "Alexander Hamilton High School"


motto =
established = 1931
type = High School
locale = 2955 South Robertson Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90034
grades = A-F System
head_name = Principal
head = Gary Garcia
head_name2 =
head2 =
city = Los Angeles
state = California
country = United States
students = 2,154 [ [http://search.lausd.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/fccgi.exe?w3exec=school.profile.content&which=8686 LAUSD School Profile ] ]
faculty =
teaching_staff =
athletics = Hamilton High School Yankees
school_colors = Green and White
school_colours =
mascot = Alex
free_label = Phone
free = 310-836-1602
website = [http://hamiltonhighschool.net/ Hamilton Home Page]

Alexander Hamilton High School is a public high school within the Westside (Los Angeles County) in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

History

Hamilton High School opened in fall 1931, with Thomas Hughes Elson as the principal. [The "Citizen," June 12, 1931, p. 10, and November 20, 1931, p. 1] At the time, its attendance boundaries included Culver City, [http://www.culvercity.org/info/schools.asp?sec=vis] and in 1932 they extended as far north as Mulholland Highway. [ The "Citizen," January 29, 1932, p. 11. ]

Early photographs from the school's archives show the campus in its pre-World War II state, with only the main front building completed at the time. The photos show dozens of 1920s and 30s cars parked along Robertson Boulevard in front of the school. The bell tower still exists today, but no longer houses a working bell.

Today, there exists Brown Hall, the lab building,the tech building, the humanities building, the music building, and other structures. There is a large Theater Hall, a dining facility, two gym buildings, boys' and girls', and a workshop building. Adjacent is a Department of Water and Power building and a continuation school called Cheviot Hills High School.

Administration

Hamilton High is divided into seven "small learning communities," or SLCs," which coordinate their own curricula and staff. They are:

*Alexander Hamilton High School Academy of Music
*Humanities Magnet
*Global Studies
*BIT (Business & Interactive Technology)
*MSM (Math Science Medical)
*CCP (College and Career Pathways)
*CA (Communication Arts)

The Humanities Magnet and the Music Academy have their own buildings. Classes in those buildings are mostly held for that program, and offer teachers trained in those areas. The other SLC divisions hold classes in the larger main buildings.

Humanities Magnet

The Humanities Magnet, widely considered the intellectual hub of the campus, and statistically the highest-scoring independent academic institution in all of L.A.U.S.D., was established in 1981. It offers an interdisciplinary liberal arts curriculum notable for its inclusion of Art History, Psychology, Philosophy, Ancient Civ, and Grammar. As a university preparatory program, all classes in the Humanities Magnet are Honors or Advanced Placement level. The faculty of the Humanities Magnet includes two PhDs (Dr. Daniel Victor, English, and Dr. Robert Coad, Art History) and a stable of unconventional veteran teachers like Alan Kaplan, Kim Pollock, Cesar Campos, and Barry Smolin.

Annually, a record-setting average of 98% of the magnet's graduates are admitted to colleges and universities. Of that group, more than 80% are accepted to four- year colleges or universities.Fact|date=July 2008

Athletics

The sports program at Hamilton includes sports such as basketball, soccer, football, tennis, volleyball, track and field, baseball, softball, and swim teams for boys and girls. In recent years, the boys and girls soccer teams both received spots in the playoffs, with the girls winning the invitational playoffs in the recent year. In 2006 the football team achieved a record of 8-2, the best in the history of the school, thanks to the contributions of coach Kelvin Moore.

In fall 2007, Hamilton High School's Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Girls Varsity Cross-Country teams all won Western League Division Championships.David Bensimon came in first place with an amazing 15:44. Lawrence Kennedy, suffering from a broken angle, still accomplished a PR of 16:04.Francis Kennedy, suffering from an injured knee accomplished a PR of 16:23.

Co-curricular activities

Hamilton's school newspaper is called "The Federalist", a reference to The Federalist Papers, the writings of the Revolutionary patriot Alexander Hamilton, after whom the school was named. The school colors are green and white.

Demographics

As of 2006-2007 [http://search.lausd.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/fccgi.exe?w3exec=school.profile.content&which=8686] :
*American Indians/Alaska Natives 0.4%
*Asian 3.9%
*Filipino 1.1%
*Pacific Islander 0.5%
*Black 33.6%
*Hispanic/Latino 54.5%
*White 6.0%

Feeder schools

Several neighborhoods, including Palms, Beverlywood, Cheviot Hills, Rancho Park, and Reynier Village [ [http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/news/la-re-guide26feb26,1,400392.story?page=2 Spanish style still defines central pocket - Los Angeles Times ] ] , are within the Hamilton attendance district. Palms Middle School and Ralph Waldo Emerson Middle School feed into Hamilton.

In fall 2007, some neighborhoods that were within the Hamilton attendance district were reassigned to Fairfax, University, and Venice high schools [http://www.laschools.org/employee/mpd/fs-mpd/download/07-08_webmaps/Proj04.pdf] .

Notable alumni

*Laila Ali, women's boxing champion Fact|date=April 2008
*Fiona Apple, singer-songwriter Fact|date=April 2008
*Carmit Bachar, Fact|date=April 2008 dancer-singer in the Pussycat Dolls
* Assemblywoman Karen Bass, majority leader and speaker-elect of the California State Assembly; representative of the 47th Assembly District [http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/makebio.asp?district=47]
* Representative Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; representative of California's 28th Congressional District [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/b000410/] [http://judiciary.house.gov/CommitteeMember.aspx?id=7]
*Sarah Brown, actress, Fact|date=April 2008 Emmy winning star on General Hospital, also one of the VR Troopers
*Lizzy Caplan, actress
*David Cassidy, Fact|date=April 2008 pop star
*Mike Elizondo, [http://www.bassplayer.com/article/chronic-groove/Jan-05/494] bassist and producer
*William Ginsburg, attorney who represented Monica Lewinsky during investigations into her relationship with President Clinton
*Rowby Goren, Emmy-Winning comedy writer and Internet Performer (www.rowby.com) Fact|date=April 2008
*Charles Woods Gray, actor/director
*Emile Hirsch, actor [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1804492088/bio]
*Ali Kheraj, actor
*Adam Kirsch, author, journalist, critic
*Paul Koretz, Former Assemblyman representing California's 42nd Assembly District
*Shia LaBeouf, actor
*Abe Laboriel Jr., drummer [http://www.bassplayer.com/article/chronic-groove/Jan-05/494]
*Michele Lee, Tony and Emmy-nominated singer/actress
*Alex D. Linz, actor
*Darris Love, actor
*Rod Martin, ex-Raiders linebacker
*Al Michaels (1962), sportscaster
*Warren Moon, NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback
*Walter Mosley, author
*Billy Mumy, actor
*Ed Niles, running back, architect
*Marc Norman, Academy Award-winning screenwriter
*MURS, rapper
*Omarion, R&B singer
*Norman J. Pattiz, founder Westwood One, nation's largest radio network
*Paula Patton, actress (Source: "Paula Patton Is Pregnant Actress," "Celebrity.rightpundits.com" Web site, March 9, 2008)
*Michelle Phillips, actress/singer
*Kyla Pratt, actress
*Nikki Reed, actress
*Ben Rich, former director of the Lockheed Skunk Works; father of "stealth"
*Robert Ri'chard, actor
*Darren Robinson, guitarist for the pop-rock band Phantom Planet
*Will Rothhaar, actor, "Listen Up"
*Lynn Schenk (1962), lawyer, politician, U.S. Representative
*Robert Shapiro, one of the defense lawyers in the O.J. Simpson murder case
*Joel Siegel, critic on ABC television, author
*Ambassador Donald K. Steinberg – senior American Diplomat, has served in senior positions in the U.S. State Department, the White House, and Congress
*Leigh Steinberg, sports agent
*Stew, composer, Tony Award winning dramatist (Passing Strange)
*Houston Summers, R&B singer [http://houston.forumsunlimited.com/lofiversion/index.php/t1216.html]
*Gwen Verdon, Broadway actress
*Sidney Wicks, 1971 NBA Rookie of the Year
*John Wilbur, All-American football player at Stanford, played in the NFL

Filming location

The school has been used for several movies, television shows, and music videos.

TV ShowsMr. Novak (all episodes)
* "Beverly Hills, 90210" (several episodes)
* "CHiPs" (couple of episodes)
* "Highway To Heaven" (couple of episodes)
* "Once and Again" (several episodes)
* "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" (several episodes)
* "Sister, Sister" (several episodes)
* "Stu Erwin Show" (facade at beginning of each show)
* "That's So Raven" (several episodes)
* "Room 222"
* "Soap" (facade at the beginning of each schoolroom scene)

Movies
* "Freedom Writers"
* "The Hunter"

Music Videos
* "I'm Not Okay I Promise" - My Chemical Romance
* "Just the Girl" - The Click 5
* "Stole" - Kelly Rowland
* "Cinderella" - Lil' Romeo

References

reflist

External links

* [http://hamiltonhighschool.net Hamilton High Home Page]
* [http://www.lausd.net LAUSD Website]
* [http://humanities.hamiltonhighschool.net/news.php Humanities Magnet Home Page]