Artesia High School is a public high school in

Lakewood, California Lakewood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 80,048 at the 2010 census. It is bordered by Long Beach on the west and south, Bellflower on the north, Cerritos on the northeast, Cypress on the east, ...

, with a student population of around 1,500. It is one of the five high schools in the ABC Unified School District.

History

Construction of Artesia High was completed in 1954, making it the oldest active high school in the ABC Unified School District since the 1979 closure of Excelsior High School, then known as the Excelsior Union High School District. While there is a city of

Artesia, California Artesia (Spanish for "artesian aquifer") is a city in southeast Los Angeles County, California. Artesia was incorporated on May 29, 1959, and is one of Los Angeles County's Gateway Cities. The city has a 2010 census population of 16,522. Artesi ...

, this high school, which originally was in it, since the realigning of city boundaries, is now located about south of the southern border of that city. The opening ceremony of the school was highlighted with a speech by then-Vice President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

. In his speech he expressed his hope that Artesia High School would serve as an example of educational integration, in light of the

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

ruling passed only a few months before. The school mascot is the Pioneer.

Academics

The school is part of the

Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) is an academic preparation program for pre-college, community college and university-level students. Established in 1970 in California, the program provides academic support to students from edu ...

program and is under the direct guidance of California State University, Long Beach. The school's 2009

Academic Performance Index The Academic Performance Index (API) was a measurement of academic performance and progress of individual schools in California, United States. The API was one of the main components of the Public Schools Accountability Act passed by the Californ ...

score was 745. In 2013, Artesia High was designated as a California Distinguished School.

Athletics

Artesia High School is a member of the 605 League of the

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...

and is renowned for its competitive sports teams. The boys' basketball team, which featured future

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Originally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...

James Harden James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harden is regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA ...

, was ranked first in California during the 2005–2006 season. The school won the

CIF Cif is a French brand of household cleaning products owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif was launched in France in 1965 and was marketed in competit ...

Division III championship with a record of 33 wins and a single loss. The 2006 win was the second time in the school's history that the team won the California Basketball championship. The Pioneers have a total of 5 state championships, ranking fourth in the state in terms of state championships. On March 24, 2007, the boys' basketball team defeated

Bishop O'Dowd High School Bishop O'Dowd High School is a Catholic, co-educational, college preparatory school in Oakland, California, administered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland and named for the late auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Jam ...

from Oakland for the CIF Division III State Championship title, and celebrated Artesia's second back-to-back D-III title and fifth overall state championship.

Notable alumni

Joel Adamson Joel Lee Adamson (born July 2, 1971) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Florida Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). Career Left handed pitcher Joel Adamson, ha ...

- Major League Baseball pitcher *

Dick Wantz Richard Carter Wantz (April 11, 1940 – May 13, 1965) was an American professional baseball player whose life and Major League career were cut short when he was felled by a fatal brain tumor. A right-handed relief pitcher and a rookie member of ...

- Major League Baseball pitcher * Memo Arzate - soccer, graduated 1999 * Stephen Burton - football, Graduated in 2007

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

* Tony Farmer - professional basketball player *

- NBA player on the Philadelphia 76ers, 2017–2018 season MVP *

Jason Kapono Jason Alan Kapono (born February 4, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He was the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to lead the league in three-point field goal percentage in two consecutive seasons, and ...

- basketball, Panathinaikos B.C. * Abner Mares - professional boxer * Jack Michael Martínez - basketball,

Dominican Republic national basketball team The Dominican Republic national basketball team ( es, Selección de Baloncesto de República Dominicana) represents the Dominican Republic in men's international basketball competitions. In 2011 and 2012, John Calipari, the head coach of the Un ...

and Europe *

Armando Muniz Armando may refer to: * Armando (given name) * Armando (artist) (1929–2018), the name used by Dutch artist Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd * Armando (producer) Armando Gallop (sometimes written as Armando Gallup) (February 12, 1970 – December 17, ...

- Olympic and professional boxer *

Ed O'Bannon Edward Charles O'Bannon Jr. (born August 14, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a power forward for the UCLA Bruins on their 1995 NCAA championship team. He was selecte ...

- basketball player for

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

1995 national champions and in NBA *

Charles O'Bannon Charles Edward O'Bannon Sr. (born February 22, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball with the UCLA Bruins. He was a two-time first-team all-conference player in the Pac-10 (now known as the Pac-1 ...

- basketball player for

1995 national champions and in NBA * Ryan Reyes - basketball, Cal State Fullerton and PBA (

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

) *

Orlando Scandrick Orlando Lee Scandrick (born February 10, 1987) is an American sports commentator and former American football cornerback. He played college football at Boise State University and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fifth round of the 2008 ...

- football,

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

, played football at school before transferring to Los Alamitos *

Jón Arnór Stefánsson Jón Arnór Stefánsson (born 21 September 1982) is an Icelandic basketball player and a former member of the Icelandic national team. One of Iceland's most successful athletes of the early 21st century, he was the Icelandic Sportsperson of the ...

- basketball, NBA and Europe *

Tom Tolbert Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

- basketball, NBA player and analyst, sports talk show host

References

External links

* OFFICIAL SCHOOL WEBSITE: https://www.artesiahs.us/ {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1954 ABC Unified School District High schools in Los Angeles County, California Public high schools in California 1954 establishments in California Lakewood, California