Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA, ) is a visual and performing arts
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
located on the campus of
California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...
(Cal State LA) in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, United States.
History
The school was founded by philanthropist
Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson
Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson (April 12, 1918 – June 21, 2005) was an American fashion consultant, businesswoman and philanthropist. She was a corporate director of The Walt Disney Company and the Fluor Corporation. She served as Chairman of the ...
in 1985.
[Mary Rourke]
Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson, 83; Philanthropist Supported the Arts
''The Los Angeles Times
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', July 23, 2005
Overview
LACHSA is a public and tuition-free school. Most people identify the school by its aesthetic campus along with its ability to offer both college preparatory courses and
conservatory style training. Though it shares facilities with Cal State LA, the two schools' activities are usually separate. It is operated by the
Los Angeles County Office of Education.
The school specializes in preparing students for careers in the arts. It is one of two arts high schools in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
that allows students from any district within
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
to attend, the other being
Charter High School of the Arts
Charter High of the Arts Multimedia and Performing (or CHAMPS) is a public high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondar ...
in
Van Nuys
Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.
History
In 1909, t ...
. Acceptance into the school is based on an audition process for the approximately 130 spots available for incoming students, about 90% of whom are freshmen.
The school has five departments, Dance, Music (Vocals and Instrumental), Theatre, Visual Arts, and Cinematic Arts (Film). There is also a double major offered for Musical Theatre. The Music Department has the most students, followed by the Theatre Department, Visual Arts, Dance, and Cinematic Arts.
In 2012,
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nominee
Scott Hamilton Kennedy made an award-winning documentary about LACHSA called ''Fame High''.
In late March 2013, LACHSA officially moved to a more permanent building on the edge of Cal State LA's campus. It has three stories, the third floor being a
black box theater, where most performances from the school take place.
As of 2019 the total minority enrollment is 65%, and 19% of students are economically disadvantaged. L.A. County High School for the Arts is 1 of 2 high schools in the Los Angeles County Office Of Education.
Demographics
In 2018–19 LACHSA had 542 students enrolled in grades nine through twelve, with a student-teacher ratio of 6.7:1.
Academic recognition
* LACHSA received a GreatSchools Rating of 9 out of 10.
U.S. News
''U.S. News & World Report'' (USNWR) is an American media company that publishes news, consumer advice, rankings, and analysis. It was launched in 1948 as the merger of domestic-focused weekly newspaper ''U.S. News'' and international-focused ...
2021 Rankings
*102 in
Los Angeles metropolitan area
Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...
High Schools
*227 in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
High Schools
*1,498 in
National
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
Rankings
U.S. News
''U.S. News & World Report'' (USNWR) is an American media company that publishes news, consumer advice, rankings, and analysis. It was launched in 1948 as the merger of domestic-focused weekly newspaper ''U.S. News'' and international-focused ...
2020 Rankings
*3 in
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
Office of Education High Schools
*128 in
Los Angeles metropolitan area
Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...
High Schools
*279 in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
High Schools
*2,030 in
National
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
Rankings
U.S. News
''U.S. News & World Report'' (USNWR) is an American media company that publishes news, consumer advice, rankings, and analysis. It was launched in 1948 as the merger of domestic-focused weekly newspaper ''U.S. News'' and international-focused ...
2019 Rankings
*165 in
Los Angeles metropolitan area
Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...
High Schools
*356 in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
High Schools
*2,315 in
National
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
Rankings
Notable alumni
*
Ai, singer
*
Anthony Anderson
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Jon B., singer and songwriter
*
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Angel Blue
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Daniel Brummel
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Monica Calhoun
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Sadie Calvano
Sadie Calvano (born April 8, 1997) is an American actress, known for her role as Violet Plunkett on the CBS sitcom ''Mom
]
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, television actress
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Ako Castuera
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Early life
Castuera's father is from Mexico, and his ancestors originated from the Spanish city ...
, sculptor, storyboard artist
*
Gerald Clayton
Gerald William Clayton (born May 11, 1984) is a Dutch-born American jazz pianist, composer and bandleader.
Biography
Clayton attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts; USC's Thornton School of Music, where he studied piano with ...
, jazz pianist and composer
*
Zoey Deutch
Zoey Francis Chaya Thompson Deutch ( ; born November 10, 1994) is an American actress. She is daughter of director Howard Deutch and actress-director Lea Thompson. She gained recognition for her roles in the film '' Everybody Wants Some!!'', t ...
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Clea DuVall
Clea Helen D'Etienne DuVall (born September 25, 1977) is an American actress, writer, producer, and director. She is known for her appearances in the films ''The Faculty'' (1998), '' She's All That''; '' But I'm a Cheerleader''; ''Girl, Interrup ...
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Jenna Elfman, actor
*
Maya Erskine, actor and writer
*
Michael Fitzpatrick, singer and songwriter
*
Dillon Francis
Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987), also known by the stage name DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer and DJ.
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Francis was born in Los AngelesAhmed, Insanul (March 13, 2012Who Is Dillon Francis?Complex. Retri ...
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Angelica Garcia (singer)
Angelica Garcia is an American singer-songwriter based in Richmond, Virginia. She has released two studio albums, and her song "Jícama" became widely known when Barack Obama selected the track for his 2019 year-end list.
Early life and career ...
, singer/songwriter
*
Eva Gardner
Eva Catherine Gardner (born February 17, 1979) is an American bassist from Los Angeles. A founding member of The Mars Volta, she has been a studio and touring musician in bands for Cher, Gwen Stefani, P!NK, Veruca Salt and Tegan and Sara.
E ...
, bassist, singer/ songwriter
*
Drew Garrett, actor
*
Spencer Grammer
Spencer Karen Grammer (born October 9, 1983) is an American actress best known for her roles as the voice of Summer Smith in the Adult Swim animated science-fiction series ''Rick and Morty'' and as Casey Cartwright in the ABC Family college come ...
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*
Josh Groban
Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, wi ...
, singer
*
Haim (band)
Haim ( ; meaning "life" in Hebrew, stylized HAIM) is an American rock band, based in Los Angeles and comprising three sisters, Este (bass guitar and vocals), Danielle (lead vocals, guitar, and drums), and Alana Haim (guitars, keyboards, and vo ...
, sister band
*
Beth Hart
Beth Hart (born January 24, 1972) is an American musician from Los Angeles, California. She rose to fame with the release of her 1999 single " LA Song (Out of This Town)" from her second album '' Screamin' for My Supper''. The single was a numbe ...
, singer
*
The Hound
"The Hound" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft in September 1922 and published in the February 1924 issue of ''Weird Tales''. It contains the first mention of Lovecraft's fictional text the ''Necronomicon.''
Plot
The story opens with ...
, singer
*
Taran Killam
Taran Hourie Killam (born April 1, 1982) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for his television work on ''The Amanda Show'', ''How I Met Your Mother'', ''MADtv'', ''New Girl'', ''Saturday Night Live'', and ''Single Parents''. ...
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Thomas Kotcheff
Thomas Kotcheff (born 1988) is an American composer and pianist who currently resides in Los Angeles. He is a winner of a 2016 Charles Ives Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a 2015 Presser Foundation Music Award.
Biograp ...
, composer
*
Josefina Lopez, playwright
*
Rashaan Nall, actor
*
Ryan Scott Oliver
Ryan Scott Oliver (born August 27, 1984) is an American musical theatre composer and lyricist. He is a 2011 Lucille Lortel Award Nominee and the recipient of both the 2009 Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation, Jonathan Larson Grant and the 2 ...
, musical theatre composer and lyricist
*
Elizabeth Olsen
Elizabeth Chase Olsen (born February 16, 1989) is an American actress. Born in Sherman Oaks, California, Olsen began acting at age four. She starred in her debut film role in the thriller ''Martha Marcy May Marlene'' in 2011, for which she wa ...
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Gretchen Parlato
Gretchen Parlato (born February 11, 1976) is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller and Lionel Loueke.
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, jazz singer and composer
*
Christina Quarles, painter
*
Ernando Recendez, singer/songwriter
*
Marla Sokoloff
Marla Lynne Sokoloff (born December 19, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for playing Lucy Hatcher on the legal drama television series ''The Practice'', and Gia Mahan on ''Full House'' and '' Fuller House''. She has also appeared in fi ...
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Tammy Townsend
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McKenzie Westmore
McKenzie Kate Westmore (born April 26, 1977) is an American actress and singer most popular for having played the role of Sheridan Crane Lopez-Fitzgerald on the television soap opera ''Passions'' from 1999 to 2008.
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Kehinde Wiley
Kehinde Wiley (born February 28, 1977) he returned to Nigeria, leaving Freddie to raise the couple's six children. 3/sup> Wiley has said that his family survived on welfare checks and the limited income earned by his mother's 'thrift store' – ...
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Finn Wittrock
Peter L. Wittrock Jr. (born October 28, 1984), known as Finn Wittrock, is an US actor and screenwriter who began his career in guest roles on several television shows. He made his film debut in 2004, in ''Halloweentown High'' before returning to f ...
, television actor
References
External links
Official LACHSA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Los Angeles County High School For The Arts
High schools in Los Angeles
Art in Greater Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles
Eastside Los Angeles
El Sereno, Los Angeles
Public high schools in California
Drama schools in the United States
Educational institutions established in 1985
1985 establishments in California