George Washington Preparatory High School is a public four-year

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 ...

in the Westmont section of unincorporated

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

. Founded in 1926, the school has a

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' ...

address but is not located in the city limits of Los Angeles. The mascot is the General, a reference to the school's namesake

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

. The school colors are red and blue. The school serves many areas in

South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown. It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as ...

and unincorporated areas around South Los Angeles, including

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, West Athens and Westmont. In addition it serves the LAUSD section of

Hawthorne Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne may also refer to: Places Australia *Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane Canada * Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario United States * Hawt ...

. It was the location for a 1986

TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

'' Hard Lessons,'' depicting

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...

as the new principal, who sets out to rid the school of gang violence and drugs and restore educational values to the school. The current principal is Tony Booker. Two famous former principals are George McKenna, whom Denzel Washington portrayed in the movie ''Hard Lessons;'' and past LAUSD Board Member Marguerite LaMotte.

History

George Washington Preparatory High School was founded in 1927 as a six-year high school that slowly developed into a four-year school. The first graduating class was 1928 with 5 seniors. The school was badly damaged by the

1933 Long Beach earthquake The 1933 Long Beach earthquake took place on March 10 at south of downtown Los Angeles. The epicenter was offshore, southeast of Long Beach, California, on the Newport–Inglewood Fault. The earthquake had a magnitude estimated at 6.4 , and a m ...

and the students went to school in tents for a year or two. In 1935 Washington High began accepting 11th and 12th graders only, and before 1950, Washington Senior High School had expanded to include grades 10 through 12. It was in the

Los Angeles City High School District Los Angeles City High School District (known in its last year as West County Union High School District) was a school district that served high school-aged residents of western Los Angeles County, California from 1890 to 1962. At times the distri ...

until 1961, when it merged into LAUSD. In January 1983, a new founder, the famed George McKenna, redefined Washington High School as a college preparatory school, and George Washington Preparatory High School, "The Prep," became an academic institution for grades 9–12.

Background

The reorganization of Washington Preparatory High School into Small Learning Communities (SLCs) began in 2006. The purpose of the SLC is to develop a sense of unity and cohesiveness and to foster the individual needs of students. The SLCs that were established as a result of this effort are: Etech (Engineering and Technology); ELMS (Ethics, Leadership, and Mediation Scholars); S.T.A.R.S (Visual and Performing Arts); BIZ (Business); SHAPE (Health and Fitness); and Law and Justice. The three Magnet programs have remained intact. During subsequent years, Washington added Performing Arts, Math/Science, and Communication Arts Magnets and achieved honors in scholastic, athletic and extra-curricular competition. As of 2009, in order to graduate and participate in senior activities such as prom, senior picnic, and grad night seniors must earn 230 credits, pass the California High School Exit Exam, and maintain 95% attendance.HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL
. ''Washingtonprep.org''.

Demographics

During the 2008–09 school year, there were a total of 2,440 students attending the high school. *46.7%

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

, 0.2%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 52.4%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.1%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.3%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

Notable alumni

* Art Laboe, Disc Jockey *

Estes Banks Estes McLeod Banks (born December 18, 1945 in Los Angeles, California) is a retired American football running back who played in the American Football League. Banks was an 8th round selection (188th overall pick) out of Colorado by the Oakland Ra ...

, NFL running back *

Barbara Billingsley Barbara Billingsley (born Barbara Lillian Combes; December 22, 1915 – October 16, 2010) was an American actress. She began her career with uncredited roles in ''Three Guys Named Mike'' (1951), ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' (1952), and '' Inva ...

, television and film actress *

Eddie Bressoud Edward Francis Bressoud (born May 2, 1932) is a former shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from through for the New York / San Francisco Giants (1956–1961), Boston Red Sox (1962–1965), New York Mets (1966) and St. Louis Cardinals ...

, Major League Baseball * Steve Bryant, National Football League *

Raphel Cherry Raphel Jerome Cherry (born December 19, 1961) is a former American football defensive back in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and the Detroit Lions. He played college football at the University of Hawaii. In 1999, Cherry ...

, NFL defensive back * Don Clark, NFL offensive guard *

Dick Dale Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting with reverb eff ...

, surf guitarist *

Clarence Davis Clarence Eugene Davis (born June 28, 1949) is a former American football running back who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Oakland Raiders from 1971 to 1978, having earlier played college football fo ...

, NFL running back *

Kori Dickerson Kori Markese Dickerson (born December 6, 1978) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League and Canadian Football League. Pre-professional career Dickerson prepped at Washington Preparatory High School, and he played ...

, NFL tight end *

Drakeo the Ruler Darrell Wayne Caldwell (December 1, 1993 – December 19, 2021), known professionally as Drakeo the Ruler, was an American rapper. He was known for his flow, as well as his "oddly expressive, poetic word-choices", leading the ''Los Angeles Time ...

, rapper *

Karl Farmer Karl Anthony Farmer (born August 28, 1954) is a former American football wide receiver who played three seasons in the National Football League with the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the sevent ...

, NFL wide receiver * Mark Fields, NFL linebacker *

Gil Garcetti Gilbert Salvador Iberri Garcetti (born August 5, 1941) is an American politician and lawyer. He served as Los Angeles County's 40th district attorney for two terms, from 1992 until November 7, 2000. He is the father of the 42nd mayor of the ci ...

, L.A. County DA *

Teresa Graves Terresa M. Graves (January 10, 1948October 10, 2002), credited as Teresa Graves, was an American actress and singer best known for her starring role as undercover police detective Christie Love in the ABC crime-drama television series ''Get Chri ...

, American actress and singer. *

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

, rapper and actor * Robert Illes, (television), Emmy winning Writer/producer *

James Lofton James David Lofton (born July 5, 1956) is an American former professional football player and coach. He is a former coach for the San Diego Chargers but is best known for his years in the National Football League as a wide receiver for the Gre ...

, NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver *

Hugh McElhenny Hugh Edward McElhenny Jr. (December 31, 1928 – June 17, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a halfback in the National Football League (NFL) from 1952 to 1964 for the San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings, New York G ...

, class of 1947, professional football player * Jerry Norman, college basketball coach *

Eva Pigford Eva Marcille Sterling (née Pigford; born October 30, 1984) is an American actress, fashion model and television personality. She started her career by winning the third cycle of ''America's Next Top Model''. Early life Sterling was born in Los ...

, model and actress * Oliver Ross, NFL offensive lineman *

Ernie Shelton Ernest ("Ernie") Earl Shelton (born October 28, 1932) was a male high jumper from the United States, who competed in the 1950s. He won the gold medal at the 1955 Athletics at the 1955 Pan American Games, Pan American Games. Shelton set his perso ...

, NCAA champion high jumper, 1955–56 *

Raymond Washington Raymond Lee Washington (August 14, 1953 – August 9, 1979) was an American gangster, known as the founder of the Crips gang in Los Angeles. Washington formed the Crips as a minor street gang in the late 1960s in South Los Angeles, becoming a pr ...

, American gangster *

Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...

, actress *

Stanley Williams Stanley Tookie Williams III (December 29, 1953 – December 13, 2005) was an American gang member and spree killer who co-founded and led the Crips gang in Los Angeles. He and Raymond Washington formed an alliance in 1971 that established the ...

, founder of the

Crips The Crips is an alliance of street gangs that is based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips were initially a single alliance ...

Murry Wilson Murry Gage Wilson (July 2, 1917 – June 4, 1973) was an American songwriter, talent manager, record producer, and music publisher, best known as the father of the Beach Boys' Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson. After the band's formation in 1 ...

, songwriter, talent manager, record producer

References

External links

Washington Preparatory High School
{{authority control High schools in Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles Unified School District schools Educational institutions established in 1926 Public high schools in California 1926 establishments in California