Westminster High School is a public high school located in

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in northern Orange County, California, known for its many Vietnamese refugees who immigrated to the city during the 1980s. They settled largely in Little Saigon, and the city is known as the "capital" of overseas Vietnames ...

. It is part of the

Huntington Beach Union High School District The Huntington Beach Union High School District (HBUHSD) is a public school district serving portions of the Orange County cities of Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, and Westminster. It oversees eleven sites, offering courses f ...

. It is currently the only school within the Huntington Beach Union High School District to have a working farm as well as the largest school in Orange County. Westminster High School has a rivalry against

Ocean View High School Ocean View High School (OVHS) is a public comprehensive college-prep academy located in Huntington Beach, California. OVHS was established in 1976; their mascot is the Seahawks. Currently, there are approximately 1,470 enrolled students. It is par ...

, where both schools battle it off during football season in the “Battle of the Bugle”.

Overview

The school's name and traditions are derived from

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. The school colors of red, black and white are those of the

Queen's Guard The King's Guard and King's Life Guard (called the Queen's Guard and the Queen's Life Guard when the reigning monarch is female) are the contingents of infantry and cavalry soldiers charged with guarding the official List of British royal res ...

, and the school's mascot, Leo the lion, is a

national animal This is a list of countries that have officially designated one or more animals as their national animals. National animal {, class="wikitable sortable" ! Country ! Name of animal ! Scientific name (Latin name) ! class="unsortable", Picture ...

of England. The student government, called The House of Lords, also represents the government of England. Each ASB member serves under a minister position while the board of ASB serves under specific names representing that of England's government. The ASB president is referred to as the Prime Minister, ASB Vice President to Chancellor, Secretary to Minister of Records, and Treasurer to Exchequer. The school opened on September 10, 1959 following population growth associated with the incorporation of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

in 1957. It covers approximately , including of working farm land and is the largest school in Orange County. The school serves students from Johnson Middle School, Warner Middle School, and Stacey Middle School. In 2002 the school completed its construction and was the first school in the Orange County area that has an elevator to serve handicapped students for their two-story building located on the North side of campus. The new Social Studies wing can use 100% "natural lighting" making reading easier than fluorescent lighting. The new stadium is top notch and boasts a professional level football and soccer field along with a nine-lane polyurethane track and bleachers that hold 5,500 fans.

Demographics

According to '' U.S. News & World Report'', 95% of Westminster's student body is "of color," with 78% of the student body coming from an economically disadvantaged household, determined by student eligibility for California's

Reduced-price meal Reduced-price meal is a term used in the United States to describe a federally reimbursable meal, or snack, served to a qualified child when the family of the child's income is between 130 and 185 percent of the US federal poverty threshold. Scho ...

program.

Sports

Westminster High School athletes compete in the Golden West League of CIF's

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 ...

. Westminster Boys' Basketball won the Golden West League title in 2014 and 2015. Westminster Girls' Basketball won the Golden West league title in 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018. Westminster Boys' Tennis won the Golden West League title in 2011 and 2015. Westminster Girls' Tennis won the Golden West League title in 2016 and made semifinals of CIF Division V 2018 Westminster Boys' JV Volleyball won the Golden West League title in 2009 and 2016. Westminster Boys' Volleyball won the Golden West League title in 2015-2018. Westminster Boys' Soccer won the Golden West League title in 2013 Westminster Football won the Golden West League titles in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Westminster Badminton won CIF Division 2 in 2015 & 2016. Westminster Badminton won CIF Division 1 in 2021. Westminster Girls' Volleyball won the Golden West League in 2016 & 2022. Westminster Girls' Soccer won the Golden West League in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. They were CIF runners up in CIF Division 5. Westminster

Academic Decathlon The Academic Decathlon (also called AcDec, AcaDeca or AcaDec) is an annual high school academic competition organized by the non-profit United States Academic Decathlon (USAD). The competition consists of seven objective multiple choice tests, tw ...

team won 1st place in Division 3 State Competition in 2016. Westminster Academic Decathlon team won 1st place in Division 2 State Competition in 2017. Westminster Academic Decathlon team won 1st place in the Regionals Super Quiz in 2011 and 2018. Westminster Academic Decathlon team won 1st place in Division 1 Regionals Competition in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2015. Westminster Wrestling was league champions in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. They were the CIF Runners up in 2022.

Notable alumni

Mark Eaton Mark Edward Eaton (January 24, 1957 – May 28, 2021) was an American professional basketball player who spent his entire career (1982–1993) with the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Named an NBA All-Star in 1989, he wa ...

, former NBA All-Star player with the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

for 12 seasons. *

Ryan Klesko Ryan Anthony Klesko (born June 12, 1971) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and corner outfielder who played for the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. He attended Westminster High School in Westminster, Calif ...

, former MLB Player for 13 years with the Braves, Padres and Giants. *

Debbie Green-Vargas Debbie Green-Vargas (born June 25, 1958) is a former American volleyball player and coach. She is regarded as the greatest American women's volleyball setter of all time. Green-Vargas was a member of the U.S. National Team and won the silver med ...

, Olympic volleyball player *

Penelope Spheeris Penelope Spheeris (born December 2, 1945 or 1946; sources differ) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. She has directed both documentary and scripted films. Her best-known works include the trilogy titled ''The Decline of ...

, American director, producer, and screenwriter of SNL, Roseanne and "Wayne's World". *

Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this s ...

, co-host of

Thuy Nga Thuy (; oc, Tuí) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées department An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a h ...

's '' Paris By Night'' * Richard Brown (born 1965), Former NFL Player with the Rams, Chargers, Browns and Vikings. * Jason Williams - star of the 1974 film ''

Flesh Gordon ''Flesh Gordon'' is a 1974 American sex comedy feature film serving as a spoof of Universal Pictures first (of three) ''Flash Gordon'' serial films from the 1930s. The film was produced by Walter R. Cichy, Bill Osco, and Howard Ziehm. It was co ...

'' class of 1965 *

Van Tuinei Vaega Van Tuinei (born February 16, 1971 in Garden Grove, California is a former professional American football player who played defensive end for four seasons for the San Diego Chargers, Indianapolis Colts, and Chicago Bears. He is of Samoan Am ...

- NFL career with the Chargers, Colts and Bears. *

Mick Mars Robert Alan Deal (born May 4, 1951), known professionally as Mick Mars, is an American musician and the retired lead guitarist and co-founder of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He is known for his aggressive, melodic solos and bluesy riffs ...

(Bob Deal) of

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...

, class of 1969 *

Carlos Palomino Carlos Palomino (born August 10, 1949) is a Mexican former professional boxer. Palomino is a former World Welterweight Champion and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Palomino is also an actor who has been featured in several tele ...

, World Welterweight Champ '77 - '79, class of 1970 * Greg Mahle,

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player for the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

Tyler Mahle Tyler Fermin Mahle ( ; born September 29, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2017 with the Cincinnati Reds. Amateur career Mahle attended Westminst ...

player for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Randy Steven Kraft Randy Steven Kraft (born March 19, 1945) is an American serial killer and rapist known as the Scorecard Killer, the Southern California Strangler, and the Freeway Killer, who committed the rape, torture, and murder of a minimum of sixteen young ...

convicted rapist and murderer, class of 1963 *

Eddie Bane Edward Norman Bane (born March 22, 1952) is a former professional baseball pitcher and executive, who played from 1973 to 1976 for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). Career Bane attended Westminster High School then Arizona ...

player for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

. Class of 1970 * Bill Tiller American computer game designer, writer, and artist. Class of 1987

References

External links

Westminster High SchoolWestminster High School Boys' Basketball
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1959 High schools in Orange County, California Public high schools in California Westminster, California 1959 establishments in California