Jordan High School, formerly David Starr Jordan High School, is a public comprehensive 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 Los Angeles. Until October 2020, the school was named for

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Univer ...

, the first president of

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

(from 1891 to 1913). The school colors are Royal blue and white and the mascot is a

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Florence-Graham Florence-Graham (locally known as Florence-Firestone) is an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County. The population was 61,983 at the 2020 census, down from 63,387 at the 2010 census. The census area includes separate communities of Flore ...

, an unincorporated neighborhood in

Los Angeles County 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, ...

, are jointly zoned to Jordan and

John C. Fremont High School John C. Fremont High School is a Title 1 co-educational public high school located in South Los Angeles, California, United States. Fremont serves several Los Angeles neighborhoods and the unincorporated community of Florence-Graham; some sec ...

. The Gonzaque Village,

Imperial Courts Imperial Courts is a public housing project located in Watts, Los Angeles, California. It is located at 11541 Croesus Avenue on Imperial Highway, between Grape Street and Mona Boulevard, near I-105 Freeway. The federally subsidized project of ...

, Jordan Downs, and

Nickerson Gardens Nickerson Gardens is a 1,066-unit public housing apartment complex at 1590 East 114th Street in Watts, Los Angeles, California. Nickerson Gardens is the largest public housing development west of the Mississippi River and was the first home of m ...

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, de ...

developments of Los Angeles are zoned to Jordan. Jordan is one of a few high schools to have three, unrelated, Olympic gold medalists come from the same high school in Hayes Edward Sanders, Florence Griffith-Joyner and Kevin Young. Sanders, in 1952, became the first African American to win the Olympic Heavyweight Boxing Championship while Griffith-Joyner still holds the current

World Record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in her respective event. 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 distr ...

until 1961, when it merged into LAUSD. With public input from the local community, the

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...

school board unanimously voted in October 2020 to officially shorten the name of the school to "Jordan High School" and remove all references to David Starr Jordan.

Modernization

From early 2015 through late 2016 Jordan High School was temporarily closed for modernizations and new construction at the school. Students moved to a different school during renovations. Prior to the 2005 opening of South East High School, Jordan served portions of the City of South Gate. In March 2017 LAUSD sued the Los Angeles Housing Authority, stating that contaminants seeped onto the Jordan site from the neighboring Jordan Downs housing project.

Notable alumni

* Dunia Elvir , television journalist, producer, motivational speaker and autism advocate. *

Earl Battey Earl Jesse Battey, Jr. (January 5, 1935 – November 15, 2003) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Chicago White Sox (1955–1959) and Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins (1960� ...

, former professional baseball player (

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

, Washington Senators,

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 ...

) *Ron Downing, City Manager, UCLA and Harvard University * George Brown, long jumper *

Buddy Collette William Marcel "Buddy" Collette (August 6, 1921 – September 19, 2010) was an American jazz flutist, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He was a founding member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Early life William Marcel Collette was born in L ...

, jazz saxophonist *

Ray Vasquez Ray Vasquez (12 February 1924 – 25 January 2019), also known as Ray Victor, was an American singer, musician, trombonist and actor, and a significant influence on the Latin jazz scene from 1940 through 2019. Early life Ray Moreno Vasquez wa ...

, Singer, Trombonist, and actor * Michael Douglass, All-Pro linebacker for the Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers; owner of Alpine Fitness and M.D. Fitness in San Diego. 2003 Packers Hall of Fame inductee. * Joey Fatts, rapper * Florence Griffith-Joyner, multiple-

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

gold medalist and current world record holder in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contes ...

and

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

Art Harris Arthur Carlos Harris, Jr. (January 13, 1947 – October 13, 2007) was an American professional basketball player. Career After graduating from Jordan High School, in Watts, Los Angeles, Harris joined Stanford University The 6'4" guard received f ...

, former professional basketball player * Aaron Holbert, former professional baseball player (

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

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 ...

) and current manager of the

Mississippi Braves The Mississippi Braves, or M-Braves as they are referred to locally, are a Minor League Baseball team based in Pearl, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson. The team is the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves and plays in the Southern League. ...

* Ray Holbert, former professional baseball player (

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

) * Bobby Darwin, former professional baseball player (

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 h ...

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

) *

Brenda Holloway Brenda Holloway (born June 26, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter, who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the soul hits, "Every Little Bit Hurts", " When I'm Gone", and "You've Ma ...

, Motown recording artist * Leon Hooten, former professional baseball player (

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

) * Gail Hopkins, former professional baseball player (

) * Le-Lo Lang, NFL cornerback *

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians an ...

, jazz bassist * Manny Montana, actor *

Roger E. Mosley Roger Earl Mosley (; December 18, 1938 – August 7, 2022) was an American actor, director, and writer best known for his role as the helicopter pilot Theodore "T.C." Calvin in the CBS television series '' Magnum, P.I.'', which originally aired ...

, actor * Clarence Otis, Jr., CEO Darden Restaurants (

Olive Garden Olive Garden is an American casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. It is a subsidiary of Darden Restaurants, Inc., which is headquartered in Orange County, Florida. As of 2012, Olive Garden restaurants accounted ...

LongHorn Steakhouse LongHorn Steakhouse is an American casual dining restaurant chain owned and operated by Darden Restaurants, Inc., headquartered in Orlando, Florida. As of 2016, LongHorn Steakhouse generated $1.6 billion in sales in its 559 locations. History ...

, and

Red Lobster Red Lobster Hospitality LLC is an American casual dining restaurant chain headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company has operations across most of the United States (including Puerto Rico, Guam) and Canada, as well as in China, Ecuador, Ho ...

) * Wally Parks, founder of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), Class of 1931 * Fletcher Joseph Perry, NFL Hall of Fame running back * Ron Riley, former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player * Hayes Edward Sanders,

heavyweight boxing gold medalist; first African American to win Olympic heavyweight title * Walter "Scotty" Scott, member of R&B group, The Whispers * Paul Scranton, professional basketball player * Glenn T. Seaborg, discoverer of Plutonium and 1951 Nobel Prize–winning chemist *

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented ...

, disco singer and drag queen, graduated in 1969 * James Washington, NFL player *

Britt Woodman Britt Woodman (June 4, 1920 – October 13, 2000) was an American jazz trombonist. Career Woodman was a childhood friend of Charles Mingus, but first worked with Phil Moore and Les Hite. After service in World War II he played with Boyd Rae ...

, jazz trombonist, Class of 1938 * Kevin Young, 1992

gold medalist, former world record holder in 400 meter hurdles

References

External links

* {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1923 Los Angeles Unified School District schools High schools in Los Angeles High schools in Los Angeles County, California Public high schools in California Watts, Los Angeles 1923 establishments in California