Verdugo Hills High School
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Verdugo Hills High School (VHHS) is a public school located in the Tujunga community of
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' ...
,
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 ...
, United States, within the Los Angeles Unified School District. The school serves students from several areas of Los Angeles, including Sunland-Tujunga,
Lake View Terrace Lake View Terrace is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California.
, and portions of
North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...
, Sun Valley, and
Shadow Hills Shadow Hills (originally Hansen Heights) is a neighborhood in the Verdugo Mountains and northeastern San Fernando Valley, within the city of Los Angeles, California. Geography Shadow Hills is in the northwestern Verdugo Mountains, near the western ...
.


History

The school officially opened for classes for the first time on September 13, 1937, with 437 students enrolled in grades 7 through 11. Verdugo Hills High School was built on the site of a lemon orchard next to the original Plainview Avenue Elementary School. The school district was going to name the new school Calvin Coolidge High School, but Congressman
John Steven McGroarty John Steven McGroarty (August 20, 1862 – August 7, 1944) was a poet, ''Los Angeles Times'' columnist, and author who also served two terms as a United States Democratic Party, Democratic Congressman from California from 1935 to 1939. __TOC_ ...
and others lobbied successfully to have the name changed to reflect the "green Verdugo hills" to the south which the campus overlooks. 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. The 2009 opening of
Sun Valley High School Sun Valley High School can refer to: * Sun Valley High School (Arizona), Mesa, Arizona * Sun Valley High School (California), Los Angeles, California * Sun Valley High School (North Carolina), Monroe, North Carolina * Sun Valley High School (Pennsy ...
relieved Verdugo Hills of increasingly crowded conditions.


Schedule

Verdugo Hills is the only school in LAUSD to host the Copernican
Block Schedule Block scheduling or blocking is a type of academic scheduling used in schools in the American K-12 system, in which each pupil has fewer classes per day. It is more common in middle and high schools than in primary schools. Each class is schedu ...
. VHHS has experienced widespread success with this schedule since it was implemented in the fall of 1998. Most students have 4 classes per 10-week terms, each class lasting for 77 minutes. Semester courses are now 10 weeks in length and previous year-long courses are now 20 weeks. Athletics, band, and other activities have been moved to an optional 4th period. This gives an opportunity for a student to accomplish more before graduation. In addition, students taking the optional fourth period every semester can graduate a semester, or more, early. Students not opting to take a fourth period are released at 1:12 every day, allowing more time to complete homework or to work an after-school job.


CIF Champions

The 2015 girls' volleyball team, led by captains Shelley Quema and Ashley Aglanao, became CIF Champions for 2 consecutive years. On Saturday, June 2 - Charlie Rocca, an MLB prospect at the shortstop position, powered the Dons (23-13 overall and a co-East Valley league title with Polytechnic High School) to their 1st-ever CIF-LACS Division 1 title in a 4-2 extra-inning contest over the first-ranked Carson Colts at Dodgers Stadium. Junior starter Nick Rodriguez poured in eight fantastic innings and senior center-fielder Dakota Gray scored the game-winning run in the top of the 9th, in which Gray caught the final out. Junior Nick Masumoto, the CIF D1 Pitcher of the Year, finished the season with a 0.95 ERA and overall record of 8&4 in 88 1/3 innings, striking out 62 to nine walks. Rocca ends his Dons career with 25 bombs (14 of which came in 2018).


Notable alumni

*
Corey Allen Corey Allen (born Alan Cohen; June 29, 1934 – June 27, 2010) was an American film and television director, writer, producer, and actor. He began his career as an actor but eventually became a television director. He is best known for playing ...
, actor and director *
A. Michael Baldwin A. Michael Baldwin (born Michael M. Baldwin; April 4, 1963) is an American actor, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter. He came to public notice as a child actor, appearing as Mike Pearson in ''Phantasm (film), Phantasm'' (1979) and its sequ ...
, actor *
Carl Boldt Carl Robert Boldt (October 22, 1932 – January 30, 2015) was an American college basketball player who was an integral member to the University of San Francisco's national championship team in 1955–56. A 6'5" forward, Boldt started alongside ...
, American basketball player, University of San Francisco, 1955-56 At Verdugo, Boldt scored 1,024 points in 63 career games. *
Jan Brewer Janice Kay Brewer (''née'' Drinkwine, formerly Warren; born September 26, 1944) is an American politician and author who was the 22nd governor of Arizona from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Brewer is the fourth woman (and was ...
, governor of Arizona *
Ivan Dorschner Ivan Anthony Dorschner born September 21, 1990) is a Filipino-American actor, television host and model based in the Philippines. He is best known for being a former housemate of the Philippine reality television show '' Pinoy Big Brother: Teen ...
, model and actor *
John Ingle John Houston Ingle (May 7, 1928 – September 16, 2012) was an American actor best known for his roles as scheming patriarch Edward Quartermaine in the ABC soap opera '' General Hospital'' and Mr. Threehorn, the father of the main characte ...
, actor * Bob James, former
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), ...
pitcher *
Charlie Kendall Charles Barton Kendall, Jr (born January 4, 1935) is a former American football defensive back who played one season with the Houston Oilers of the American Football League. He first enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College before transferring to t ...
, American football player *
A Martinez Adolfo Larrue Martínez III (born September 27, 1948) is an American actor and singer with roles in the daytime soap operas '' Santa Barbara'', ''General Hospital'', ''One Life to Live'', ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', and ''Days of Our Lives' ...
, actor *
Howard P. McKeon Howard Philip "Buck" McKeon (born September 9, 1938) is an American politician who served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from California's 25th congressional district from 1993 to 2015. He is a member of the Repub ...
, U.S. congressman *
Jaye P. Morgan Jaye P. Morgan (born Mary Margaret Morgan) is a retired American popular music singer, actress, and game show panelist. Early life Morgan was born in Mancos in Montezuma County in far southwestern Colorado. Her family moved to California by t ...
, singer, actress, entertainer * James "Two Can" Murray, NASCAR crew chief *
Dick Smothers Richard Remick Smothers (born November 20, 1938) is an American actor, comedian, composer, and musician. He was half of the musical comedy team the Smothers Brothers, with his older brother Tom. Life and career Smothers was born in New York Ci ...
, entertainer *
Tom Smothers Thomas Bolyn Smothers III (born February 2, 1937) is an American comedian, composer and musician, best known as half of the musical comedy duo the Smothers Brothers, alongside his younger brother Dick. Early life Smothers was born in 1937 at ...
, entertainer *
Ryan Starr Tiffany Montgomery (born November 21, 1982), known professionally as Ryan Starr, is a singer who finished seventh on the first season of ''American Idol''. She went on to release a successful single on iTunes and participated in a handful of ...
, singer, reality TV star, travel blogger *
Steven A. White Steven Angelo White (September 18, 1928 – February 1, 2021) was a four-star admiral who served in the United States Navy from 1948 until 1985. He was the 19th and last Chief of Naval Material. Background Steven ("Steve") Angelo White was b ...
, admiral, U.S. Navy


Filming location

In proximity to the Hollywood movie industry, the school website claims that VHHS has been "the location of choice for more movies, television shows and commercials than any other school in the world". The school was a filming location in the following films, television movies, television series: Films * ''
Corvette Summer ''Corvette Summer'' is a 1978 American adventure comedy film directed by Matthew Robbins. It was Mark Hamill's first screen appearance after the unexpected success of '' Star Wars'' the previous year. Hamill stars as a California teenager who he ...
'' (1978) * ''
Almost Summer ''Almost Summer'' is a 1978 American comedy film directed by Martin Davidson, and produced by Motown Productions for Universal Pictures. It is the only Motown theatrical feature not to center on African-American characters. Set in a generic Southe ...
'' (1978) * ''
Christine Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' (1987 fil ...
'' (1983) * '' Better Off Dead'' (1985) * ''
River's Edge ''River's Edge'' is a 1986 American crime drama film directed by Tim Hunter, written by Neal Jimenez, and starring Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye Leitch, Daniel Roebuck and Dennis Hopper. It follows a group of teenagers in a Norther ...
'' (1987) * ''
Heathers ''Heathers'' is a 1989 American black comedy film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, and ...
'' (1988) * '' The Craft'' (1996) * ''
One Eight Seven ''One Eight Seven'' (also known as ''187'') is a 1997 American crime thriller film directed by Kevin Reynolds. It was the first top-billed starring role for Samuel L. Jackson, who plays a Los Angeles teacher caught with gang trouble in an urban ...
'' (1997) - As John Quincy Adams High School * '' Boys and Girls'' (2000) * ''
Clockstoppers ''Clockstoppers'' is a 2002 American science fiction action comedy film directed by Jonathan Frakes and produced by Gale Anne Hurd and Julia Pistor. The film stars Jesse Bradford, Paula Garcés, French Stewart, Michael Biehn, Robin Thomas, a ...
'' (February 2001) * ''
Not Another Teen Movie ''Not Another Teen Movie'' is a 2001 American teen parody film directed by Joel Gallen and written by Mike Bender, Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson, Phil Beauman, and Buddy Johnson. It features an ensemble cast including Chyler Leigh, Chris E ...
'' (March 2001) * ''Cursed'' (April 2003) * ''
Hercules in 3-D Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divinity, divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter (mythology), Jupiter and the mortal Alcmene, Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging ...
'' (November 2005) Television movies * ''
Scandal In A Small Town A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...
'' (1988) * ''
I Know My First Name Is Steven ''I Know My First Name Is Steven'' is a 1989 American television miniseries about kidnap victim Steven Stayner. The two-part miniseries was first broadcast by NBC on May 22 and 23, 1989. Screening rights were sold to a number of international t ...
'' (1989) * ''
The Tonya Harding Story ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
'' * ''
The Brady Bunch Reunion ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
'' * '' The Jacksons: An American Dream'' (1992) * ''
Other Mothers Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
'' (1993) * ''
The Great Mom Swap ''The Great Mom Swap'' is a 1995 American made for television comedy film directed by Jonathan Prince and starring Shelley Fabares, Valerie Harper, Mary Kate Schellhardt, Hillary Tuck, Sid Caesar, Andrew Kavovit and Kelsey Mulrooney. It is based ...
'' (1995) * '' Skipper'' * ''
Killing Mr. Griffin ''Killing Mr. Griffin'' is a 1978 suspense novel by Lois Duncan about a group of teenaged students at a New Mexico high school, who plan to kidnap their strict English teacher, Mr. Griffin. Duncan developed the story from the character of Mark, ...
'' (1997) * ''
Safety Patrol Junior safety patrol is a voluntary group of crossing guards involving older students helping younger students cross streets in elementary and middle schools across the United States. Both the Chicago Motor Club and the St. Paul Police starte ...
'' (1998) * ''
Gotta Kick It Up! ''Gotta Kick It Up!'' is a 2002 Disney Channel Original Movie. In the United States, it debuted on July 26, 2002. It is based on a true story of a middle school dance team. The film was directed by Ramón Menéndez. Plot A young executive turned ...
'' (June 2001) * '' 10 things I hate about you'' (2009) (Remake Movie) Television seriesOn Location! SERIES TELEVISION
" ''Verdugo Hills High School''. Accessed September 19, 2008.
* ''
Quantum Leap ''Quantum Leap'' is an American science fiction television series, created by Donald P. Bellisario, that premiered on NBC and aired for five seasons, from March 26, 1989, to May 5, 1993. The series stars Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a physi ...
'' * ''
Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran fo ...
'' * ''
My So-Called Life ''My So-Called Life'' is an American teen drama television series created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. It originally aired on ABC from August 25, 1994, to January 26, 1995. It is distributed by The B ...
'' (1994) * '' TV-101'' (1988–89) * ''
Dangerous Minds ''Dangerous Minds'' is a 1995 American drama film directed by John N. Smith and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. It is based on the autobiography ''My Posse Don't Do Homework'' by retired U.S. Marine LouAnne Johnson, who in 1989 too ...
'' (1996–97) * '' Moloney'' (1997) * '' Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction'' (1998) * '' Felicity'' (1998) * ''
Hyperion Bay ''Hyperion Bay'' is an American drama television series that ran for one season on The WB from September 21, 1998 to March 8, 1999. The series was partially filmed in Humboldt County, California, in the cities of Trinidad, Eureka, and Ferndale. ...
'' (1998) * '' Rescue 77'' (1999) * ''
Court TV Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former cable television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cove ...
'' (1999) * '' Once and Again'' (1999) * '' Get Real'' (1999) * ''
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...
'' (2001) *
Lifetime Television Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...
(November 2001) *
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
(December 2001) * ''
Miracles A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...
'' (2002, December) * ''
American Dreams ''American Dreams'' is an American drama television series that ran on NBC for three seasons & 61 episodes, from September 29, 2002, to March 30, 2005. The show tells the story of the Pryor family of Philadelphia during the mid-1960s, with many ...
'' (October and December 2002, January and March 2003, July 2004) * '' Summerland'' (October 2004) * ''
Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
'' (May 2005) * ''
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
'' (November 2006) * ''
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...
'' (2000- ) * ''
The Secret Life of the American Teenager ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' (often shortened to ''Secret Life'') is an American teen drama television series created by Brenda Hampton. It aired on ABC Family from July 1, 2008 to June 3, 2013. The series received mixed to som ...
'' (2008- ) * ''
Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008 to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club ope ...
'' (2008) * ''
The Glee Project ''The Glee Project'' is an American reality television series from Oxygen. It served as an audition for the Fox musical comedy series '' Glee'', and the prize for the winner was a minimum seven-episode arc in the following season of the show. ...
'' (2011) * ''
The Mindy Project ''The Mindy Project'' is an American romantic comedy television series created by and starring Mindy Kaling that began airing on Fox in September 2012 and finished its run of six seasons on Hulu in November 2017. The series was co-produced by Un ...
'' (2012) * '' The Bachelor'' (2016) * '' Little Fires Everywhere (2020) The music video of
Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...
's Bad Liar,
My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist Mi ...
's
Teenagers Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the t ...
, and Marilyn Manson's
Fight song A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...
are filmed at the school, as well as Disney Channel's Legendary.


References


External links


Verdugo Hills High School website


{{authority control Los Angeles Unified School District schools High schools in Los Angeles Sunland-Tujunga, Los Angeles High schools in the San Fernando Valley Public high schools in California Educational institutions established in 1937 1937 establishments in California