Westminster High School is a public high school located in

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in western Orange County, California, United States. Westminster was founded in 1870 by Rev. Lemuel Webber as a Presbyterian Temperance movement, temperance colony and was incorporated in 1957. Westminster is bordered by ...

. 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 eight sites, offering courses ...

. 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 1,350 enrolled students. It i ...

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 Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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

Queen's Guard The King's Guard are Picket (military), sentry postings at Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace, organised by the British Army's Household Division. The Household Division also guard mounting, mounts sentry postings at Horse Guards (buildi ...

, 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. Most species in the list are officially designated. Some species hold only an "unofficial" status. Additionally, the list includes animals t ...

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 the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

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'', 96% of Westminster's student body is "of color," with 87% 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 (CI ...

. 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' 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 Student competition, high school academic competition organized by the non-profit United States Academic Decathlon (USAD). The competition consists of seven objective mult ...

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. Westminster Stunt won the Golden West League title in 2024.

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 w ...

, 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 Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

for 12 seasons. * Ryan Klesko, former MLB Player for 13 years with the Braves, Padres and Giants. * Debbie Green-Vargas, Olympic volleyball player *

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

, American director, producer, and screenwriter of SNL, Roseanne and "Wayne's World". * Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen, co-host of Thuy Nga's ''

Paris By Night ''Paris by Night'' (commonly abbreviated as ''PBN'') is a direct-to-video series featuring Vietnamese-language musical variety shows produced by Thúy Nga Productions. Hosted mainly by Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn and Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên, the ...

'' * Richard Brown (born 1965), Former NFL Player with the Rams, Chargers, Browns and Vikings. * Van Tuinei - 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 best known as the former lead guitarist and co-founder of the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, being the oldest of the four origin ...

(Bob Deal) of

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sol ...

, 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 telev ...

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

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player for the

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

Tyler Mahle Tyler Fermin Mahle ( ; born September 29, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cincinnati Reds and Minnesota Twins. Mahle made his MLB de ...

player for the

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

* Randy Steven Kraft convicted rapist and murderer, class of 1963 * Eddie Bane

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) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

. Class of 1970 *

Bill Tiller William Tiller is an American computer game designer, writer, and artist. At LucasArts, he was the lead artist and art director of ''The Dig (video game), The Dig'', the lead background artist on ''The Curse of Monkey Island'', and the lead arti ...

American computer game designer, writer, and artist. Class of 1987 * Randy Kraft Californian gay rapist and serial killer. Class of 1963

References

External links

Westminster High School
* ttp://www.whslionsbasketball.com/ Westminster 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