| Revision as of 20:30, 9 February 2010 edit93.32.117.82 (talk) →Pop culture← Previous edit | Revision as of 07:36, 23 February 2010 edit undoSoledad22 (talk | contribs)327 edits →Notable alumniNext edit → | ||
| Line 76: | Line 76: | ||
| *] - director, actor (]) | *] - director, actor (]) | ||
| *] (1973) - singer, songwriter | *] (1973) - singer, songwriter | ||
| *] - financier/philanthropist<ref name="LATimesarticle"/> | *] - financier/swindler/philanthropist<ref name="LATimesarticle"/> | ||
| *] - actor (]) | *] - actor (]) | ||
| *Jeremy Licht (1989) - actor (]) | *Jeremy Licht (1989) - actor (]) | ||
Revision as of 07:36, 23 February 2010
Public school| Birmingham High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Lake Balboa, Los Angeles, California | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1953 |
| School district | Los Angeles Unified School District |
| Principal | Marsha Coates |
| Faculty | 160 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 3,641 |
| Color(s) | Blue and Gold |
| Athletics | CIF Los Angeles City Section |
| Athletics conference | West Valley League |
| Mascot | Patriots (formerly the Braves) |
| Website | Official website |
Birmingham High School is a public coeducational high school in the neighborhood/district of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles, California, United States. The school was a part of District One of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). It was founded in 1953 as a 7-12 grade combined high school, and became solely a senior high school in 1963. The school has a Van Nuys address.
On July 1, 2009, the LAUSD Board of Education voted to allow the high school to become a charter school under the name Birmingham Community Charter High School.
Birmingham serves Lake Balboa, parts of Encino, and Amestoy Estates.
History
This school was built on the site of Birmingham General Hospital. This facility was a United States Army hospital that operated primarily as a rehabilitation center for soldiers injured during World War II. It was named after Col. Henry Patrick Birmingham, a senior officer in the Medical Corps who died in 1930. The hospital closed in 1948.
The site was acquired by Los Angeles City Schools in the early 1950s (for the token price of $1), and became the home to Birmingham Junior High School in 1953. The school expanded into a six-year campus in 1956. In 1963, the northern part of the campus became William Mulholland Junior High School.
The original name of the sports teams were the Braves; this name was changed to the Patriots in 1998 when the LAUSD Board of Education voted to eliminate team mascots depicting American Indians due to the threat of a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. This was in spite of the fact the school was dedicated by Jay Silverheels (Tonto) and five gathered Native-American Chiefs from the San Fernando Valley Indian Council .
In January 2006, The Los Angeles Times published a series of articles discussing the graduation/dropout rate at the school and how it relates to the rate for the rest of LAUSD.
Pop culture
Birmingham High School has been used as the backdrop for numerous music videos, commercials, and television shows such as the music video for Missy Elliot's song Gossip Folks, Gwen Stefani's song "Hollaback Girl", Corbin Bleu's song "Push It to the Limit" and Lil Wayne's Prom Queen. Also, in 2007 an episode of America's Next Top Model was filmed there. Other shows filmed at Birmingham High School include Nip/Tuck, NCIS, Cold Case, Scrubs, The Office and Monk.
The school's football field was used as a set for the shoot of the music video for Angels & Airwaves Everything's Magic (the first single to their new CD, I-Empire). The track, surrounding the football field, also served as the location for the relay race scene starring Kirk Cameron in Like Father Like Son. An episode of Full House was filmed there, with Danny, Jessy, and Joey running a race around the track. In addition, Fanny Pak of America's Best Dance Crew comes to the dance studio to practice before they go on tour.
In June 2009 Los Angeles Schools superintendent Ramon C. Cortines objected to photographs of the school's football team posing with comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in his guise as Bruno that appeared in GQ magazine.
Academics
Birmingham High School offers students a full range of subjects in its academic curriculum. All students study a core curriculum of Math, English, science, Social Studies, and Foreign Languages. There is also a Deaf and Hard of Hearing program. In addition, Elective classes in a variety of subjects are offered, including music, drama, and the visual arts. The school has recently created a number of Small Learning Communities (SLCs). Some of these include:
- Renaissance Academy
- Medicine and Sports Academy
- Social Justice Academy
- Performing and Visual Arts Academy
- Business and Technology Academy
- 9th Grade Success Academy
- Creative and Liberal Arts
In addition, many other programs such as Humanitas, AVID, and School for Advanced Studies are available to students.
Sports
Birmingham High School has a long tradition of producing championship teams in a variety of sports. Among the many outstanding teams are Football (1963, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007 Los Angeles City Champions), Basketball, Volleyball, Baseball, Softball, Soccer (2006 LA City Boys Champions), Cross-country, Tennis, Golf, Track and Field, Swimming and Diving (2007 and 2008 runner up) and Water Polo (2007 Valley League Champions and 2008 CIF champions). Birmingham was also the Los Angeles City Champions for Swimming for the entire decade of the 1960s - 12 straight years.
From 2003-04 to 2006-07, the Basketball coach was Andre McCarter, MVP for the Rochester Zeniths of the Continental Basketball Association in the 1978-79 season. McCarter played on UCLA's national championship teams in the early 1970s under John Wooden.
Birmingham's new head coach for the 2007-08 season will be Jarvis Turner, who played under Henry Bibby at USC in the early 1990s and was formerly the freshman team coach at Harvard Westlake School in North Hollywood.
In the 2008-09 school year, Birmingham introduced a Lacrosse team which took 2nd place in The Los Angeles City Championship Tournament.
Notable alumni
Selective listing of notable alumni:
- Sally Field - actress
- Terry Gilliam - director, actor (Monty Python)
- Jermaine Jackson (1973) - singer, songwriter
- Michael Milken - financier/swindler/philanthropist
- Robert Newman - actor (Guiding Light)
- Jeremy Licht (1989) - actor (The Hogan Family)
- Michael Ovitz - talent agent
- Daniel Pearl - journalist
- Paul Rodriguez Jr. - professional skateboarder.
- Bobby Sherman - actor
- Cindy Williams - actress
- Tim Conway Jr. - radio personality (The Tim Conway Jr. Show)
- Karen Valentine - actress
- Jeron Wilson - Professional Skateboarder
- Linda Lingle - Republican Governor of Hawaii
- Tia Mowry - Actress
- Tamera Mowry - actress
References
- ^ Back to Basics: Why Does High School Fail So Many? - Los Angeles Times
- "LA schools chief fumes over 'Bruno' school photos. (June 30, 2009) Associated Press
- Spotlight on LAUSD Alumni
External links
- Birmingham High School - official website
"Los Angeles County, California" is an invalid category parameter for Template:Coord missing.
The problem is usually caused either by a spelling mistake or by an-over-precise category.
For a full list of categories, see Category:Unclassified articles missing geocoordinate data and its subcategories.