| Belmont Senior High School | |
| School type | Public |
|---|---|
| Established | September 11, 1923 |
| District | Los Angeles Unified School District |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Principal | Gary Yoshinobu |
| Students | 4,500 |
| Colors | green, black |
| Location | 1575 West Second Street Los Angeles, California  United States |
| Website | Official website |
Belmont Senior High School is a public high school located at 1575 West 2nd Street in Downtown Los Angeles.
The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Belmont High School is the largest public school in the city of Los Angeles and the largest school in California, due to the density of the Westlake district, which it serves. The enrollment was supposed to be split by the yet-to-be-finished Belmont Learning Center. The school colors are green and black and the teams are called the Sentinels.
History
Belmont opened in 1923.
The Hotel Belmont was the first noteworthy building to stand atop Crown Hill, the present site of Belmont High School. Eventually, the hotel was abandoned, and later it was transformed into the private Belmont School for Girls. After the school was destroyed by fire, the grounds were left vacant, except for five oil wells and a pumping plant.On February 28, 1921, the Los Angeles Board of Education purchased the site for $100,000, for the purpose of constructing Belmont High School.
Belmont opened its doors on September 11, 1923, to about 500 students, all sophomores, and 28 faculty members. Most of the school's traditions were created by those pioneer students during the first months of the school's existence. The school newspaper conducted an election to select its name, with "Sentinel" easily winning over "Progress." To this day, Belmont's students are known as Sentinels. Those first students favored “Sentinels" because they were able to oversee the entire city from their "lookout" on Crown Hill. In another election, the school's colors, green and black, were selected over brown and white.
In the 1990s and 2000s, LAUSD tried to devise plans to relieve Belmont of many of its students [1].
In 2006, the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, which began sharing its attendance zone with Belmont, opened and relieved Belmont [2].
Beginning in 2005/2006, Belmont began a major modernization. The fourth, third, second, and first floors of the main building were renovated. New paint, bathrooms, doors, and ceiling tiles were also added.
In 2007, the West Adams Preparatory High School opened and relieved Belmont; a section of the Manual Arts High School attendance zone was transferred to Belmont [3].
Two high schools, Central Los Angeles Area High School 9 [4] [5] and Central Los Angeles High School 11 (Belmont Learning Center) [6], will open in 2008 and relieve Belmont. Central Los Angeles High School 12 will open in 2009 [7] and relieve Belmont.
There are plans to reconfigure the existing Belmont High School into a 6-12 school by 2010 [8].
School Information
Belmont High School, is home to the Sentinels, which is the name applied to all sports teams. The school colors are green and black. The newspaper, which is published regularly, is called The Crown Hill Crier. The Campanile is the name of the Yearbook published every June.
Belmont is known for having competitive sports teams. As a result, Belmont has a well-known, longstanding rivalry with Marshall High School. Belmont students have a wide variety of sports teams to choose from. Football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, and tennis are several of the sports teams that students can join. For over six decades, the Sentinels have competed in the Northern League of the California Interscholastic Federation Los Angeles City Section.
Belmont houses several computer labs throughout the school campus which students may use for school research. In addition, every classroom has at least two computers with Internet access.
Mission Statement
The following mission statement can be found at various locations on the school campus:
"The mission of Belmont High School is to educate our diverse student body in a safe, nurturing environment and to promote life-long learning, responsible citizenship, and success in a rapidly changing world."
Belmont High School Small Learning Communities
Belmont High School hosts several Small Learning Communities (SLC's; also called academies) which specialize in a field of study. Students not enrolled in an SLC are placed in one of the track "Houses".
As of the 2007-2008 school year, Belmont hosts the following SLC's:
A Track:
- Computer Science
- Multimedia
- Visual Arts and Humanities
B Track:
- School of Awareness and Global Education (SAGE)
- Los Angeles Academy of Medical and Public Service (LAAMPS)
C Track:
- Activists for Educational Empowerment (AEE)
- Business and Finance
- The International School of Languages
Neighborhoods served by Belmont
Much of the school-age population of areas served by Belmont, such as sections of the Pico-Union and Westlake areas, must be bused to schools in the San Fernando Valley, owing to delays in the construction of the Belmont Learning Center (just west of the Harbor Freeway at 1st and Beaudry) and overcrowding at the area's other schools.
Other areas served by Belmont include Angelino Heights, Chinatown, Koreatown, and Little Tokyo.
Belmont shares its attendance zone with Contreras, so all students zoned to Belmont are also zoned to Contreras.
Feeder patterns
Virgil Middle School, Hollenbeck Middle School, Nightingale Middle School, King Middle School, and Berendo Middle School feed into Belmont.
| Year | Student Enrollment |
|---|---|
| 1993-1994 | 4,458 |
| 1994-1995 | 4,723 |
| 1995-1996 | 4,750 |
| 1996-1997 | 4,969 |
| 1997-1998 | 5,160 |
| 1998-1999 | 5,296 |
| 1999-2000 | 5,305 |
| 2000-2001 | 5,264 |
| 2001-2002 | 5,447 |
| 2002-2003 | 5,410 |
| 2003-2004 | 5,299 |
| 2004-2005 | 5,213 |
Notable alumni
- Ron Botchan, NFL official
- Richard Crenna, actor
- Craig Ellwood, architect
- Mike Frankovich, film producer
- Luis (Lou) Gomez, MLB player
- Young-Oak Kim, highly decorated combat veteran
- Ricardo Montalban, actor
- Anthony Quinn, actor
- Mort Sahl, humorist
Mike Stoller , songwriter- Jack Webb, producer, director, actor
- Jack Smith, journalist
- Robert Lyles, NFL player
- Sidney Thompson, LAUSD Superintendent
- Ralph Lazo, activist
- Sal Castro, activist (faculty)
- Tony Feliz, musician (faculty)
- Dentler Erdmann, educator (faculty)
- Tom Arima, educator/coach
External links
| Los Angeles Unified School District District 4 | |
|---|---|
| 7-12 Schools | Eagle Rock High School |
| High Schools | Belmont • Contreras LC • Fairfax • Franklin • Hollywood • Marshall |
| Alternative High Schools | Downtown Magnets |
| Middle Schools | Bancroft • Le Conte • Virgil |
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