Belmont Senior High School is a public
high school located at 1575 West 2nd Street in the
Westlake community of
Los Angeles,
California,
United States.
The school, which serves grades 6 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. It is also considered the largest school in the United States, with 5,336 students. The enrollment is going to be split by the
Edward R. Roybal (formerly Belmont) Learning Center in Fall 2008. The school colors are green and black and the teams are called the Sentinels.
History
Belmont High School 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. A Joseph Young created masaics mural is located on the main building wall.
Belmont Athletic Field, with Los Angeles City Hall at left corner
In a 1991
Los Angeles Times article a person named Jerry Majewski said that the surrounding community is "dangerous but you learn to be a survivor. You just got to find the right people to hang around with that'll carry you through while you're here."
[Ramos, Lydia. "." Los Angeles Times. May 2, 1991. Nuestro Tiempo, Metro Desk. Page 4.]By 2000 LAUSD devised plans to relieve Belmont of many of its students, and in 2006, the
Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, which began sharing its attendance zone with Belmont, opened and relieved Belmont.
Beginning around 2005, Belmont began a major modernization. The school was renovated, and new paint, bathrooms, doors, walls, and ceiling tiles were added. Facilities were also updated throughout the school campus to accommodate those with special needs (e.g. wheelchair ramps).
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.
Furthermore, Central Los Angeles Area High School 9 opened in 2008 to relieve Belmont. Central Los Angeles High School 11 (
Edward R. Roybal (formerly Belmont) Learning Center) and Central Los Angeles High School 12 will open in 2009 and relieve Belmont. There are also plans to reconfigure the existing Belmont High School into a 6-12 school by 2010 , Facilities and Services division, L.A. Schools..
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 current newspaper, which is published regularly since 2004, is called
The Crown Hill Crier. For more than 75 years, the newspaper was the
Belmont Sentinel. The
Campanile is the name of the Yearbook published every June. The
Campanile was also the name of the
bell tower that was part of the main building of the old campus.
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. The school library was named in honor of her alumnus
Jack Smith, who was an author and long time columnist for the
Los Angeles Times.
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 2008-2009 school year, Belmont hosts the following SLC's:
- School of Awareness and Global Education (SAGE)
- Los Angeles Academy of Medical and Public Service (LAAMPS)
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
Edward R. Roybal (formerly 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
The following schools feed into Belmont:
- Nightingale Middle School
Alma Mater
Hail to Alma Mater
Yes, we love our old Crown Hill
We proudly share her glory
Our duty to fulfill
We love and honor Belmont
We will hold her staunch and sure
"Enter to learn, go forth to serve"
Is our motto that will endure
Notable Alumni
- John Beradino, (born Giovanni Berardino), actor, major league baseball player
- Corey Paul, baseball player, Seattle Mariners, Seibu Lions, Calgary Vipers, Saltillo Saraperos.
