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Birmingham High School: Encyclopedia BETAFree Encyclopedia |
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Birmingham High School is a public coeducational high school in the neighbord/district of Lake Balboa in the city of Los Angeles, California. The school is 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. HistoryThis school was built on the site of Birmingham General Hospital. This facility was a U. S. Army hospital that operated primarily as a rehabilation 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. In 1948, the hospital was closed.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 to a six-year campus until 1963, when the northern part of the campus became William Mulholland Junior High School. The original name of the teams was the Braves; this name was changed to the Patriots in the late 1990s when the LAUSD Board of Education voted to do away with team mascots depicting native Americans. From 1976 to 1979, the San Fernando Valley's first professional sports team, the Los Angeles Skyhawks of the American Soccer League, played their home games at Birmingham stadium. They won the 1976 ASL championship 2-1 over the New York Apollo in front of over 9,000 fans there. Birmingham High School has been used as the backdrop for many music videos and commercials, such as the music video for Gwen Stefani's song "Hollaback Girl". In addition, the prom scene in the horror movie Carrie was filmed at Birmingham; the building that Carrie telepathically burns down was the gymnasium at Birmingham (not really burned down - just special effects). 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. AcademicsBirmingham 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. In addition, elective classes in a variety if 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 Creative Arts Academy *Business and Technology Academy *9th Grade Success Academy *Communication/Technology MagnetIn addition, many other progems such as Humanitas, AVID, and School for Advanced Studies are available to students. SportsBirmingham High School has a long tradition of producing championship teams in a variety of sports. Among the many outstanding teams are Football (1963, 2002, and 2004 L A City Champions), Basketball, Volleyball, Baseball, Softball, Soccer (2006 L A City Boys Champions), Cross-country, Tennis, Golf, Track and Field, and Swimming and Diving.Many students participating in sports come from throughout the city of Los Angeles specifically to play sports at Birmingham. This is especially true for those on the Swimming and Diving teams, since Birmingham is one of the few schools in LAUSD with its own pool. The current Basketball coach is Andre McCarter, MVP for the Rochester Zeniths of the Continental Basketball Association in the 1978-9 season. McCarter played on UCLA's national champinship teams in the early 1970s inder John Wooden. ArtsDrama has been one of the programs that has drawn students to Birmingham throughout the years. The Drama Academy is the latest embodiment of this program, which has seen teams from Birmingham win competitions throughout the world.The visual arts are supported through a digital video and animation program run through the Communications Technology Magnet, as well as graphic art programs taught through the host school. Notable alumniThis is a selective listing of notable alumni.*Sally Field - actress *Terry Gilliam - Monty Python member, film producer, director, and animator *Linda Lingle - Governor of Hawai'i *Michael Milken - financier/philanthropist *Barry Minkow - infamous entrepreneur turned Christian fraud expert *Bobby Sherman - singer and actor *Michael Ovitz - talent agent *Daniel Pearl - journalist/kidnap victim *Karen Valentine - actress External links*Birmingham High School - official website
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