Alexander Hamilton High School is a public high school in the Castle Heights neighborhood within the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is in the Los Angeles Unified School District. It was established in 1931.
History
Alexander Hamilton High School opened in fall 1931, with Thomas Hughes Elson as the principal. It was designed by architects John C. Austin and Frederick C. Ashley. The three-story administration building held the administration, library, and science departments and 24 classrooms. Other buildings were a manual training building, another for physical training, and a fourth for the cafeteria and "domestic science." The capacity would be 1000, with plans permitting increasing to 2500. Building costs were $125,000 for the land, $400,000 for the structure, and $200,000 for equipment. Built in the Northern Italian Renaissance style, multicolored and patterned brickwork, elaborate cast stone decoration, and a bell tower clad in verdigris copper distinguish the building.
In May 1931, while Hamilton was under construction, architects Austin and Ashley were selected to design Griffith Observatory. Individually, each had designed a Carnegie library: Austin conceived the Anaheim Public Library (opened 1909), and Ashley drew up Los Angeles' Arroyo Seco branch library (opened 1914). Together, they had designed Monrovia High School (opened 1928 - its front stairs are like Hamilton's, and it also has a bell tower). Austin designed Los Angeles High School's third location (opened 1917; demolished 1971) and the Shrine Auditorium (opened 1926), and he was one of three designers of Los Angeles City Hall (opened January 1, 1928).
The school's builders were Sarver & Zoss. Three post offices they later built are on the National Register of Historic Places: the Beverly Hills Main Post Office (opened 1934); the San Pedro Post Office (opened 1935), and Los Angeles' Terminal Annex (opened 1940).
Austin & Ashley later designed Hamilton's $100,000, six-room, auditorium, Waidelich Hall which opened on April 20, 1937. Arthur George Waidelich was the second principal (1935-1936) and died at the school. In February 21, 1989, the auditorium was renamed Norman J. Pattiz Concert Hall. A brass plaque made by the industrial arts department to commemorate the 1937 dedication was removed during renovation.
Early photographs from the school's archives show the campus in its pre-World War II state, with only the main building completed. The photos show dozens of 1920s and 30s cars parked along Robertson Boulevard in front of the school. The bell tower still exists today, but no longer houses a working bell.
Today, there exist Brown Hall (which houses administrative offices, the library, and classrooms and is named in honor of Walker Brown, Principal (1940-1956), the lab building, the tech building, the humanities building, the music building, and other structures. There is a large Theater Hall, named Norman J. Pattiz Concert Hall), a cafeteria, two gym buildings (boys' and girls'), and a workshop building. On the west part of the campus is Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Distribution Station 20 and Cheviot Hills High School, a continuation school. The athletic fields include Al Michaels Field (a football and track stadium named for sportscaster Al Michaels, Hamilton's famous alum) and a community garden, the Hami Garden. The Hami Garden was a joint project funded by the South Robertson Neighborhood Council and the Hami High Environmental Club in 2009. It is maintained by community members and Hamilton High School students.
In 1932, its attendance boundaries extended as far north as Mulholland Highway. In fall 2007, some neighborhoods zoned to Hamilton were rezoned to Venice High School.
Demographics
As of 2011-2012
Small Learning Communities
Hamilton High is divided into six "small learning communities," or SLCs," which coordinate their own curricula and staff. They are:
- Academy of Music and Performing Arts
- Humanities Magnet, established in 1981
- CAA (Communication Arts Academy)
- Global Studies
- BIT (Business & Interactive Technology)
- MSM (Math Science Medical)
During the 2008/2009 school year, the L & M (Leadership & Management) was eliminated and the students were placed in the four remaining non-magnet SLCs.
Academy of Music and Performing Arts
The Music Academy gained national attention in June of 2002 when the Disney Channel premiered the reality TV show Totally in Tune, which chronicled members of the Academy's Symphony Orchestra.
The Music Academy is a Grammy-recognized school.
Co-curricular activities
Hamilton's school newspaper is called The Federalist, a reference to and the original name of The Federalist papers initiated and largely written by Alexander Hamilton. The Federalist has been archived by the Hamilton High Alumni Association.
The Humanities Magnet operates an editorial called "Die WeltanshauunG" ("World View").
Neighborhoods zoned to Hamilton
Keystone-Mentone complex, a student family housing facility of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), is zoned to Hamilton. Rose Avenue Apartments was previously zoned to Hamilton, but was rezoned to Venice High School in 2007.
Feeder schools
Palms Middle School, Webster Middle School and Marina Del Rey Middle School feed into Hamilton. Louis Pasteur JHS (now LACES), fed some of its graduates to Hamilton.
Notable alumni
- Jess Gonzalez, COO, Know It All Now, Corp.
Filming location
The school has been used for several movies, television shows, and music videos.
TV Shows
Movies
Music Videos
References
External links
- Hamilton High Home Page
- Hamilton High Alumni Association