NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Taft High School (Los Angeles)

William Howard Taft High School is a public school located on Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, USA, within the Los Angeles Unified School District. The term public school has three distinct meanings: In the USA and Canada, elementary or secondary school supported and administered by state and local officials. ... Woodland Hills, California in the foreground, including Warner Center. ... The term public school has three distinct meanings: In the USA and Canada, elementary or secondary school supported and administered by state and local officials. ... Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. ... Woodland Hills, California in the foreground, including Warner Center. ... San Fernando Valley from its southwestern edge. ... Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... The Los Angeles Unified School District (the LAUSD) is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. ...

Several areas, including portions of Woodland Hills, Tarzana and Melody Acres [1], are zoned to Taft. In addition, residents of Topanga, an unincorporated section of Los Angeles County, may attend Taft or Palisades Charter High School. Tarzana (California) Tarzana (IPA: [tÉ‘É¹ËˆzÃ¦nÉ™]) is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. ... Topanga, California is an unincorporated area in western Los Angeles County, California, USA. Its located in the Santa Monica Mountains and occupies Topanga Canyon. ... Map of California showing Los Angeles County. ... Palisades Charter High School (usually abbreviated as Pali High, PaliHi, or uncommonly as PCHS / PHS ) is a secondary school in Los Angeles, California, United States. ...

History

Taft opened in 1960 [2]. Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In May 2007 teachers from Taft began negotiations with Green Dot, a charter school operator [3]. For other uses, see May (disambiguation). ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

Sports

Taft is home to winning football and basketball programs. Taft sent many players to division one programs and professional sports. Most recently, former All-American Steve Smith had three touchdown receptions for the University of Southern California in the 2005 National Championship game against Oklahoma and is now a professional NFL receiver for the New York Giants. Steve Smith (born May 6, 1985 in Alaska) is an American football wide receiver for the New York Giants. ... The Trojan Shrine, better known as Tommy Trojan located in the center of University of Southern California campus. ... University of Oklahoma, abbreviated OU, is a coeducational public research university located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. ...

Jordan Farmar recently drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2006 also graduated from Taft in 2004. Jordan Robert Farmar (born November 30, 1986) is an American professional basketball player and starting point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers. ... The Los Angeles Lakers are a National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Los Angeles, California. ...

In 2005 Taft Boys Football played Crenshaw High School for LA City Football championship, and although they lost, Taft still has one of the best football programs in Southern California. Crenshaw High School is a secondary school located in South Los Angeles, California. ...

The Boys Volleyball team have been city champions multiple times, winning the city championship in 1999, 2000, and 2001, while also making the city finals in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

In 2006, the Taft Boys Track Team, led by Coach Richard Rucker, pulled a city championship win

In 2006, the Taft Girls Basketball Team pulled a city championship win against Washington High School. Washington High School (WHS) is one of the five Fremont, California public high schools which was established in 1892. ...

In 2006, the Taft Girls Volleyball Team, led by Coach Arman Mercado, pulled a city championship win against San Pedro High School. San Pedro High School is a public high school located in the San Pedro section of Los Angeles, California. ...

In 2007, the Taft Boys Tennis Team, led by Captains Josh Tchan and Justin Gold, stunned Los Angeles with a sterling City Championship win against Palisades Charter High School with a score of 21-8.5, it was Taft's first Tennis City Championship since 1983. Palisades Charter High School (usually abbreviated as Pali High, PaliHi, or uncommonly as PCHS / PHS ) is a secondary school in Los Angeles, California, United States. ...

In 2007, the Taft Boys Track Team, led by Coach Richard Rucker, pulled a city championship win

By far the most notable sporting achievement by the Toreadors was their 1998 Los Angeles City 4A Football championship over the Banning Pilots of Wilmington.

Academics

Taft is home to the renowned Individualized Honors Program, led by Dr. Arthur Berchin. This program sends over 80% of its students into the UC system, and holds approximately 120 students per calendar year. UC may refer to: MC++, also Î¼C++ and uC++, an extension of the C++ programming language designed for concurrent programming Microcontroller, as uC derived from Î¼C, a computer-on-a-chip used to control electronic devices Ultra Cricket, a play-by-e-mail cricket game created by Tim Astley Ulcerative...

Taft is also home to a top notch Speech and Debate under the leadership of Doug Lasken that has proven itself as a dominant team within the Tri Valley Forensics League, sending 10 to the State Competition held in Sacramento, California and 3 (Brittany Gorin, Shawn Danino, and Alex Bigman) to the National Forensics League National Competition held in Texas. Look up speech, speaking, utter, gab in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Debate (North American English) or debating (British English) is a formal method of interactive and position representational argument. ... Sacramento redirects here. ... For other uses, see Texas (disambiguation). ...

Taft has also seen repeated success in the United States Academic Decathlon, Winning Nationals in 1989, 1994, and 2006. The United States Academic Decathlon (USAD; often abbreviated to AD, Acadeca, Acadec or even AcDec) is one of the premier academic competitions for high school students in the United States. ...

Taft has also won the Los Angeles Regional Competition every year since 1994, with the exception of 1999 and 2007. The 2007 team proved to challenge the former standards of elitism held for Academic Decathlon at Taft.

In 2006 a new academy called the Visual And Performing Arts Academy (VAPA) was created. It combines the vocal music, instumental music, drama, dance, and art departments and puts focus on the arts in academic subjects.

The arch-rival school is El Camino Real High School also located in Woodland Hills.

Notable Alumni

Brad Wilk (born September 5, 1968 in Portland, Oregon) is an American drummer, famous for being the drummer in Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. ... Rage Against the Machine (also Rage and RATM) is an American rock band, noted for their blend of hip hop, heavy metal, punk and funk as well as their revolutionary politics and lyrics. ... Bruce Gary (7 April 1951 in Burbank, California - 22 August 2006 in Tarzana, California) was most widely known as the drummer of the music group The Knack. ... Char Fontane was an American actress. ... Cherie Currie on The Runaways eponymous debut album Cherie Currie (born November 30, 1959) is a rock and roll singer and actress. ... Craig Werner Buck (born August 24, 1958) is a former volleyball player form the United States, who was a member of the American Mens National Team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics. ... Dale Launer is an American comedy screenwriter. ... 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Dave Koz (March 27, 1963) is a homosexual American jazz saxophonist. ... Duffy Waldorf (born August 20, 1962, Los Angeles, California), joined the PGA tour in 1985. ... There are several notable people named Eric Wright. ... Eazy-E (Eric Wright) (September 7, 1963 - March 26, 1995) was an African-American rapper, record producer, and record executive who initially rose to fame as a member of the group N.W.A.. Born in Compton, California, Eazy-E dropped out of Compton High School while in tenth grade... Everlast (born Erik Schrody, August 18, 1969 in Valley Stream, New York) is an Irish-American rapper and singer-songwriter, known for his genre-crossing mix of rap and acoustic-based rock music. ... Everlast (born Erik Schrody, August 18, 1969 in Valley Stream, New York) is an American singer-songwriter, known for his genre-crossing mix of rap and acoustic-based rock music. ... Gabriel Stefan Gabe Kapler (born August 31, 1975, Hollywood, California) is a free agent outfielder, who has played portions of 9 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, and Boston Red Sox. ... Jan Smithers on the cover of Newsweek, March 21, 1966 Karin Jan Smithers (born July 3, 1949) is an American television and film actress. ... WKRP in Cincinnati (1978-1982) was an American situation comedy that featured the misadventures of the staff of a struggling radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is a Golden Globe-winning and Emmy Award-nominated American actor. ... Jeffrey Michael Fisher (born February 25, 1958) is an American football head coach, currently the head coach of the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League. ... City Nashville, Tennessee Team colors Navy, Titan Blue, White, and Red Head Coach Jeff Fisher Owner Bud Adams General manager Mike Reinfeldt Mascot T-Rac League/Conference affiliations American Football League (1960â€“1969) Eastern Division (1960â€“1969) National Football League (1970â€“present) American Football Conference (1970â€“present) AFC Central (1970... Jeffrey (Jeff) Malcolm Stork (born July 8, 1960 in Longview, Washington) is an former American volleyball player, who was a member of the United States mens national volleyball team that won the gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. ... Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin on September 22, 1960) is an American rock guitarist, singer, producer and actress. ... Jonathan Lovitz (born July 21, 1957 in Tarzana, California) is an American actor and comedian perhaps best known as a cast member of Saturday Night Live and for his show The Critic. ... Jordan Robert Farmar (born November 30, 1986) is an American professional basketball player and starting point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers. ... The Los Angeles Lakers are a National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Los Angeles, California. ... Justine Bateman (born February 19, 1966, in Rye, New York) is an American actress, born to Kent (a film producer), and Victoria (a Maltese-American flight attendant) Bateman. ... Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan, Ph. ... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (IPA [ËˆnÃ¦sÉ™]) is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... Astronaut Bruce McCandless on an untethered EVA Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth and outside of his or her spacecraft. ... Kevin Kennedy (born May 26, 1954) is a former manager in Major League Baseball and a current television host for Fox Sports baseball coverage. ... Major league affiliations American League (1961â€“present) West Division (1972â€“present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 26, 34, 42 Name Texas Rangers (1972â€“present) Washington Senators (1961-1971) Other nicknames None in common use Ballpark Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (1994â€“present) a. ... Major league affiliations American League (1901â€“present) East Division (1969â€“present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 4, 8, 9, 27, 42 Name Boston Red Sox (1908â€“present) Boston Americans (1901-1907) Other nicknames The BoSox, The Olde Towne Team, The Sox Ballpark Fenway Park (1912â€“present) Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds... Lawrence Edward Dierker (born September 22, 1946 in Hollywood, California) is a former pitcher and manager in Major League Baseball who had a 14-year playing career from 1964 to 1977 and a 5-year career leading the Houston Astros from 1997 to 2001. ... Major league affiliations National League (1962â€“present) Central Division (1994â€“present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 5, 24, 25, 32, 33, 34, 40, 42, 49 Name Houston Astros (1965â€“present) Houston Colt . ... Larry Yount born on Feb 15, 1950 in Houston, Texas is the older brother of Hall of Famer Robin Yount. ... Lisa Marie Diane Kudrow (born July 30, 1963) is an Emmy Award- and SAG-winning American actress best known for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the popular television sitcom Friends. ... Maureen Denise McCormick (born August 5, 1956) is an American actress, reality show participant and recording artist. ... The Brady Bunch was a US television situation comedy, based around a large family. ... Michael Rich is Executive Vice President of the RAND Corporation, the institutions second-ranking position. ... Alternate meanings: See RAND (disambiguation) The RAND Corporation is an American think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the U.S. military. ... For the American emcee and actor, see Ice Cube. ... Ralph Pierre LaCock (born January 17, 1952 in Burbank, California) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman/outfielder. ... Peter Laurence Gordon (born June 20, 1951 in New York City) is an American experimental composer and musician, whose music draws from influences as diverse as jazz, opera, rock and world music. ... Quincy D. Watts (born June 19, 1970) is a former American athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1992 Summer Olympics. ... Frederick Steven Auerbach (born February 15, 1950 in Woodland Hills, California) was an shortstop in Major League Baseball. ... Robin Gayle Wright Penn (born April 8, 1966) is an American film actress. ... Robin Rachel Yount (born September 16, 1955 in Danville, Illinois) is a former Major League Baseball player who spent his entire career with the Milwaukee Brewers (1974-1994). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Oingo Boingo (disambiguation). ... Steve Hartman (born July 4, 1958 in Hollywood, California) is currently the co-host of the Loose Cannons sports talk show on KLAC radio in Los Angeles, California (along with ex-Los Angeles Laker player and current team radio broadcaster Mychal Thompson and Vic Jacobs, known as The Brick), and... Steve Smith (born May 6, 1985 in Alaska) is a college football wide receiver. ... The Trojan Shrine, better known as Tommy Trojan located in the center of University of Southern California campus. ... The wide receiver (WR) position in American and Canadian football is the pass-catching specialist. ... For the FM104 breakfast show, see The Strawberry Alarm Clock Strawberry Alarm Clock was a psychedelic rock band from Los Angeles, known for their 1967 hit Incense and Peppermints. They are often thought of as a one-hit wonder, although they charted two Top 40 songs. ... Susan Marie Olsen (born August 14, 1961) is an American actress, radio, television personality and talk show hostess. ... The Brady Bunch was a US television situation comedy, based around a large family. ... Taco Wallace (born April 18, 1981 in Canoga Park, California) is an American football wide receiver. ... The Electric Prunes are a rock band who first achieved international attention as an experimental psychedelic group in the late 1960s, and contributed two tracks to the soundtrack of Easy Rider. ... Wilmer Valderrama (born January 30, 1980) is a Venezuelan-American comic actor best known for the role of Fez in the sitcom That 70s Show and as the host of the MTV series Yo Momma. ... That 70s Show logo That 70s Show is a Fox Network television sitcom centered around the lives of a group of teenagers living in the fictional suburb of Point Place, near Green Bay, Wisconsin, during the late 1970s. ... Jeremy Zach Goodman(November 20 1990) is a Table-Tennis player and National Champion. ...

In the media

Taft starred as the high school used in 1976's The Boy in the Plastic Bubble with John Travolta, 1985's Mask (film), starring Cher, 1995's The Brady Bunch Movie , 2005's American Pie: Band Camp, 2007's Keith starring Pop Superstar, Jesse McCartney. Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Boy in the Plastic Bubble is a 1976 made-for-TV movie inspired by the lives of David Vetter and Ted DeVita, who had to live in containers that protected them from all pathogens, since they lacked effective immune systems. ... John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor, dancer, and singer. ... Mask is a 1985 film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, and starring Cher and Eric Stoltz. ... The Brady Bunch Movie is a 1995 comedy adaptation of the 1969-1974 television series The Brady Bunch. ... Keith is an independent film directed by Todd Kessler. ... Jesse McCartney (born April 9, 1987) is an American pop singer songwriter and Daytime Emmy-nominated actor. ...

Taft High was mentioned in the pop-up version of the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical (2006) as the winner of the United States Academic Decathlon. This is a list of movies produced for the U.S. cable channel Disney Channel. ... For other uses, see High School Musical (disambiguation). ... The United States Academic Decathlon (USAD; often abbreviated to AD, Acadeca, Acadec or even AcDec) is one of the premier academic competitions for high school students in the United States. ...

Also, Taft has been featured in many commercials, most recently for Home Depot, Skittles and the video game Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. ... Skittles (sport) is the sport from which bowling originated. ... Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a computer and video game that is based on the fifth installment of the popular Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling and the film adaptation, for Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox...

External links

Categories: Los Angeles Unified School District schools | Educational institutions established in 1960 The Los Angeles Unified School District (the LAUSD) is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. ... Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies (also Sherman Oaks CES or SOCES) is a (magnet) public school in the San Fernando Valley, Southern California, United States. ... Birmingham High School is a public coeducational high school in the neighborhood/district of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley section of the city of Los Angeles, California. ... Canoga Park High School is a public school located in Canoga Park in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, USA, within the Los Angeles Unified School District. ... Grover Cleveland High School is a public school serving grades 9-12. ... El Camino Real High School El Camino Real High School (also known locally as ECR and by some more recently as ELCO) is a public secondary school located in the Woodland Hills district of the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California. ... Granada Hills Charter High School (Granada Hills High School) is a public, charter, co-educational, secondary school consisting of students in grades 9-12. ... John F. Kennedy High is a secondary school located in Granada Hills, California. ... James Monroe High School Monroe High School (MHS) is a high school in the North Hills area of Los Angeles, California, belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District. ... Northridge Academy High School (Northridge Academy High School) is a public, co-educational, secondary school consisting of students in Grades 9-12. ... For the school in Panora, Iowa, see Panorama Middle School and High School Panorama High School is a secondary school located in Los Angeles, California, United States. ... Reseda High Schools mascot Reseda High School, established in 1955, is located in the Reseda section of Los Angeles, California, United States. ...

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