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| Ulysses S. Grant High School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
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13000 Oxnard Street , 91401 United States | |
| Coordinates | 34°10′38″N118°24′57″W / 34.1773047°N 118.41576199999997°W /34.1773047; -118.41576199999997 |
| Information | |
| Type | Publichigh school |
| Motto | What we are to be we are now becoming. |
| Established | 1959; 66 years ago (1959) |
| Status | 🟩 Opened |
| School district | Los Angeles Unified School District |
| Principal | Rebecca McMurrin |
| Teaching staff | 85.33 (FTE)[1] |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Enrollment | 1,798 (2023–2024)[1] |
| Student to teacher ratio | 21.07[1] |
| Colors | Brown Orange White |
| Mascot | Lancer |
| Newspaper | The Odyssey |
| Yearbook | The Shield |
| Website | www |
Ulysses S. Grant High School[2] is apublichigh school located in theValley Glen neighborhood ofLos Angeles,California, United States, in the east centralSan Fernando Valley. It is located adjacent toLos Angeles Valley College.
It is part of District North 2 of theLos Angeles Unified School District. The school serves several areas, including Valley Glen, much ofSherman Oaks, and sections of bothVan Nuys andNorth Hollywood.[3]
Grant opened as a high school in September 1959.[4] Grant's original purpose was to serve as a high school for the families of World War II veterans who were moving into the San Fernando Valley.[4] Its first students werebaby boomers moving into suburban houses in the Valley.[5]
It was in theLos Angeles City High School District until 1961, when it merged into LAUSD.[6]
Reut Cohen ofNeon Tommy, a publication of the Annenberg Media Center, wrote that in the 1970s and 1980s the school was "regarded as an excellent public institution."[7]
In the 1990s there was ethnic tension between the Armenian students and the Hispanic and Latino students. An LAUSD official stated a belief that the tension may have originated from earthquake relief drives held in the 1980s which were meant to benefit Armenia and Mexico.[8] Cohen stated that the ethnic tensions were a major factor in the decline of Grant's reputation in the 1990s.[7]
The tensions exploded on October 21, 1999 when a fight between an Armenian girl and a Latina girl turned into a fight among 200 students. The fight resulted in 40 students being detained and minor injuries being inflicted on 10 students, some teachers, and a maintenance worker. No serious injuries occurred.[8] In January 2000 the students signed a "peace treaty" to prevent future fighting. By February banners were erected which promoted peace.[9] By October of that year there were discussion programs aimed at further reducing tension.[10]
A fight involving almost 500 students occurred on March 8, 2005.[11]
In 2006, Grant was relieved of many 9th and 10th graders by the opening ofEast Valley High School, which planned to phase in grades 11 and 12 in the following two years.[12]
Ethnic tensions reappeared during an Armenian remembrance event in 2008.[7]
Grant was featured inNewsweek magazine's April 17, 2008 cover story about 25 years of divorce in America; Grant was chosen as a prototypical suburban high school and the article featured members of the class of 1982 and their marital stories.[5]
By 2019, Grant had become "a predominately Armenian school".[13]
College Prep of Digital Arts Magnet at Grant High School is amagnet program within Grant High School that focuses on enhancing college level skills. The program's center of interest is on Advancement placement and Honor level proficiency.[14]
Since the year 1990 Humanities has been a small academy at Grant High School. The purpose of this academy was to build a sensed community and to challenge students academically. In August 2018, Humanitas was newly established as the "Humanities Magnet for Interdisciplinary Studies. The program would remain consistent of its original mission but with new enhancements. Students enrolled in this program will have access to Los Angeles Valley Community College, college courses, that are specifically open to the students in this program. The classes will count towards High School and College classes. In addition, Humanitas students have the ability to go on field trips and participate in school activities that are only accessible to them.[15]
In the mid-20th century the school, as a part of the 'Fourth Jewish Ghetto' in Los Angeles, was composed primarily of Jewish students, perhaps as many as 80% of the student body and a similar proportion of the teachers. The tracking program in use revealed that at least 90% of the student body attended college, from local community colleges to Ivies, the majority being awarded scholarships and competitive financial support. At the time, Grant was ranked No. 3 among LA high schools, following Pacific Palisades and University High Schools.Deborah Dash Moore, the author ofTo the Golden Cities: Pursuing the American Jewish Dream in Miami and L.A., wrote that this made the presence of these Jewish students "more visible than numbers alone would warrant."[16] Grant offeredModern Hebrew classes.[16]
In 1978 the school had over 3,000 students.[5] In 1999 the school had 3,400 students,[8] and there were 3,300 students in 2000. That year the student body was 51% Hispanic and Latino, 36% White, 6% African-American, 4% Asian, and 2% Filipino. Most of the Hispanic and Latino students wereMexican American and many of the Whites wereArmenian American.[10] As of 2000 the students originated from 48 countries.[17] As of 2010 65% of the students were Hispanic and Latino, and 20% were Armenian.[18]
The Hispanic and Latino students, as of 2015, often originated from families who migrated from Mexico and Central America and were born in the United States; they prefer to identify by their countries of origin even though they are grouped together as Hispanic and Latino. The Armenian students, as of 2015, originated in a wave of immigration from Armenia and the former Soviet Union that began in the early 1990s.[19]
In 2000 the socialization point for the Latinos was the south side of the school's quad, while the Armenians socialized in the north side. As of that year, fights between Armenian and Latino students often occurred in October. As of 2000 the common belief at the school was that Latinos wore baggy clothes while Armenians dressed more conservatively.[10]
| This article's list of alumnimay not follow Wikipedia'sverifiability policy. Pleaseimprove this article by removing names that do not have independentreliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this articleand are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriatecitations.(October 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Grant High School has been featured in a number of film and television productions. This is due to a number of reasons; the most commonly-cited of which is the fact that it is the only public high school within and across the entirety of the LAUSD system that has no readily-visible Palm Trees growing on the property--thus hiding its precise geographics, and giving the location a generic, "Anytown, USA" type of feel when and where production teams deemed it necessary, or when shooting for other, outside locations. Secondary to this rationale is the long strip of road (known as "Lancer Lane") which runs between the eastern boundary of the school and a scenic greenbelt, walking path, and the Tujunga Wash, along with the availability of ample parking—combined with the ease of moving equipment around. Grant High School is also recognized as among the best high schools in the country for its film/video productions made by students of the communications/technology magnet.[citation needed]
Among the professional film and television productions that have utilized Grant High School as afilming location:
Many music videos including:
