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University High School History
Overview/Introduction
University High School (better known simply as UNI) is a secondary school located in West Los Angeles (a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California) near the border of Santa Monica. Part of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the University High School campus is situated on a sprawling 24-acre site, comprised of a two-story administrative building, a three-story classroom building, a two-story arts building, 24 bungalows that house 37 classrooms, a theater and cafeteria, two gymnasiums, tennis courts, outside basketball and handball/racket ball courts, and two athletic fields, as well as two faculty and one student parking lots. The campus is also home to the Gabrielino-Tongva people's sacred Indian springs, and Indian Springs Continuation High School.
Our campus also includes a College and Career Center, two computer labs, a large library, a dance studio, a ceramics workshop, a print shop facility, a photography lab/digital imaging studio, an instrumental and keyboarding lab, and the journalism/production lab. Animation, Photography, and Journalism students have received distinctions in State and National Contests. The student newspaper is published weekly and consistently wins first place recognition at the state and national levels.
The faculty consists of 108 highly qualified teachers including 6 teachers who are enrolled in district or university intern programs. A math coach, literacy coach, and an itinerant science and social studies coach have been assigned by the District. Four bilingual paraprofessionals provide assistance to English Language Learners, six paraprofessionals work with low-achieving students in English and math classes, one highly qualified paraprofessional provides hands-on assistance in the math computer lab, and 16 Special Education Aides provide one-on-one assistance to eligible students. Six counselors, including an EL counselor, provide services to students. Other support staff include a Career Advisor, Bilingual Coordinator, Title 1 Coordinator, a full-time librarian and part-time library assistant, a nurse, a Diploma Project Advisor, two Pupil Services and Attendance Counselors (PSAs), and a full-time psychologist, a College Advisor, an AVID Coordinator, GATE Coordinator, multiple University/college student academic assistants, an Advisory Coordinator, a full-time Testing Coordinator, and a part-time Special Education Coordinator.
Our feeder schools include Emerson Middle School, Daniel Webster Middle School, and Palms Middle School. We currently receive a number of Capacity Adjustment Program (CAP) students, the majority of which come within the Fremont High School boundaries.
A Strong History
University High School's mascot is the Wildcat and our colors are blue and persimmon (orange). All Native American mascots were removed from LAUSD in the mid-1990s and therefore the school's mascot was changed from its former one, the Warrior. UNI, uniquely though, does have a specific Native American "heritage". A natural spring on the campus was used by the native Gabrielino-Tongva people, the descendants of whom continue to actively participate on the school campus. The springs (called Kuruvungna), which produce 22,000 gallons of water each day, have never failed, even in the driest years, and their presence suggests strongly that the site was a meeting and stopping place for Native Americans for over thousands of years. In 1975 a grave was discovered just below the southwest end of the main building, containing a small skeleton and soapstone bowls. This grave was dated approximately 4000 BC and the character of the bowls suggested kinship with the culture of Santa Catalina Island in the same era. The land UNI is situated on is consequently a California State Historical Site (#577).
Originally known as Warren G. Harding High School when built in 1924, the school was renamed in 1929 after UCLA moved its campus from East Hollywood to Westwood, and the reputation of former President Harding had declined. The name University is supposed to have originated because it became a site where teachers-in-training from nearby UCLA worked as assistant teachers.
UNI was opened in 1924, and is one of very few pre-World War II high schools in Los Angeles that have been partially spared by three major earthquakes. Although the gymnasium and a beautiful and widely admired auditorium were condemned following the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, the school's original main building from 1924 remains in use to this day. The music building and West Gymnasium (rebuilt in the early 1980's) are scheduled to be demolished because they sit on an earthquake fault line. While the music building is no longer in use, the West Gym is currently being used to house our Physical Education program. Because the main building presents a very traditional and dignified appearance of weathered brick and arched doorways, UNI's campus is very popular with film crews during vacations, holidays, and some school hours.
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