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PRINCIPAL: Dr. Hugo Pedroza,
Principal
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BACKGROUND
Manual Arts High School was established in 1910 in the middle of bean
fields, one-half mile from the nearest bus stop. It was the third school in
Los Angeles, California after Los Angeles High School
and L.A. Polytechnic High
School, and is the oldest school on the same site in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
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After three semesters in an abandoned grammar school building, Manual
Arts High School was opened on Vermont Avenue, a school whose name embodied
her ideal of head, heart, and hand, combining to offer a creative
atmosphere for the full life.
After the 1933 earthquake the entire campus was rebuilt, constituting
the present Manual Arts High School campus. Pictured below is the main
building, recently renamed Yvonne Brathwaite-Burke Hall. Behind left is the
current Science Building.
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MANUAL
ARTS CAMPUS 1910
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The Manual Arts College Incentive Magnet Program was added in
1981, and became a College
Preparatory Magnet Program in 1996.
In 1995 "The Arts" became a Pacific Bell Education First
Demonstration Site joining thirteen other demonstration sites in
California, and in 1996 the school was named a California Distinguished
School. In 1998 Manual Arts was officially granted Digital High School status.
The 2005-2006 school year opened with wall-to-wall small learning
communities (SLCs), three on each track totaling nine SLCs.
REFLECTION OF CHANGE
Manual Arts is a reflection of the changes in the city of Los Angeles
and has felt the pain and the joy of all that has happened over the past
eighty-nine years. Three major earthquakes--in 1933, which destroyed the
original site,1971 and 1994--and two civil disturbances-in 1965 and 1992
were probably our most difficult times. On the positive side, we were
recognized in the thirties for our excellence, supported the effort of our
own Jimmy
Doolittle during World War II, adopted an orphanage in Korea during
that conflict, participated in the many social changes in the sixties and
was named the Ambassador High School for the 1984 Summer Olympics. We now reflect the
current immigration trends and the fact that Los Angeles is the center of
immigration in the United States.
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MAKEUP OF SCHOOL
In 1994 the school reconfigured to a four-year, grade nine to twelve,
three track, year round, "Concept 6" school that was in the midst
of restructuring and the last stages of renovation. In 1995 WASC accredited
the school for six years.Most of the almost 4000 students come from two
middle schools, Foshay and John Muir, although, with the addition of the
Magnet school and other programs and open enrollment, students come from other
parts of the city. Currently the school boasts eight successful Academies,
each with its own curricular specialty.
The area around Manual Arts is one characterized by high unemployment,
single parent families, a majority of families receiving AFDC, and multi-family
rental housing.
The school was over 90% African-American twenty-five years ago and is now
over 80% Hispanic, with much of that group coming from Central America. This
transition has been relatively peaceful, to the credit of our staff, our students,
and the community. Most of the rest of the students are African-American.
More than half of the students list Spanish as their first language, and the
school serves the third largest LEP population in the District.
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MISSION AND PHILOSOPHY
The schoolwide vision of Manual Arts High School is to:
- Prepare
students to make informed choices, as well as develop a sense of
personal and social responsibility;
- Provide
high academic standards, a variety of program choices, and a safe
learning environment to enable individuals to function as productive
members in a highly technological and emerging global society;
- Promote
values necessary for developing self-respect, self-discipline, and
self-esteem; and
- Perpetuate
an atmosphere of awareness that will provide understanding and
appreciation of social, cultural, and linguistic diversity
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