Woodrow Wilson High School (Los Angeles)

History

The original Wilson High School campus opened in 1938 on Eastern Avenue, in what is now the El Sereno Middle School campus. Classes were separated into winter and summer classes and took place in tents and old bungalows. The first gym was begun just before World War II and was completed in 1942. The first class to graduate was in the winter of 1940 with a class of 40 students.

In 1970, Woodrow Wilson Senior High School moved to its new campus on Multnomah Avenue. The school buildings were designed by the renowned African American architect Paul Williams. Wilson High was the first LAUSD School to implement multi-floored buildings equipped with elevators and escalators to accommodate students with disabilities.

In the 21st century Wilson High School has had problems with overcrowding. As with most inner-city public schools, the large influx of the student population has been a cause of concern for administrators and parents alike. With a set capacity prescribed almost 40 years ago when Wilson was built, this past decade has been a struggle for students as their educational experience is in overcrowded classrooms and understaffed faculty.

In 2012 Woodrow Wilson High School celebrated its 75th anniversary.

Chicano Movement begins on campus

In late 1967 East Los Angeles had a school system entrenched in racism. It led to the local beginning of the Chicano Movement. The Mexican American community had the highest high school dropout rate and lowest college attendance among any ethnic group. The poor facilities and constant underestimation of student capabilities by teachers created an atmosphere hostile to learning. The oppressive conditions coupled with the inability to make changes compelled students, activists, and teachers to meet and discuss the situation. They decided that making their plight public was the best way to pressure the school board into compliance with their demands for education reform.

Lincoln High School teacher Sal Castro, along with student leaders from the five public schools in East Los Angeles (Roosevelt, Wilson, Lincoln, Garfield, and Belmont High Schools), including Wilson student Paula Crisostomo; college students including Moctesuma Esparza; and groups including the United Mexican American Students (UMAS) and the Brown Berets developed 36 demands to bring to the Los Angeles Board of Education.

These goals included bilingual and bicultural education, Latino teachers and administrators, smaller class sizes, better facilities, and the revision of textbooks to include Mexican American history.

Walkouts - blowouts

None of the 36 goals and demands were met, so the students threatened walkouts, which they called "Blowouts." Los Angeles public schools are paid based on the number of students in class each day. By walking out of homeroom before attendance was taken, the students could target the schools financially.

An ad hoc committee, UMAS, and college students established Blowout Committees at Theodore Roosevelt High School, Lincoln High School, and Garfield High School, plus a central coordinating committee. Their committee meetings were almost always infiltrated by plainclothes policemen.

Wilson High principal Donald Skinner canceled a student production of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park, citing it as too risqué for a Mexican American audience. The incident was enough to prematurely trigger the walkouts. Although Wilson was not one of the original three schools intending to walk out, 300 students there walked out on March 1, 1968. The administration had senior students blockade the main exit, but the students found the auditorium door. They pushed the school entry gates back and forth, as students inside demonstrated by throwing fruit, books and more over the gate. Policemen and photographers showed up on the scene as the students were told to return to class. Some refused, forming sit-ins and rallies. As a symbol of the walkouts, students wore the image of a foot on their clothes. They said they would not return to class until their demands were met.

The walkouts or blowouts, which began with the 1 March 1968 walkout at Wilson, are credited as seminal events of the Chicano Movement:

1970s football City Championships

During the 1970s, Wilson's football coach was the legendary Vic Cuccia. He led the Mighty Mules to a 39-game winning streak, taking the team to win the City’s Section 3-A championship in 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978

Cuccia's own son, Ron Cuccia, was the team's quarterback for those three years, during which time he set a city and state record for passing, accounted for 145 touchdowns, and set a national record for total offense with 11,451 yards. The Mighty Mules went on to win the City championship title in 1978.

During his 22 years as the football coach (1956-1977), Cuccia compiled a 151-42-6 record. He was also a teacher, serving all his 44 teaching years at Wilson High School. Coach Vic Cuccia, who grew up in El Sereno, was honored for his dedication and work on September 1999. Wilson High School's football stadium was renamed in his honor (the football field had already been dedicated in honor of Paul Barthel, a former Wilson teacher). Cuccia died on January, 2008, at the age of 80.

Performance and demographics statistics

The school's graduation rate for 2004-2005 was 61.7%. The school's California API score was 562 for 2006, and of its student population, 77% were in a free or reduced lunch program and 30% were designated as English Learners. 8% of the students participated in a GATE program. The student body was 93% Hispanic, 4.8% Asian, 1.5% black, 0.5% white and 0.2% Native American. The API score of the 2009 - 2010 school year was 615 and jumped up to 637 the following year.

International Baccalaureate programs

Woodrow Wilson High School is an International Baccalaureate school, with magnet school programs.

The programs include:

Academic Performance Index

Academic Performance Index (API) for high schools in the LAUSD District 5 and local small public charter high schools in the East Los Angeles region:

The Hitching Post

The Hitching Post is a bi-monthly publication by Wilson's Journalism class.

A Wilson High school newspaper began around 1941. However, its name has changed several times, resulting in some confusion about the number of volumes printed so far.

Advanced Placement program

Students are accepted into the Advanced Placement Program and individual advanced placement classes based on faculty and counselor recommendations. A student may be admitted into an AP class by request or if the AP instructor has approved the request. These are the current courses offered by Wilson:

Sports

Fall:

Winter:

Spring:

Alumni

Notable alumni include: