Aviation High School (Redondo Beach, California)
Encyclopedia
| e id="toc"> |
Aviation High School
2025 Manhattan Beach Blvd.
Redondo Beach, California 90278
Google map position
1957-1982
Suburban
Public
approx 1700 students (1982)
9 to 12
Hob Ulhs (1957–1966)
Ted Gossard (1966–1978)
Bob Fish (1978–1982)
AHS, Avi-Hi
The Falcon
Black and Orange
Jet Stream (Newspaper)
Talon
Aviation High School (AHS, Avi-Hi) was a secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
located in Redondo Beach, California
Redondo Beach, California
Redondo Beach is one of the three Beach Cities located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 66,748 at the 2010 census, up from 63,261 at the 2000 census. The city is located in the South Bay region of the greater Los Angeles area.Redondo Beach was originally part of...
which was in operation from 1957 to 1982. The school was located at the corner of Manhattan Beach Boulevard and Aviation Boulevard (which runs north to the Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
). Their athletic teams were known as the Falcons and the school colors
School colors
School colors are the colors chosen by a school to represent it on uniforms and other items of identification. Most schools have two colors, which are usually chosen to avoid conflicts with other schools with which the school competes in sports and other activities...
were black and orange.
Because of mushrooming growth in the South Bay, Los Angeles
South Bay, Los Angeles
The South Bay is a region of the southwest peninsula of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The name stems from its geographic features stretching along the southern shores of Santa Monica Bay which forms its western border.The picture at right uses the broadest definition of the...
beach communities (Manhattan Beach
Manhattan Beach, California
Manhattan Beach is the wealthiest beachfront city located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, USA. The city is on the Pacific coast, south of El Segundo, and north of Hermosa Beach. Manhattan Beach is the home of both beach and indoor volleyball, and surfing. During the winter, the...
, Redondo Beach, and Hermosa Beach
Hermosa Beach, California
Hermosa Beach is a beachfront city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Its population was 19,506 at the 2010 census, up from 18,566 at the 2000 census....
), the school was built in 1957 (at a cost of 4 million dollars) by the then "South Bay Union High School District" which has today broken into the Redondo Beach Unified School District
Redondo Beach Unified School District
Redondo Beach Unified School District is a school district with approximately 8,000 students headquartered in Redondo Beach, California.RBUSD serves the city of Redondo Beach. In addition, residents of Hermosa Beach may choose to attend Redondo Union High School of RBUSD or the Mira Costa High...
and the Manhattan Beach Unified School District
Manhattan Beach Unified School District
The Manhattan Beach Unified School District is responsible for public education in the city of Manhattan Beach, California. It oversees five elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. MBMS, or Manhattan Beach Middle School is a public middle school with over a thousand students...
; the district included two other high schools: Redondo Union High School
Redondo Union High School
Redondo Union High School is a public high school in Redondo Beach, California.Redondo Union High School is a part of the Redondo Beach Unified School District....
and Mira Costa High School
Mira Costa High School
Mira Costa High School is a four-year public high school located in Manhattan Beach, California, United States that first began operating in 1950. It is the only high school in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District...
. Other proposed names for the school were Pilot George High, Will Rogers High, Kittyhawk High and—the second runner-up—Aileen S. Hammond High.
Aviation High School served students from both Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach. At its construction, Aviation's facilities—largely single-story buildings radiating out from a central quad—were considered "ultra-modern". In the late 1960s, a large modern auditorium was added to the campus.
School closure
Because of budgetary constraints in the early 1980s, in part due to California Proposition 13 (1978)California Proposition 13 (1978)
Proposition 13 was an amendment of the Constitution of California enacted during 1978, by means of the initiative process. It was approved by California voters on June 6, 1978. It was declared constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Nordlinger v. Hahn,...
, the "South Bay Union High School District" decided in November 1981 to close one of its three area high schools, but promised teachers and administrators that they would not lose their jobs. Projected savings in yearly maintenance costs would purportedly total 1 million dollars. After much deliberation (via a 21 member citizen's committee) and several public forums, the district decided in April 1982 to close Aviation.
Many in the South Bay community saw this decision as unsound (closure would result in overcrowding of the two remaining schools and would not be a viable long-term stragegy if district enrollment increased; in addition, Aviation had the newest facilities of the three area high schools. The population growth of the late 1980s and 1990s proved this prediction true.); some saw the decision as based on area politics and geography (Redondo and Mira Costa High Schools were more centrally located and better anchored to their historic communities); some accused the decision of being in part motivated by the prospect of selling or leasing the facilities to Aviation High School's large corporate neighbor, the defense and credit-reporting company TRW
TRW
TRW Inc. was an American corporation involved in a variety of businesses, mainly aerospace, automotive, and credit reporting. It was a pioneer in multiple fields including electronic components, integrated circuits, computers, software and systems engineering. TRW built many spacecraft,...
. For some time after the school's closure, TRW did lease part of the facilities, including the gym, the track and field, and the auditorium. Although, the city still maintained the facilities.
In 1983, Aviation's non-graduating students were sent to Redondo Union High School and Mira Costa High School, depending on their residence location (to avoid overcrowding at Redondo High School, Mira Costa High School's resident limits were extended outside of Manhattan beach to incorporate part of Redondo Beach).
Classrooms of the campus were demolished in 1982, but the theater, gymnasium and track and field were maintained. The site of the campus is now the 14 acres (56,656 m²) "Aviation Park", home to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center (with a 1457 seat theater, recently renovated), the Aviation Gymnasium (including a 12,000 sq ft (1,100 m²). and 6,300 sq ft (590 m²). gyms and a 1,221 sq ft (113 m²) dance room) and the Aviation Track & Field, where an artificial grass soccer field is now surrounded by a 440-yard, five-lane, all weather running track using the original curb.
This school is on the List of closed secondary schools in California
Notable alumni
- Richard Breeden
- Bill CaudillBill CaudillWilliam Holland Caudill is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. One of the wackier players to play the game, Caudill was also one of baseball's top closers from to . Caudill is perhaps most notable for being agent Scott Boras' first client.-Early years:Caudill was drafted by the St...
- Tom Hintnaus - 1976,1984 Olympic Pole Vaulter, Calvin Klein model
- Wes JonesWes JonesWesley "Wes" Jones is an American architect, educator and author. Founding partner of Holt Hinshaw Pfau Jones, in 1987 and then Jones, Partners: Architecture in 1993, Jones is a leading architectural voice of his generation, advocating for a continuing appreciation of the physical side of...
- Allan McCollumAllan McCollumAllan McCollum is a contemporary American artist who was born in Los Angeles, California in 1944, and now lives and works in New York City. He has spent over forty years exploring how objects achieve public and personal meaning in a world constituted in mass production, focusing most recently on...
- Michele TafoyaMichele TafoyaMichele Tafoya is an American sportscaster.-Early life and career:Tafoya received a B.A...
- David VanoleDavid VanoleDavid Charles Vanole was an American soccer goalkeeper and coach. He spent his professional career in the Western Soccer Alliance and its successor league, the American Professional Soccer League. He also earned 14 caps with the U.S...
- Paul WestphalPaul WestphalPaul Westphal is a retired American basketball player and current head coach of the National Basketball Association's Sacramento Kings. Westphal has had a storied career in the NBA, both as a player and as a coach. As a player, he won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics in the 1974 NBA...
External links
- reunion site - Annual All Class Reunion held on the last weekend of July
- reunion site - includes pictures of 1982 demolition
- Present-day Aviation Park