Theodore Roosevelt High School is an educational institution (grades 9–12) located in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles, California named for the 26th president of the United States.
Roosevelt is a public school in the Los Angeles Unified School District with an enrollment of 1,400 as of 2017. The enrollment peaked at 5,047 in 2007, making it one of the largest in the country, and second largest behind Belmont High School at the time. From the mid-1990s until the 2008–09 school year, the school followed a year-round calendar. In 2008, the school started to be managed by the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, which was established by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. In 2010, the single institution was split up into seven small schools, each with its own principal, CEEB code (used by SAT, colleges, etc.), students and staff. The outcomes of this were debated by students and administrators.[3][4] Since 2013, Roosevelt has been merged into a single comprehensive high school. The Roosevelt campus also hosts the Math, Science and Technology Magnet Academy at Roosevelt High School and the STEM Academy of Boyle Heights, an LAUSD Pilot School that was formed in 2014.
Its school colors are red and gold, the mascot is Teddy the Bear, and their sport teams are known as the Rough Riders. The school's motto is "Don't flinch, don't foul, hit the line hard!", which is a Theodore Roosevelt quote.[5]
Roosevelt participates in the annual "East L.A. Classic" against Garfield High School. It is the homecoming game for both schools and attracts over 20,000 people every year.
The school's $173 million comprehensive modernization project began in 2018.
History
Roosevelt was founded in 1922, but opened in 1923 in Boyle Heights to the east of the Los Angeles River.
Roosevelt High School became categorized as a “Mexican school” along with Lincoln High School, Garfield High School, and others near East L.A. This categorization derived in the twentieth century when an abundance of Mexican immigrants enrolled in public schools and school boards segregated the establishments. Nearly 83 percent of Roosevelt's students were of Mexican descent.[6]
As the population grew in the area, Roosevelt sought expansion.[when?] The R-Building (R for Roosevelt) was the main building and faced Fickett Street. The street was vacated and a new administration (A-Building for administration) was constructed. Many new buildings were created and added to campus. The R-building has an interesting history and distinct architecture. There was a fourth floor to the building which had to be closed due to damage from a fire. The basement was built with a shooting range for the Junior ROTC (JROTC), although only air rifles may be used now.
Roosevelt was one of the five schools to initiate the student walkouts in 1968, and contributed to the walkouts in 2006, in protest to the HR 4437 bill. The school has partnered with Planned Parenthood, which operates a clinic at the school providing birth control, pregnancy testing, screening for sexually transmitted diseases and counseling, in an effort to reduce the area's high incidence of teenage pregnancies.[7]
The East LA Walkouts or Blowouts were a result of long endured injustices involving students at East LA high schools. The curriculum of "Mexican schools" was designed to prepare its students to eventually join the working-class in place of their parents because graduation rates were so low. The Watts Riots of 1965 proved to students that resistance was necessary for social changes. Students were determined to change the curriculum and as the Chicano Movement was taking place, Sal Castro, a teacher at Lincoln High School, organized the East L.A. Walkouts.[6] Approximately 10,000 students from Roosevelt, Lincoln, Belmont, Garfield, and Wilson High Schools participated with support from teachers, parents, college students, and community members.[9]
With Castro's help, students from the high schools formed a central committee to plan actions. After the principal at Wilson High School cancelled the senior class play on March 1, 1968, enraged students participated in an impromptu walkout. This situation called for a central committee meeting to decide whether all schools would engage in a larger walkout. However, Garfield High students decided for themselves and staged a campus-wide walkout on March 5. Shortly after, walkouts ensued at Roosevelt and Lincoln. The last walkout took place on March 8 and ended at Hazard Park which is a short distance from Roosevelt High School.[10]
Japanese American internment camps
When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps to prevent them from turning on the United States. They were given orders to drop all belongings and expect to be taken away from their communities until further notice.[11] Nearly a third of Roosevelt High School's students were withdrawn because they were Japanese.[12] They were required to attend schools within those camps. However, resources were scarce and classes were limited.[11]
In 1937, prior to their withdrawal from Roosevelt High School, the Japanese American Students Club created a Japanese Garden on campus. The garden was not maintained during World War II, which led to its deterioration. It was rebuilt in 1996 and dedicated to Japanese American students who were victims of displacement during the war.[12]
The artist Nelyollotl Toltecatl painted a 400 feet (120 m) mural,[21] known as the Anahuac Mural,[22] on two outside walls of Roosevelt depicting murder, rape, and enslavement of Native Americans by European colonizers. In 1996 Toltecatl, who was previously known under a Spanish name, began to work on a mural intended to depict Chicano history and assimilation. After about a year of work on the project, the tone of his mural changed after attending a lecture by Olin Tezcatlipoca.[21]
Prior to the demolition of the Sixth Street Viaduct, (also known as the Sixth Street Bridge) Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti recorded the R&B song "101SlowJam", backed by musicians from Roosevelt High School, and issued it via a video on his own YouTube channel. The public service announcement video advertised the closure of parts of the 101 Freeway to accommodate the demolition of the viaduct.[23][24]
Notable alumni
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (October 2016)
^ abGarcía, Mario T. (2011). Blowout!: Sal Castro and the Chicano Struggle for Educational Justice. Castro, Sal. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN9780807834480. OCLC656158799.
^Delgado Bernal, Dolores. "Grassroots Leadership Reconceptualized: Chicana Oral Histories and the 1968 East Los Angeles School Blowouts". Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. JSTOR3347162.
^Haney-López, Ian. (2003). Racism on Trial: The Chicano Fight for Justice. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN9780674038264. OCLC609058795.
^ abPeggy Daniels Becker. (2014). Japanese-American Internment During World War II. Omnigraphics, Inc. OCLC1027084995.
^ abLos Angeles's Boyle Heights. Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.). Charleston SC: Arcadia Pub. 2005. ISBN9781531616342. OCLC62310489.((cite book)): CS1 maint: others (link)
