Harvard-Westlake School
Harvard-Westlake School is an independent, co-educational university preparatory day school consisting of two campuses located in Los Angeles, California, with approximately 1,600 students enrolled in grades seven through twelve. It is not affiliated with Harvard University. The school has two campuses, the middle school campus in Holmby Hills and the high school, or what Harvard-Westlake refers to as their Upper School, in Studio City.[4] It is a member of the G30 Schools group.[5]
Harvard-Westlake School
Possunt Quia Posse Videntur
(They can because they think they can)
Harvard School for Boys: 1900
Westlake School for Girls: 1904
Fully Merged as Harvard-Westlake: 1991
Richard B. Commons
Laura Ross[1]
1,598 (2015–16)[2]
7.5∶1 (2015–16)[2]
Red
Black
White
Wolverines
688 verbal/critical reading
703 math
707 writing[3]
Vox Populi
727 (2015–16)[2]
12 acres (49,000 m2)
871 (2015–16)[2]
22 acres (89,000 m2)
History[edit]
Harvard School for Boys[edit]
The Harvard School for Boys was established in 1900 by Grenville C. Emery as a military academy, on the site of a barley field at the corner of Western Avenue and Sixteenth Street (now Venice Boulevard) in Los Angeles, California.[6][7] Emery was originally from Boston, and around 1900 he wrote to Harvard University to ask permission to use the Harvard name for his new secondary school, and received permission from the university's then-President, Charles W. Eliot.[8][7] In 1911, it secured endorsement from the Episcopal Church, becoming a non-profit organization. In 1937, the school moved to its present-day campus at the former Hollywood Country Club on Coldwater Canyon in Studio City after receiving a $25,000 ($530,000 in current dollar terms) loan from aviation pioneer Donald Douglas.[7] In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Harvard School gradually discontinued both boarding and its standing as a military academy, while expanding its enrollment, courses, classes, teachers, and curriculum.[9]
Westlake School for Girls[edit]
The Westlake School for Girls was established in 1904 by Jessica Smith Vance and Frederica de Laguna in what is now downtown Los Angeles, California, as an exclusively female institution offering both elementary and secondary education. It was so-named because it was near Westlake Park, now known as MacArthur Park.[7] At the time, the school was a for-profit alternative to the already-established Marlborough School, which had been established as a non-profit before the turn of the century.
It moved to its present-day campus located on North Faring Road in Holmby Hills, California, in 1927.[7] The school was purchased by Sydney Temple, whose daughter, Helen Temple Dickinson, was headmistress until 1966, when Westlake became a non-profit institution. The Temple family owned the school until 1977, with Dickinson serving in an ex officio capacity. In 1968 Westlake became exclusively a secondary school.[9]
Merger[edit]
As both schools continued to grow in size towards the late 1980s, and as gender exclusivity became less of a factor both in the schools' reputations and desirability, the trustees of both Harvard and Westlake agreed to a merger in 1989. The two institutions had long been de facto sister schools and interacted socially. Highly controversial at the time, complete integration and coeducation began in the fall of 1991.[9]
Academic achievement[edit]
For the HW Class of 2019, average SATs were 716 (verbal) and 745 (math). Among the 292 seniors, there were 27 National Merit Semifinalists.[24] For the 2019–2020 school year, Niche ranked Harvard-Westlake the best private high school in Los Angeles, the 2nd best private high school in California, and the 6th best private school in the United States.[25]
Athletics[edit]
Harvard-Westlake fields 22 varsity teams in the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section, as well as teams on the junior varsity, club, and junior high levels. 60% of HW students participate in interscholastic sports.
