Excelsior High School (Norwalk, California)
| Excelsior High School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
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15711 Pioneer Blvd Norwalk, California 90650 United States | |
| Information | |
| Type | public high school |
| Opened | 1924 |
| Closed | 1981 |
| Color(s) | green and white |
| Mascot | Peter Pilot, replaced with Snoopy, late 1960s |
| Team name | Pilots |
| Website |
excelsiorpilots |
| Norwalk-La Mirada Adult School | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Type | GED, community education |
| Opened | 1979 |
| School district | Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District |
Excelsior High School, originally named Excelsior Union High School was founded in 1903 in Norwalk, California. Its last graduating class was 1981. The current campus was built in 1924. The campus sustained earthquake damage in 1933 and again in the early 1960s.
The Excelsior Union High School District initially operated the single school which supported a district including present day Norwalk, Cerritos, Artesia, and Bellflower. After WWII, the area rapidly changed from agricultural to residential and several new high schools were built to absorb the large increase in population, including Bellflower, Artesia, Norwalk, La Mirada, and Gahr High Schools. In the mid-1960s the changing needs of the area were the subject of a referendum to restructure the governance of area schools and revise the coverage of three school districts. The referendum passed and with the revised district boundaries, Excelsior Union High School's name was changed to Excelsior High School and it was made part of the Norwalk-La Mirada School District.
For much of its history, the student body were known as "The Pilots" and the school mascot was Peter Pilot. In the late 1960s the cartoon character Snoopy was adopted as the mascot. The school colors were green and white.
The school and campus still exist at the corner of Alondra Blvd and Pioneer Blvd. in the city of Norwalk, California. It is now the home to the Norwalk-La Mirada Adult School. Since its closure, the campus has been the location for the filming of Grease 2 and High School U.S.A.[1] and the 1982 TV series Square Pegs.
Excelsior Adult School is also the home field for Excelsior's former arch rival, the Norwalk Lancers Football team.
Notable alumni
- Pat Nixon (class of 1929) — First Lady of the United States
- William Conrad (class of 1948) — actor, producer, and director for radio, film and television
- James Gattuso (class of 1975) — political pundit, senior research fellow for the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation
See also
External links
References
Coordinates: 33°53′19″N 118°04′57″W / 33.888693°N 118.082514°W
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