William Howard Taft Charter High School Explained

Taft Charter High School
Principal:	Daniel Steiner
Established:	1960
Type:	Public
Address:	5461 Winnetka Avenue
City:	Woodland Hills, Los Angeles
State:	California
Zipcode:	91364
Country:	United States
Pushpin Map:	United States San Fernando Valley#United States Los Angeles Metropolitan Area#USA California#United States
Enrollment:	2,147 (2022–23)^[1]
Ratio:	22.30
Staff:	96.28 (FTE)
Colors:	Red, Gold, Black
Conference:	CIF Los Angeles City Section
Nickname:	Toreadors
Newspaper:	Taft Tribune
Website:	Official Website
Module:	Stroke-Color: C60C30 Stroke-Width: 3 Marker: school Marker-Color: 1F2F57 Zoom: 13

William Howard Taft Charter High School is a public school located on the corner of Ventura Boulevard and Winnetka Avenue in the Woodland Hills district of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California, within the Los Angeles Unified School District. The school gained affiliated charter status beginning with the 2013–2014 school year.

History

Named after former U.S. president William Howard Taft, the school first opened in 1960.^[2]

It was in the Los Angeles City High School District until 1961, when it merged into LAUSD.^[3]

In the 2013–2014 school year, Taft High School became a charter school.

Notable alumni

• Jeshua Anderson – track and field sprinter^[4]
• Rick Auerbach – MLB shortstop 1971–1981^[5]
• Steve Bartek – musician, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Oingo Boingo^[6]
• Matteo Barzini – Italian filmmaker
• Justine Bateman – actress, TV series Family Ties^[6]
• Mike Bercovici – college and pro football quarterback
• Sandra Black - Member of Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers
• Scott Bloch – Office of Special Counsel^[7]
• Mike Borzello – 5-time World Series champion. Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees^[8]
• Craig Buck – Olympic volleyball player^[6]
• Phil Buckman – musician, actor, and voiceover artist, bass player for Filter
• Kihei Clark – NCAA champion basketball player at Virginia
• DeAndre Daniels – professional basketball player, college player at UConn
• Bryce Dejean-Jones – basketball shooting guard^[9]
• Larry Dierker – MLB pitcher, manager, broadcaster^[10]
• Spencer Dinwiddie – NBA guard for the Los Angeles Lakers^[11]
• Larry Drew II – basketball point guard^[12]
• Eazy-E – rapper, West Coast hip hop^[13]
• Everlast – rapper/singer House of Pain
• Jordan Farmar – basketball point guard, 2-time NBA champion^[14]
• William Finnegan – Pulitzer Prize winning writer surfing essayist
• Jeff Fisher – Former NFL player and Tennessee Titans coach from 1995 to 2010, as well as the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams from 2012 to 2016
• Char Fontane – actress and singer^[6]
• Barry Green – orchestral and solo double bass player and teacher^[6]
• Guy Hansen – professional baseball pitcher and coach^[15]
• Steve Hartman – sportscaster^[16]
• Ice Cube – rapper, actor, director, producer, Friday, Are We There Yet?, Straight Outta Compton^[6]
• Airabin Justin – NFL and CFL defensive back^[17]
• Gabe Kapler – Former MLB outfielder and current San Francisco Giants manager, 2021 National League Manager of the Year^[18]
• Brad Kearns – professional triathlete, Guinness world record speedgolfer, The New York Times bestselling author^[19]
• Kevin Kennedy – MLB manager and radio-TV baseball commentator^[6]
• Dave Koz – smooth jazz saxophonist, radio personality^[6]
• Lisa Kudrow – actress, TV series Friends^[6]
• Pete LaCock – MLB first baseman and coach^[20]
• Dale Launer – comedy screenwriter^[21]
• Ken Levine – Emmy-winning comedy writer, screenwriter, radio announce and play-by-play commentator^[22]
• Epic Mazur – vocalist, rapper, and record producer
• Maureen McCormick – actress, TV series The Brady Bunch^[6]
• Danny Boy O’Connor – rapper, House of Pain^[23]
• Susan Olsen – actress, TV series The Brady Bunch^[6]
• Kelly Paris – MLB third baseman^[24]
• Dana Plato – actress, TV series Diff'rent Strokes
• DaShon Polk – NFL linebacker^[25]
• Paul Pratt – NFL defensive back for Detroit Lions^[26]
• Jordan Roberts -- Screenwriter, Academy Award-winning films, March of the Penguins and Big Hero 6.
• Malcolm Smith – Super Bowl XLVIII champion and MVP^{[27] [28]}
• Steve Smith – NFL wide receiver, Super Bowl XLII champion^[29]
• Jan Smithers – actress, TV series WKRP in Cincinnati^[6]
• Jeff Stork – volleyball Hall of Famer, member of 1988 Summer Olympics gold-medal U.S. men's team^[6]
• Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan – NASA Space Shuttle astronaut^[6]
• Michael Thomas – NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver, New Orleans Saints^[30]
• Justin Tryon – NFL cornerback^[31]
• Mark Tulin – musician, founding member of The Electric Prunes^[32]
• Wilmer Valderrama – actor, TV series That '70s Show^[33]
• Holly Beth Vincent – musician, member of Holly and the Italians^[34]
• Duffy Waldorf – professional golfer, member of UCLA Sports Hall of Fame^[35]
• Quincy Watts – athlete, winner of two gold medals at 1992 Summer Olympics^[6]
• Darrion Weems – NFL offensive tackle^[36]
  • Jane Wiedlin – musician, singer and original member of band The Go-Go's Brad Wilk – drummer for Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave^[37]
• Antwaun Woods – Nose tackle for the Dallas Cowboys, college Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2016
• Robin Wright – actress, The Princess Bride, Forrest Gump, House of Cards, Wonder Woman^[38]
• Larry Yount – MLB pitcher^[39]
• Robin Yount – Baseball Hall of Fame player, 19 seasons with Milwaukee Brewers of MLB^[40]

In popular culture

There have been a handful of films and TV shows filmed at Taft. The 1976 film The Boy in the Plastic Bubble was filmed at the high school, as well as the films Mask (1985), Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), The Prom (2020), and the television series Never Have I Ever (2020).

External links

• Official William Howard Taft Charter High School website
• Great Schools Inc.org: "Taft Senior High School"
• U.S.News.com: "Taft High School"
• LAschoolboard.org: Taft High School 2013-2018 Charter Term – (Archive).

Notes and References

1. Web site: Taft Charter High. National Center for Education Statistics. July 25, 2024.
2. Web site: LAUSD School Profile . Search.lausd.k12.ca.us . September 16, 2009 . January 20, 2011.
3. Web site: Los Angeles City School District. https://web.archive.org/web/19980207051712/http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/lausd/history/schoollist.html. dead. 1998-02-07. Los Angeles Unified School District. 2020-10-27.
4. Web site: Jeshua Anderson . Washington State High School. November 7, 2013.
5. Web site: Rick Auerbach Stats . Baseball Almanac . November 26, 2012.
6. Web site: Achievements . Taft Charter High School. November 7, 2013.
7. Web site: Bush appointee turns the spotlight inward . Los Angeles Times. November 7, 2013. May 2007 .
8. Web site: Mike Borzello . Baseball-Reference.com. November 7, 2013.
9. Web site: Bryce Dejean-Jones Stats – Basketball-Reference.com. Basketball-Reference.com.
10. Web site: Larry Dierker Stats . Baseball Almanac . November 26, 2012.
11. Web site: Spencer Dinwiddie Stats . Basketball-Reference.com. en. 2018-01-13.
12. Web site: Larry Drew Stats – Basketball-Reference.com. Basketball-Reference.com.
13. Web site: Celebrity Real Estate: The Late Eazy-E's Wife Gets Foreclosed in Calabasas and the Search For Eazy's Playhouse. Marty . McFly . January 10, 2013 . San Fernando Valley Blog . Blogspot.
14. Web site: Jordan Robert Farmar . Basketball-Reference.Com . November 26, 2012.
15. Web site: Scout Who Discovered Saberhagen Convinced the Royals With Radar Scout Who Discovered Saberhagen Convinced the Royals With Radar. Los Angeles Times. November 7, 2013. June 14, 1986.
16. Web site: GIVING IT THAT XTRA EFFORT: San Diego Station Establishes a Base in Redondo Beach and Tries to Reach L.A. Sports Audience. . January 27, 1991.
17. Web site: Airabin Justin. CBS Sports. November 7, 2013.
18. Web site: Gabe Kapler Stats . Baseball Almanac . November 26, 2012.
19. Web site: Brad Kearns. bradkearns.com. 2017-03-08.
20. Web site: Pete LaCock Stats . Baseball Almanac . November 26, 2012.
21. Web site: Long Bio of Dale Launer.
22. Web site: 2012-10-27 . Author Ken Levine details one suburban teen’s journey through the ’60s . 2023-05-31 . Daily News . en-US.
23. Web site: Danny Boy O'Connor . Danny Boy O'Connor . December 3, 2012.
24. Web site: Kelly Paris Stats . Baseball Almanac . November 26, 2012.
25. News: He Plays Hitter but Not a Heavy : When Taft High's DaShon Polk Takes the Field, He Smiles on Contact. Los Angeles Times. November 6, 2013.
26. Web site: Paul Pratt. University of Nevada Athletics. November 7, 2013.
27. Web site: Malcolm Smith. The Official Site of USC Trojan Athletics. November 26, 2012.
28. http://www.latimes.com/sports/varsity-times/la-sp-vi-football-the-pride-of-taft-high-malcolm-smith-is-super-bowl-mvp-20140202,0,7156072.story#axzz2sJYnjly9 Football: The pride of Taft High, Malcolm Smith, is Super Bowl MVP
29. Web site: Steve Smith No. 12 WR. NFL Enterprises LLC . November 26, 2012.
30. Web site: Michael Thomas. NFL.com. en. 2017-03-04.
31. Web site: Justin Tryon. The Official Athletics Site of Arizona State University. November 26, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120531081734/http://www.thesundevils.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/tryon_justin00.html. May 31, 2012. mdy-all.
32. Web site: PASSINGS: Mark Tulin . Los Angeles Times. November 7, 2013. March 3, 2011 .
33. Web site: Wilmer Valderrama. https://web.archive.org/web/20131114125752/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/242495/Wilmer-Valderrama/biography . dead . November 14, 2013 . Movies & TV Dept. . . Jason Buchanan . 2013 . November 7, 2013.
34. Art Fein, "LA's Italians a Hit in England," Los Angeles Times, March 2, 1980.
35. Web site: HIGH SCHOOL SPRING SPORTS DIGEST: AN EARLY GLANCE AT TOP TEAMS AND PLAYERS : Golf : Taft Again Has Another Solid Team . Los Angeles Times. November 7, 2013. March 13, 1987 .
36. News: Darrion Weems . Los Angeles Times . September 6, 2015.
37. Web site: Achievements . Taft Charter High School . November 7, 2013.
38. Web site: Robin Wright . https://web.archive.org/web/20131114125754/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/77633/Robin-Wright/biography. dead. November 14, 2013. Movies & TV Dept.. The New York Times. Derek Armstrong. 2013. November 7, 2013.
39. Web site: Larry Young Stats . Baseball Almanac . November 26, 2012.
40. Web site: Robin Yount Stats . Baseball Almanac . November 26, 2012.