Windward School
{{about|the school in Los Angeles|the New York school|The Windward School}}{{Short description|School in Los Angeles, California, US}}
{{Primary sources|date=May 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox school
| name = Windward School
| logo = Windward school.jpg
| logo_size = 160px
| image = Windward School.jpg
| motto = "A Dynamic, engaging education. A Nurturing, inclusive community"
| established = {{start date and age|1971}}
| type = Independent
| gender = Coeducational
| head_of_school = Tom Gilder
| founder = Shirley Windward
| teaching_staff = 78.9 (FTE) (2017–18)
| enrollment = 625 (2017–18){{NCES Private School ID|00092058|school_name=Windward School|access_date=February 6, 2021|do_not_render=y}}
| grades = 7–12
| streetaddress = 11350 Palms Boulevard
| city = Los Angeles
| state = California
| zipcode = 90066
| country = United States
| coordinates = {{coord|34|01|01|N|118|25|32|W|display=title,inline|format=dms}}
| accreditation = {{Hlist | WASC | NAIS | CAIS}}
| colors = Blue {{color box|#26547C}} and Black {{color box|black}}
| conference = CIF Southern Section
Gold Coast League
| nickname = Wildcats
| mascot = Willie the Wildcat
| rival = {{Hlist | Brentwood Eagles | Crossroads Roadrunners}}
| yearbook = Imprint
| website = {{URL|windwardschool.org}}
}}Windward School is an independent school in the Mar Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. It was founded by writer/teacher Shirley Windward in 1971. The school currently enrolls 650 students in grades 7 through 12.{{Cite web |title=Windward School Mission Statement |url=https://www.windwardschool.org/about/mission |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=www.windwardschool.org |language=en-US}}
History
In 1971, two former Paul Revere Middle School teachers, Carl Parsons and Shirley Windward (for whom the school is named), founded the school in order to open up their classes to young people on the west side of Los Angeles.{{cn|date=October 2024}}
Shirley's husband, Erv Windward, renovated the studios where they lived into classrooms. Many new students volunteered to help renovate the studios. The school originally had fourteen full-time and part-time teachers who taught 65 students in a small building on Wilshire Boulevard.{{cn|date=October 2024}}
In 1973, Windward School received its first full five-year WASC accreditation as a college-preparatory institution. As the school outgrew its first facilities the campus moved to 1414 21st Street, Santa Monica in September 1974.{{cn|date=October 2024}}
In 2012, Windward's co-founder and namesake, Shirley Windward, died at the age of 93.{{cite web|url=http://www.windwardschool.org/shirley|access-date=2 November 2012|title=Shirley Windward}} Windward hosts an event, Founders Day, each year to celebrate Shirley Windward.
Currently, the head of school is Tom Gilder,{{Cite web |title=Head of School Tom Gilder - Windward School |url=https://www.windwardschool.org/about/head-of-school-tom-gilder |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=www.windwardschool.org |language=en-US}} who will be retiring in the year of 2024-2025 with Sarah Beck taking on the new position.{{Cite web |title=Head of School Search - Windward School |url=https://www.windwardschool.org/about/headofschoolsearch |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=www.windwardschool.org |language=en-US}}
Athletics
The school has 44 teams, six full-time coaches, 2 full-time athletic trainers, and 30–35 part-time coaches. Sports facilities at the school include the Lewis Jackson Memorial Sports Center and Foley Field.{{Cite web |title=Visit Windward |url=https://www.windwardschool.org/admissions/visiting-us#:~:text=Windward%20School%20strives%20to%20innovate%20and |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=www.windwardschool.org |language=en-US}}
The school's athletic teams have won California State Championships in several sports. In 2008, the boys varsity teams won the CIF Division VI championships in both soccer and volleyball. In 2011, both the boys' and girls' varsity basketball teams won the CIF Division IV State Championship.{{cite web|title=CIFState.org – Past Championship Brackets, Results and Records|url=http://www.cifstate.org/index.php/state-championships-/basketball/298-buchanan-clovis-ca|access-date=14 June 2012}} In 2009, the boys' varsity basketball team won the CIF Division V State Championship. In 2012, the boys' varsity volleyball team won the CIF Division III SoCal Regional Championship (the highest level of state competition for boys' volleyball).{{cite web|title=CIFState.org – 2012 Boys Volleyball SoCal Regional Championships|url=http://www.cifstate.org/index.php/regional-championship/volleyball-boys-socal/515-2012-boys-volleyball-socal-regional-championship-brackets|access-date=14 June 2012}}{{cite web|title=CIFState.org – 2011–12 CIF State Champions|url=http://www.cifstate.org/index.php/component/content/article/115-resources/521-2011-12-cif-state-champions|access-date=14 June 2012}} The boys' varsity 8-man football team won back-to-back CIF Southern Sectional Championships (also the highest level of state competition) in 2010 and 2011.{{cite news|title=FoxSportsWest.com – Windward takes back-to-back CIF championships|url=http://www.foxsportswest.com/12/04/11/Windward-takes-back-to-back-CIF-champion/landing_prepzone.html?blockID=618984&|access-date=14 June 2012|date=3 December 2011}} {{cn-span|As of 2012, the school has moved up to play 11-man football and no longer competes in 8-man. In 2016, the football program accumulated their first US Army All-American football player, Breland Brandt, who played football for UCLA. In January 2017, the boys football program switched to a hybrid 8-Man/11-Man Football schedule for the 2017 season, (4 11-Man games and 6 8-man games). The 2017 season will be a transition year for the program which will eventually move back to 8-man by the 2018 football season. The reason is undisclosed. In 2017, the Girls Basketball team won the CIF Division I State Championship, their second in school history. In 2018, the Girls Basketball team won the CIF Open Division State Championship. In 2019, the 8-man football team won the 8-man Division 1 championship, and the Boys Basketball team won the Division 1 CIF Southern Section Championship. The Boys Volleyball team was recently moved up to D1/D2 following their undefeated regular season last year(2019/2020/2021) in which the Wildcats continued to the CIF finals.|date=October 2024}}
Notable alumni
- Max Bemis {{ndash}} musician, lead singer of Say Anything{{cite web|title=Say Anything Biography|url=http://www.thetabworld.com/Say_Anything_biography.html|access-date=14 June 2012}}
- Jules Bernard {{ndash}} NBA player {{cite web|title=Jules Bernard|website=NBA.com |url=https://www.nba.com/player/1631262/jules-bernard}}
- Jordin Canada, WNBA basketball player{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}
- Jakob Dylan {{ndash}} musician, lead singer of The Wallflowers{{cite web|title=People – Highway 61 Revisited|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20142724,00.html|access-date=14 June 2012}}
- Tyler Heineman {{ndash}} Toronto Blue Jays baseball player{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles/ucla/post/_/id/10655/catcher-heineman-a-tower-of-strength|title=Catcher Heineman a tower of strength|first=Peter|last=Yoon|work=ESPN|date=June 8, 2012 |access-date=January 13, 2015}}
- Jenny Johnson Jordan {{ndash}} professional volleyball player and Olympian{{cite web|title=Above the Net: Jenny Johnson Jordan '91|url=http://www.windwardschool.org/podium/default.aspx?t=204&nid=358717|access-date=14 June 2012}}{{cite web|title=10 Questions: Beach volleyball player Jennifer Johnson Jordan|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/news/2000/09/13/10questions_johnson_jordan/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010507235801/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/news/2000/09/13/10questions_johnson_jordan/|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 7, 2001|access-date=14 June 2012}}
- Mason Gooding {{dash}} actor in Ballers and Booksmart, son of Cuba Gooding Jr{{cite web | title=Mason Gooding | website=IMDb | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2864252/ | access-date=14 June 2024}}
- Zoe Kazan {{ndash}} actress{{cite news|last=Turan|first=Kenneth|title=Film Critic's Notebook: When an actor is also a friend|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-mar-28-la-ca-kazan28-2010mar28-story.html|access-date=14 June 2012|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=28 March 2010}} (matriculated to and graduated from the Marlborough School)
- Ethan Kleinberg {{ndash}} professor of history and letters at Wesleyan University, editor-in-chief of history and theory and director of Wesleyan University's Center for the Humanities{{cite web|title= Ethan Kleinberg Faculty Page|url=http://www.wesleyan.edu/academics/faculty/ekleinberg/profile.html |access-date=20 February 2018}}
- Andrew Luster {{ndash}} heir to Max Factor cosmetics fortune, convicted serial rapist{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4724893/While-you-were-sleeping.html|title=While you were sleeping|last=Langley|first=William|date=4 August 2001|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=17 March 2011}}
- Imani McGee-Stafford {{ndash}} 10th pick in the WNBA Draft, has played for multiple WNBA teams{{Cite web|url=https://www.wnba.com/player/imani-mcgee-stafford/|title=Imani McGee Stafford|website=WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA|language=en|access-date=2020-03-20}}
- Darius Morris {{ndash}} basketball player, drafted out of University of Michigan, has played for several NBA teams{{cite web|title=2010–11 University of Michigan Men's Basketball Roster|url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-baskbl/archive/051111aaa.html|access-date=14 June 2012}}{{cite web|title=ESPN|url=https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/6463/darius-morris|access-date=14 June 2012}}
- Charisma Osborne - WNBA player for the Phoenix Mercury.{{cite web |title=Charisma Osborne College Stats |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/charisma-osborne-1.html |website=College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com |language=en}}
- Shareef O'Neal {{ndash}} UCLA and LSU basketball player, son of NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal (transferred to and graduated from Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences){{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}
- Jules Bernard - professional basketball player for Washington Wizards
- Anna Paquin {{ndash}} actress, Best Supporting Actress Oscar-winner for The Piano, star of True Blood{{cite web|title=Snakkle|url=http://www.snakkle.com/galleries/before-they-were-stars-cast-of-true-blood/anna-paquin-single/|access-date=14 June 2012}}{{cite news|last=Hobson|first=Louis B.|title=Real-Life Acting Difficult for Paquin|newspaper=Calgary Sun|date=2 September 1996}}
- Wesley Saunders {{ndash}} basketball player, former Harvard standout and Vanoli Cremona player{{Cite web|url=https://gleague.nba.com/player/wesley-saunders/|title=Wesley Saunders|website=NBA G League|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-20}}
- Jason Schwartzman {{ndash}} actor, star of Rushmore{{cite web|title=Yahoo Movies – Biography of Jason Schwartzman|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/person/jason-schwartzman/biography.html|access-date=14 June 2012}}
- Samantha Shapiro {{ndash}} gymnast, six-year member of U.S. National Team, and three-time U.S. elite national champion{{cite web|title=Stanford University Bio|url=http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/shapiro_samantha00.html|access-date=14 June 2012}}
- Henry Steinway {{ndash}} best known by his stage name RL Grime, DJ and producer of trap, bass, hip hop music{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}
- Anthony Stover {{ndash}} former UCLA basketball player{{cite web|title=2011-2012 UCLA Men's Basketball Roster|
url=https://uclabruins.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/anthony-stover/2525}}
- JuJu Watkins {{ndash}} USC Women's Basketball, transferred to Sierra Canyon High School after her sophomore year{{cite web|title=JuJu Watkins leaves Windward for Sierra Canyon.|
website=Los Angeles Times|
date=July 24, 2021|
url=https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/story/2021-07-24/juju-watkins-leaves-windward-for-sierra-canyon}}
- Malcolm Washington, filmmaker, a son of actor Denzel Washington.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}
Demographics
According to U.S. News & World Report, 67.8 of the student population is white, and 32.2 percent are minorities, including 7.1 percent Black or African American, 3.3 percent Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and 3.1 percent Hispanic/Latino. Students identifying as belonging to two or more races make up 18.5 percent of the student population.{{Cite web |title=Winward School |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/california/winward-school-306372|website=U.S. News & World Report}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.windwardschool.org/}}
{{Los Angeles County Private Schools}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Preparatory schools in California
Category:Schools in Los Angeles
Category:Mar Vista, Los Angeles
Category:Private middle schools in California
Category:Private high schools in California
Category:High schools in Los Angeles