at the lower left corner Belmont High School opened in 1923. The Hotel Belmont was the first noteworthy building to stand atop Crown Hill, the present site of Belmont High School. Eventually, the hotel was abandoned, and later it was transformed into the
private Belmont School for Girls. After the school was destroyed by
fire, the grounds were left vacant, except for five
oil wells and a pumping plant for the
Los Angeles City Oil Field. On February 28, 1921, the
Los Angeles Board of Education purchased the site for $100,000, for the purpose of constructing Belmont High School. Belmont opened its doors on September 11, 1923, to about 500 students, all
sophomores, and 28 faculty members. Most of the school's traditions were created by those pioneer students during the first months of the school's existence. The school newspaper conducted an election to select its name, with "Sentinel" easily winning over "Progress." To this day, Belmont's students are known as Sentinels. Those first students favored “Sentinels" because they were able to oversee the entire city from their "lookout" on Crown Hill. In another election, the
school's colors, green and black, were selected over brown and white. A mosaic mural by
Joseph Young is located on the wall of the main building. The 1923
Beaux-Arts campus was designed by
Stanton & Stockwell, who designed several large civic buildings at the
Civic Center, Los Angeles. It was in the
Los Angeles City High School District until 1961, when it merged into
LAUSD. Belmont High School was once the largest
school in California, due to the density of the
Westlake district, which it served. It was also considered the largest
school in the United States, with 6,342 students. What was formerly the
attendance area for Belmont High School has now become the Belmont Zone of
Choice, where students have the option of attending one of nineteen small
learning communities or
pilot schools located on four different campuses within the zone: Belmont High School,
Miguel Contreras Learning Complex,
Edward R. Roybal Learning Center, and
Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts. Of these, the
Miguel Contreras Learning Complex was opened in 2006, sharing Belmont's attendance zone, after LAUSD had begun as early as 2000 to devise plans to relieve Belmont of many of its students. The
West Adams Preparatory High School opened in 2007, further relieving Belmont; a section of the
Manual Arts High School attendance zone was transferred to Belmont. The
High School for the Visual and Performing Arts (formerly known as Central Los Angeles Area High School 9) opened in 2008. Central Los Angeles High School 11 (
Edward R. Roybal (formerly Belmont) Learning Center), Central Los Angeles High School 12, and the
Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez Learning Centers all opened in 2009. Belmont underwent a major modernization beginning around 2005. The school was
renovated, and new paint, bathrooms, doors, walls, and ceiling tiles were added. Facilities were also updated throughout the school campus to accommodate those with
special needs (for example, the addition of
wheelchair ramps). From the 2010
school year, it became a 6th through 12th grade school, with
Sal Castro Middle School being located on the campus. The Belmont football stadium was named for
Dentler Erdmann, its long-time faculty member. In 2011 the school was restructured, with most teachers having to reapply for their jobs. The new academic program involves learning
English,
Spanish, and
Mandarin. ==Belmont High School Small Learning Communities==