Windward School

This article is about the school in Los Angeles. For the New York school, see The Windward School.

Windward School
Address
11350 Palms Boulevard Los Angeles , California 90066 United States
Coordinates	34°01′01″N118°25′32″W / 34.01694°N 118.42556°W / 34.01694; -118.42556
Information
Type	Independent
Motto	"A Dynamic, engaging education. A Nurturing, inclusive community"
Established	1971;53 years ago (1971)
Founder	Shirley Windward
Head of school	Tom Gilder
Teaching staff	78.9 (FTE) (2017–18) [1]
Grades	7–12
Gender	Coeducational [1]
Enrollment	625 (2017–18) [1]
Student to teacher ratio	7.0:1 (2017–18) [1]
Color(s)	Blue   and Black
Athletics conference	CIF Southern Section Gold Coast League
Mascot	Willie the Wildcat
Nickname	Wildcats
Rival	Brentwood Eagles Crossroads Roadrunners
Accreditation	WASC NAIS CAIS
Yearbook	Imprint
Website	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. ^[2]

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.^{[ citation needed ]}

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.^{[ citation needed ]}

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.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 1982, Windward moved to a 9-acre (3.6 ha), multi-building campus at 11350 Palms Boulevard, Los Angeles. Other buildings have been added to the campus over the years: the Irene Kleinberg Theater in October 1997, the Lewis Jackson Memorial Sports Center in 2000, the Arts Center and Pavilion in September 2002 and the first Innovation Classroom 510 in fall 2007. Construction of Windward's newest facilities, the Science, Dance & Music Center and the Center for Teaching & Learning, was completed in the summer of 2009. In 2015 a former computer room was converted into the C.R.E.A.T.E. studio where students can make and experiment with new technologies.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2012, Windward's co-founder and namesake, Shirley Windward, died at the age of 93. ^[3] Windward hosts an event, Founders Day, each year to celebrate Shirley Windward.

Currently, the head of school is Tom Gilder, ^[4] who will be retiring in the year of 2024-2025 with Sarah Beck taking on the new position. ^[5]

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. ^[6]

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. ^[7] In 2009, the boys' varsity basketball team won the CIF Division V State Championship. ^[7] In 2012, the boys' varsity volleyball team won the CIF Division III SoCal Regional Championship (the highest level of state competition for boys' volleyball). ^{[8] [9]} 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. ^[10] 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.^{[ citation needed ]}

Notable alumni

• Charisma Osborn, WNBA basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury ^[11]
• Max Bemis – musician, lead singer of Say Anything ^[12]
• Jules Bernard – NBA player ^[13]
• Jordin Canada, WNBA basketball player
• Jakob Dylan – musician, lead singer of The Wallflowers ^[14]
• Tyler Heineman – Pittsburgh Pirates baseball player ^[15]
• Jenny Johnson Jordan – professional volleyball player and Olympian ^{[16] [17]}
• Mason Gooding  – actor in Ballers and Booksmart, son of Cuba Gooding Jr ^[18]
• Zoe Kazan – actress ^[19] (matriculated to and graduated from the Marlborough School)
• Ethan Kleinberg – 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 ^[20]
• Andrew Luster – heir to Max Factor cosmetics fortune, convicted serial rapist ^[21]
• Imani McGee-Stafford – 10th pick in the WNBA Draft, has played for multiple WNBA teams ^[22]
• Darius Morris – basketball player, drafted out of University of Michigan, has played for several NBA teams ^{[23] [24]}
• Shareef O'Neal – UCLA and LSU basketball player, son of NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal (transferred to and graduated from Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences)
• Jules Bernard - professional basketball player for Washington Wizards
• Anna Paquin – actress, Best Supporting Actress Oscar-winner for The Piano , star of True Blood ^{[25] [26]}
• Wesley Saunders – basketball player, former Harvard standout and Vanoli Cremona player ^[27]
• Jason Schwartzman – actor, star of Rushmore ^[28]
• Samantha Shapiro – gymnast, six-year member of U.S. National Team, and three-time U.S. elite national champion ^[29]
• Henry Steinway – best known by his stage name RL Grime, DJ and producer of trap, bass, hip hop music
• Anthony Stover – former UCLA basketball player ^[30]
• JuJu Watkins – USC Women's Basketball, transferred to Sierra Canyon High School after her sophomore year ^[31]

References

1. "Search for Private Schools – School Detail for Windward School". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved February 6, 2021.
2. "Windward School Mission Statement". www.windwardschool.org. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
3. "Shirley Windward" . Retrieved November 2, 2012.
4. "Head of School Tom Gilder - Windward School". www.windwardschool.org. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
5. "Head of School Search - Windward School". www.windwardschool.org. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
6. "Visit Windward". www.windwardschool.org. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
7. "CIFState.org – Past Championship Brackets, Results and Records" . Retrieved June 14, 2012.
8. "CIFState.org – 2012 Boys Volleyball SoCal Regional Championships" . Retrieved June 14, 2012.
9. "CIFState.org – 2011–12 CIF State Champions" . Retrieved June 14, 2012.
10. "FoxSportsWest.com – Windward takes back-to-back CIF championships". December 3, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
11. X; Instagram; Email; Facebook (February 2, 2017). "Meet Charisma Osborne, the Allen Iverson of Windward". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 11, 2024.{{cite web}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
12. "Say Anything Biography" . Retrieved June 14, 2012.
13. "Jules Bernard".
14. "People – Highway 61 Revisited" . Retrieved June 14, 2012.
15. Yoon, Peter. "Catcher Heineman a tower of strength". ESPN. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
16. "Above the Net: Jenny Johnson Jordan '91" . Retrieved June 14, 2012.
17. "10 Questions: Beach volleyball player Jennifer Johnson Jordan". Archived from the original on May 7, 2001. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
18. "Mason Gooding" . Retrieved June 14, 2024.
19. Turan, Kenneth (March 28, 2010). "Film Critic's Notebook: When an actor is also a friend". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
20. "Ethan Kleinberg Faculty Page" . Retrieved February 20, 2018.
21. Langley, William (August 4, 2001). "While you were sleeping". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved March 17, 2011.
22. "Imani McGee Stafford". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
23. "2010–11 University of Michigan Men's Basketball Roster" . Retrieved June 14, 2012.
24. "ESPN" . Retrieved June 14, 2012.
25. "Snakkle" . Retrieved June 14, 2012.
26. Hobson, Louis B. (September 2, 1996). "Real-Life Acting Difficult for Paquin". Calgary Sun.
27. "Wesley Saunders". NBA G League. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
28. "Yahoo Movies – Biography of Jason Schwartzman" . Retrieved June 14, 2012.
29. "Stanford University Bio" . Retrieved June 14, 2012.
30. "2011-2012 UCLA Men's Basketball Roster".
31. "JuJu Watkins leaves Windward for Sierra Canyon".

External links

• Official website