John Marshall High School (Los Angeles)


John Marshall High School is a public high school located in the Los Feliz district of the city of Los Angeles at 3939 Tracy Street in Los Angeles, California.
Marshall, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Marshall is named after jurist John Marshall, who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States for three decades.
Students at Marshall primarily come from Los Feliz, Atwater Village, East Hollywood, northeastern Koreatown, Elysian Valley, and Silver Lake.
Within the school, there are many Small Learning Communities, including the School for Environmental Studies, the school's only California Partnership Academy, the Performing Arts Academy, the Artistic Vision Academy, the STARS Academy, the Renaissance Academy, and the Social Justice Academy. The School also houses a School for Advanced Studies and a Gifted/High Ability Magnet.

History

Designed by architect George M. Lindsey in the Collegiate Gothic style, and constructed in 1930, John Marshall High School first opened its doors on January 26, 1931, with approximately 1,200 students and 48 teachers. Joseph Sniffen, for whom the auditorium was named, served as the Principal, while Hugh Boyd and Geraldine Keith acted as Marshall's first Vice-Principals. The football field was named in Boyd's honor, while the library was named for Keith.
During the first semester of the school's existence, the faculty and students cooperatively selected the school motto, seal, and colors. The school motto, Veritas Vincit, was an easy choice since this was a favorite sentiment of John Marshall. The school seal shows an open Book of Learning, behind which is projected the scales of justice with Veritas Vincit emblazoned on the bar. Two shades of blue became the official colors of the high school; the moonlight blue of midnight and the sunlight blue of dawn. Since the color blue is symbolic of truth, the choice of colors harmonized with the school's motto. John Montapert and Henry Suykida, two Marshall students who graduated in the Winter Class of 1939, composed "Alma Mater", the official school song.
The school's mascot is the "Barrister." The school's service organization is the Continentals. A bust of John Marshall stands in the center of the Senior Court.
Following the Sylmar earthquake of 1971, some of Marshall's buildings were condemned. The cafeteria was torn down, but the Los Feliz community, led by "Citizens to Save Marshall" activists Sherril Boller, Joanne Gabrielson, Alberta Burke, and Nina Mohi tirelessly campaigned to save the unique Collegiate Gothic Main Building. In 1975, this building was closed for structural strengthening and all classes moved to temporary bungalows. In September 1980 the refurbished Main Building was opened. A new building now houses the library, cafeteria, and science classrooms. Mike Haynes Stadium, the school's football and track stadium, also dates to 1981.
In one basketball game in 1986 Jerry Simon, who that season was the Section 3-A Los Angeles City Player of the Year, scored 69 points for Marshall, establishing a new single-game scoring record for a high school player in Los Angeles, as the team won by a score of 98-61.
Today, Marshall has an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students and a teaching staff of 106.

Notable alumni