Alain Leroy Locke Senior High School was opened in 1967 in response to the Watts’ riots. It was created to provide families in South Los Angeles a safe and secure school. Forty years later, on September 11, 2007, the Los Angeles Unified School District made history when they voted to give operational control of Locke High School to Green Dot Public Schools. LAUSD made this decision in response to a conversion charter petition submitted by the teachers of Locke High School in support of the transition. On May 10, 2008, a fight "between rival groups of black and Latino students at Locke High School quickly escalated into a campus-wide melee" involving up to 600 people. The disturbance, which occurred under the backdrop of tensions between black and Hispanic students, was quelled after dozens of officers from the Los Angeles Unified School District Police and Los Angeles Police Department responded. Three students and one non-student were arrested; four students were treated for minor injuries. There were no serious injuries. On September 8, 2008, Locke High School reopened as seven small college-prep schools, now known as the Locke Family of High Schools: Locke 1, Locke 2, Locke 3, Locke 4, Locke Tech, Animo Watts, and Ace Academy. The first class graduated in 2011. In 2013, Locke consolidated the family of schools, which were independently chartered, into one college-prep school under a single charter that contains a 9th grade academy and two upper-class academies, referred to as Gold Academy and Blue Academy.
Student demographics
In 2010, Locke #3 had a total of 566 students: 40% African-American and 60% Latino. At Animo Locke 3 there are 141 students in the 9th grade: 87 Latinos/Hispanic, 54 African American. There are 90 Latinos/Hispanics in the 10th grade and 64 African Americans. In total there are 154 students in the 10th grade. There are 81 Latino/Hispanic and 81 African Americans in the 11th grade. The total is 162 students in 11th grade. There are 76 12th grade Latino/Hispanics and 54 African Americans in the 12th grade. Making a total of 130 12th graders in Animo Locke 3. There is a total of 232 African Americans and 334 Latino/Hispanics. The overall of students in the school ends up being 566 students learning in Animo Locke 3.
Athletics
The Saints compete in CIF's LA City Section in the Coliseum League. The following sports are offered to the students of Locke:
