Bell Gardens High School
6119 Agra St., Bell Gardens, CA, 90201-1705 -  Map
School Overview:
Definition of Terms
Bell Gardens High School
School Level High school
Grades Offered Grades 9 - 12
County Los Angeles County, CA
Students & Faculty
Total Students 3626 students
% Male / % Female 50%  /  50%
Total Classroom Teachers 126 teachers
Students by Grade
Grade 9 - 1027 students
Grade 10 - 969 students
Grade 11 - 814 students
Grade 12 - 816 students
This School
(CA) School Average
Teacher : Student Ratio 1:29 1:23
Students by Ethnicity
This School
(CA) School Average
% American Indian n/a n/a
% Asian n/a 12%
% Hispanic 98% 42%
% Black n/a 8%
% White 1% 33%
% Unknown 1 % 5%
Additional Student Information
This School
(CA) School Average
% Eligible for Free Lunch 49% 30%
% Eligible for Reduced Lunch 16% 7%
% Migrant Students Enrolled n/a 3%
School Performance:
(CA) Statewide Testing Performance
School Statewide Performance View Education Department Test Scores
School District:
School District Name Montebello Unified School District
This School's Agency
(CA) District Average
Number of Schools Managed 29 7
Number of Students Managed 35,310 students 3,960 students
District Total Revenue $311,022,000 $37,604,000
District Expenditure $308,236,000 $39,520,000
District Revenue / Student $8,808 $9,496
District Expenditure / Student $8,729 $9,980
District Graduation Rates n/a n/a
In the News:
View all past news stories
School Notes:
  • Bell Gardens High School is a High School in Bell Gardens, California. BGHS, located at 6119 Agra Street, Bell Gardens, CA 90201, is part of the Montebello Unified School District. BGHS' mascot is the Lancer. The school colors are cardinal, grey, and maroon. The school was built around the 1930s and 1940s and was primarily white. It serves students from Bell Gardens, Commerce, and parts of Downey. BGHS ranked in at 945 out of the top 1000 High School in America according to Newsweek magazine in 2006.
  • Clubs: Clubs at BGHS include Lancer Scroll, Charger Yearbook, ASB, Girls' League, CSF, Photo Club, Environmentalist club, HOSA,FHA-Hero, ELD Club, and many others.
  • Athletics: Athletics in BGHS consists of boys' and girls' soccer, cross country, boys' and girls' volleyball, boys' and girls' tennis, boys' and girls' water polo, boys and girls basketball, wrestling, baseball, track, softball, golf, swimming, and football.
  • Curriculum: BGHS currently offers an array of courses from general ed courses like English, Math, Science to electives like Art, Web Design, Automobile Technology, Wood Shop, Journalism and Yearbook. BGHS also offers Advance Placement courses for students hoping to earn early university credits. These courses are: Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, English Language, English Literature, Environmental Science, French Language, Government, Psychology, Spanish Language, Spanish Literature, U.S. History, World History.
  • Southeast Student Film Festival: In 2005, BGHS placed 3rd Overall in the Southeast Student Film Festival in South Gates hosted by Congressman Hector De La Torre.
  • Student Publications: The Lancer Scroll and the Charger Yearbook are BGHS's only recurring student run publications. Both publications have been active since the school's conception in the 1940s.
  • The Lancer Scroll is the school's student run newspaper. It published roughly every month and is the school only vehicle for news and information. The newspaper's advisor is Cal State Northridge graduate Jose Avila. Avila replaced the prior advisor, Smith College Alumna, Rebecca Tomasini.
  • The paper annually participates a county wide newspaper competition; The ELAJEA Write Offs. During the competition writers in News, Editorial, Sports, Feature, and Cartooning go through a 1 hour press conference with a question and answer period and they are given 1 hour to write an article on the topic. Participants in News Layout are given 2 hours to design a newspaper front page. Photographers are given 2 hours to take pictures and then 45 minutes to choose which ones they want to submit. Placing 10th through 1st in this leads to eligibility in the ELAJEA State Wide competition, which is structured in virtually the same manner.
  • During the 2005 Competition season, Lancer Scroll celebrated its highest number of reporters who placed in both the ELAJEA County competition and State competition. A number totalling somewhere in between 13-15 winners broke the previous record and still stands today.
  • The Charger Yearbook is the annual yearbook at BGHS. For the past 22 years the program has been headed by Whittier College graduate Stan Smith, with the exception of the 2004-2005 school year when it was advised by Benjamin McNair. The Charger Yearbook has been recognized by the ASPA as one of the top ten yearbooks in the nation (95-99). It continues to score amongst the first place standings for student produced publications throughout the United States. Countless hours are dedicated by the yearbook staff to ensure accuracy, and layout design. The yearbook stands at 264 pages, with limited color. Yearbook sales range in the 750-800 yearbooks a year. Regionally and nationally the Charger Yearbook staff is a great student publication.
  • The Phoenix Press Is an independent underground publication that rose up after numerous students and alumni decided to head their own form of student run newspaper in Bell Gardens. The Phoenix Press claims no affiliation at all with BGHS, instead aligning itself with the City of Bell Gardens and its neighboring areas as a whole. The paper publishes bi-weekly and primarily focuses on bringing local and national issues to light through editorials and reviews.
  • Riots: In 2001, students at BGHS organized a walk out in reaction to rumors about the placement of Security Cameras in the school's restrooms. The actual sit in lasted till the end of nutrition before it became unruly as students began rioting and vandalizing throughout the school. The situation reached the point as students began taking over school owned vehicles and other equipment. After an hour of rioting, administration decided to let students out early in order to avoid further damage.
  • In the end, the rumor about the cameras turned out to be incorrect. Rumors also spread about authorities pepper spraying, harassing and acting violently against students. These rumors are also incorrect.
  • Remodeling: After years of development and construction, BGHS's new three story building was finally opened on December 18th, 2005. Originally intended to open in 2001, the building's progress lagged due to legal action taken by the school and counteraction taken by the builders. Aside from this, the construction company miscalculated the dimensions and measurements of the building's foundation. In addition, classrooms that were designed to hold 40 students were inadequately built to hold only 20. The school would eventually get over the legal problems and have the building finished.
  • In 2005, the school underwent another renovation when the school's field, otherwise known as "Lancer Stadium" got upgraded from a dirt field with grass spots to a synthetic turf field with a rubber track around it that replaced the previous dirt clay track. The process started during the latter half of the 2004-2005 school year and was completed the following winter.
  • Alumni: Eddie Cochran.
  • Johnny Lee Clary.
  • John Force, NHRA drag racer and 14-time Funny Car division champion.
  • Brenda Villa, two-time Olympic medal winner in water polo.
  • Michael Granville, Part of Nike Farm Team.
  • Reuben Chavez; Whittier College's Lead Football Player.
  • Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL
  • Add information about this school (e.g., awards, news stories, notable alumni, fun facts)
 
School Zip Code:
About This Zip Code (90201)
School Zip (90201)
(CA) State Average
Population (Approximate) 105,275 people 33,115,272 people
% (age 25+) w/College Degree 7% 32%
Population Average Age 25 years old 32 years old
Average Household size 4.4 persons 2.9 persons
Median Household Income $30,029 $48,909
Avg. # of Rooms in Household 3.2 rooms 4.8 rooms
Median Age of Housing Structure 46 years old 39 years old
View current housing listings in this area
Median Value of Housing Unit
Zipcode (90201)



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% Owning / % Renting 25% / 75% 58% / 42%
School Map:
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4. Maywood Academy High School - 554 students - 2.1 mi. away - view location
5. Columbus Continuation High School - 334 students - 2.8 mi. away - view location
View all schools in: Bell Gardens, Los Angeles County, Zip 90201 
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Note: Data has been gathered from several government and commercial data sources. School data reflects 2006 statistics (most recent year available).


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