Walter Reed Middle School
Walter Reed Middle School is located in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA.[3] Originally called North Hollywood Junior High School, the school was later renamed in honor of U.S. Army Major Walter Reed.
| Walter Reed Middle School | |
|---|---|
 Walter Reed Middle School | |
| Location | |
| |
4525 Irvine Avenue Studio City, CA, 91602 Los Angeles , California United States | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Motto | Be safe, Be responsible, Be respectful. |
| Established | September 1939 |
| School district | Los Angeles Unified School District |
| President | Ms. Maribel Garcia |
| Dean | Edward Torres |
| Principal | Ms. Robyn Friedman[1] |
| Staff | 61.83 (FTE)[2] |
| Faculty | 70 |
| Grades | 6 - 8 |
| Enrollment | 1,584 (2017-18)[2] |
| Student to teacher ratio | 25.62[2] |
| Campus size | Medium |
| Campus type | Urban |
| Color(s) | Grey, blue |
| Mascot | Wolf |
| Website | Official website |
The school is a part of Local District North East of the Los Angeles Unified School District and feeds into North Hollywood High School. Several areas, including parts of North Hollywood, Valley Village, Studio City and Woodbridge Park, are zoned to Reed.[4]
History
On May 26, 1998, a student brought a kitchen knife to school and stabbed and seriously injured another boy during an eighth-grade “Fun Day” event.[5]
In 2017 the school received budget cuts since the percentage of non-Hispanic/Latino white students reached 30%; this occurred because of a state law established in the 1970s stating that schools with populations of white students below 30% get extra funding.[6]
Academies and electives
The school offers a variety of special academic programs: the Individualized Honors Program (IHP), the School for Advanced Studies (SAS), the Humanities Academy, the Media Arts and Technology Academy, the S.T.E.A.M. Academy, the Environmental Sciences Academy, and the Global Leadership Academy. IHP was described by Time magazine as "perhaps the most successful junior-high curriculum in the U.S.".[7] Founded in 1971 by William Fitz-Gibbon, the IHP's purpose is to serve the needs of highly gifted children. IHP students are usually one or two levels above average grade math classes. Pre-algebra and algebra are taught in 6th grade, algebra and geometry in 7th grade, and geometry and algebra 2 in 8th grade.
The school has a very active parent body organized under its PTSA.
Gifted program
In 1971, the school established the Individualized Honors Program (IHP) co-founded by William Fitz-Gibbon.[8] The parents who place their children in the program want them to be social peers; the students would otherwise be able to skip middle school and enroll directly in high school or in some cases tertiary education.[9]
Filming
Television shows filmed there include Head of the Class (which was based on Reed's IHP program;[10] one of the actors on the show was an IHP graduate), Growing Pains, 7th Heaven, Joe Dirt, Parks and Recreation, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, CSI, Malcolm in the Middle, Parenthood, The West Wing and Tell Me You Love Me.
Scenes from movies including Transformers, Joe Dirt, License to Drive, The Shaggy Dog, Role Models, Accepted and Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster were also filmed there. In 2006, the fee for one day of filming at an LAUSD school was $2,500.[11]
In the news
At the 2008 Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the façade of Walter Reed Middle School was displayed behind the GOP nominee John McCain as a backdrop to his acceptance speech, raising questions as to why, starting in the blogosphere. Blog posts referring to "Walter Reed Middle School" jumped from roughly 0% in the previous six months to .0325% on the night of the convention, according to the BlogPulse search engine. Although the campaign did not release an official statement, many have speculated that the campaign had intended to display a picture of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Army's leading medical institution and a facility widely associated with care for Iraq war veterans.[12]
The then principal of Walter Reed Middle School, Donna Tobin, placed a statement on the school's website saying that the school had not given permission for the footage to be used, "nor is the use of our school’s picture an endorsement of any political party or view." [13]
References
- https://reedms.com/apps/news/show_news.jsp?REC_ID=651001&id=0
- "Walter Reed Middle". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
- "Studio City Neighborhood Council Bylaws" (PDF). Studio City Neighborhood Council. 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
- Location map - Nola Sarkisian-Mille (24 September 2006). "Bradys put this Valley niche on the map". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
- "Student Injured in Knife Attack During Class". Los Angeles Times. 1998-05-27. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
- Gregory, John (2017-03-26). "NoHo school budget cuts due to high white student percentage sparks outrage". ABC 7. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
- Bowen (24 September 2001), "Launchpad for Superachievers", Time
- Hardy, Terry. "Top of the Class", Los Angeles magazine (education section), Emmis Communications, October 1998, vol. 43, no. 10. ISSN 1522-9149. Start: p. 52 Archived August 17, 2016, at the Wayback Machine . CITED: p. 52 .
- Hardy, Terry. "Top of the Class", Los Angeles magazine (education section), Emmis Communications, October 1998, vol. 43, no. 10. ISSN 1522-9149. Start: p. 52 Archived August 17, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. CITED: p. 62 Archived April 27, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
- Unz, Ron (30 October 2012). "No Quotas, No Elite Public High School". The American Conservative. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
The only long-term consequence of our years of effort [to establish an IHP high school] was that ABC soon created a successful television sitcom called “Head of the Class,” which ran from 1986 to 1991 and featured ten ultra-bright students in a public school program called “IHP.”
- Kandel, Jason (10 July 2006). "Burbank gives new meaning to 'Film School'" (PDF). Daily News. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2007. A text version
- "McCain Uses Walter Reed Middle School, Not Army Hospital, as Backdrop". September 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
- "Republican National Convention". September 2008. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2008.