Virgil Middle School

Virgil Middle School, formerly known as Virgil Junior High School, is a middle school in Los Angeles, California. This school is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District and teaches classes to students who range from grades 6 through 8. The present enrollment of Virgil is approximately 2,200 students, down from 2,800 when some of the students were transfered to nearby new schools [ [http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/page?_pageid=33,47493&_dad=ptl&_schema=PTL_EP Los Angeles Unified School District] ] . Ada L. Snethen Stevens is the current principal.

Several areas, including sections of Angelino Heights, are zoned to Virgil. [* [http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/news/communities/la-re-guide13feb13,0,1608780.story?coll=la-realestate-communities "Los Angeles Times", Real Estate section, Neighborly Advice column: "Preserving L.A.'s past in Angelino Heights" (13 Feb 2005)] ]

Virgil feeds into Belmont High School.

Location

Virgil Middle School is located at 152 North Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, California. It was called Virgil Intermediate School before it became Virgil Junior High School. The students of this school district are predominately of Mexican-American and hispanic origin, from 86% to as high as 91%. [ [http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/page?_pageid=33,47493&_dad=ptl&_schema=PTL_EP LAUSD School Profiles] ] This section of Los Angeles is bordered to the south by Los Angeles Koreatown, to the east by the Rampart section of Los Angeles and to the north by Hollywood.

History

Construction on the original school began in September of 1912 and Virgil opened in 1914 [ [http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/page?_pageid=33,47493&_dad=ptl&_schema=PTL_EP LAUSD School Profiles] ] . The original school stood on Virgil Avenue, a few blocks from the current location, thus the name. There were originally two hundred seventy-five students and fourteen teachers the first year of the school's operation. Construction was completed in 1916. The student body and faculty had more than doubled by that point in time.

During the World War I students from this school assisted the war effort by knitting garments for soldiers and collecting cans of food to help the Red Cross.Fact|date=September 2008

The school is said to be haunted by three ghosts.Fact|date=September 2008 One is a floating clown figure that appears in the rooms beneath the auditorium and backstage, the second is of a boy who hung himself in a bathroom because he was upset with his report card and the third is of a girl who accidentally hung herself while helping to set up a haunted halloween program. The clown ghost sightings and legend has been circulated since at least the late 1950s.Fact|date=September 2008

Construction on the second and current location of this school was completed in November, 1931. Fact|date=September 2008 It possesses an art deco style of architecture. It was at this time the school was given the name "Virgil Junior High School". The main building had to be rebuilt and the auditorium and annex were reinforced following the earthquake of 1933.

The first principal was Jay B. Millard. He was followed by Roscoe Frasher, Roy A. Arnheim, Mary Comerford, and Paul J. Schwartz during her first 50 years.

Virgil was relieved when Liechty Middle School, at Union Ave. and Wilshire Blvd., opened in 2007 [ [http://www.laschools.org/employee/mpd/fs-mpd/download/07-08_webmaps/Proj01.pdf Los Angeles Schools] ] and when Central Los Angeles Area Middle School 3, by Vermont Ave. and 6th Street, opened in 2008 [ [http://www.laschools.org/project-status/one-project?project_number=55.98024 L.A. Schools Project Status] ] .

Trivia

The student paper of Virgil Junior High School, "the Virgil Voice", was begun in 1925.

The yearbook is called the "Virgiliad."

Several key scenes in the motion pictures "Grease" (1978) starring John Travolta and "Halls of Anger" (1970) starring Jeff Bridges were filmed at Virgil.Fact|date=September 2008

A comedy (short) film called "The Don of Virgil Jr. High" (2007) was filmed at Virgil.Fact|date=September 2008

Alumni

Many famous people have attended Virgil Middle School.Fact|date=September 2008 Among them are:

* James C. Corman, L.A. City Councilman, U.S. CongressmanFact|date=September 2008
* Richard Crenna, actor [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001077/bio IMDB Biography] ]
* Melvin Gilbert, inventorFact|date=September 2008
* Carole Lombard, actressFact|date=September 2008
* Marilyn Monroe, actressFact|date=September 2008
* Scott Shaw author, actor, filmmakerFact|date=September 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.lausd.net/Virgil_MS/ Virgil Middle School]