Chatsworth Charter High School is a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

located in Chatsworth in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

History

The campus was built with one-story buildings around a central quad as land was inexpensive and an open, outdoor feeling was consistent with the area. The administration building anchors the southeast end of the quad, while the cafeteria and auditorium anchors the northwest end. Athletics are on the other side of the internal roadway.

Activities

Chatsworth's Chancellor band was the last

LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...

band to go to the

Pasadena Tournament of Roses The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade (or simply the Tournament of Roses), is an annual parade held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, United States, on New Year's Day (or on Monday, January 2 if New ...

Parade, January 1, 1969, as the system of selecting a school's band was changed to selecting players from each band. The band was led by music teacher Irwin Pope and co-drum majors Eric Micko and Loring Kutchins. Although the Chatsworth band itself couldn't march as a whole through the

parade, the band still promoted its members through the Los Angeles Unified School District All District High school honor band. More recently, multiple students from the Chatsworth Chancellor band have auditioned and made it in the

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...

All District High School honor band. Chatsworth's Drama Department participates in Fall and Shakespear
DTASC
Festivals every year, earning recognition in acting and technical design. The department puts on a production every year and is Thespian Troupe #2314 in the National Honor Thespian Society. Many notable artists are alumni of Chatsworth High School's Drama Department, including

Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...

Mare Winningham A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four y ...

and

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolades ...

. Spacey co-produced the 2011 documentary ''Shakspeare High'', which features Chatsworth's Drama Department. The film program participates in multiple youth film festivals, some including but not limited to,

Mitchell Englander Mitchell Englander (born July 25, 1970) is an American former politician who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing District 12 in the San Fernando Valley, until he resigned December 31, 2018. While serving in City Counci ...

's Making Movies that Matter Festival, CSPAN's Student Cam annual national video documentary competition, and Directing Change's festival. In 2020, three students from the Chatsworth film Program won an honorable mention award in the Directing Change's Festival under the Suicide Prevention Category. The program was run by David Massey, an academy award-nominated filmmaker, from 1994-2019, retiring in his 25th year as a teacher.

Athletics

Between 1989-1993 the Women's Soccer team were undefeated winning CIF Championships each year. In 2003 and 2004, the Chatsworth High School baseball team was ranked first in the Baseball America/National High School Baseball Coaches Association Top 50 poll. In 2007, Chatsworth High players

Matt Dominguez (baseball) Matthew Scott Dominguez (born August 28, 1989) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, and Toronto Blue Jays and in Nippon Professional Baseball ...

and

Mike Moustakas Michael Christopher Moustakas (; born September 11, 1988) is an American professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Cincinnati Reds. Moust ...

were selected in the first round of the

2007 Major League Baseball Draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the f ...

. Chatsworth High is one of only seven schools to have produced two first round draft picks in the same year. Other notable players to have played at Chatsworth High School include:

Josh Ravin Joshua Joseph Ravin (born January 21, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves and for the Chiba Lotte Mari ...

Dwight Evans Dwight Evans may refer to: * Dwight Evans (baseball) (born 1951), American former baseball player * Dwight Evans (politician) (born 1954), American politician {{hndis, Evans, Dwight ...

Bobby Mitchell Robert Cornelius Mitchell (June 6, 1935 – April 5, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a halfback and flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Redskins. Mitchell becam ...

Andre David Andre Anter David (born May 18, 1958), is a retired Assyrian Major League Baseball outfielder who played during parts of the 1984 and 1986 seasons with the Minnesota Twins. He played in 38 games and had 13 hits with 1 home run and a .245 batting ...

, and Bryan Petersen. Evans is the namesake of Chatsworth's football stadium. Wrestling were CIF Champions in 1974 under Coach Bob Hammond. 2004 brought another CIF Championship under Coach Richard Carrillo. With only 10 wrestlers entered in the tournament, a school record 6 wrestlers were in the finals all of whom won individual titles and contributed to the overall team championship: Jonathan Lawes, Jonathan Vargas, Robert Johnson, Paul Medina, Edwin Martinez, and Oscar Garcia. The men's soccer team were state champions in 1991, defeating Bell High School 1-0. The women's basketball team were CIF Division 1 City Champions in 2009, defeating Taft Charter High School Chatsworth High School's wrestling team has won the Los Angeles City Section CIF Title in 1974 and 2004. Chatsworth High School's Varsity Football team won the Los Angeles City 3AAA Championship in 1979. The team was undefeated and untied for 12 games defeating rival

Canoga Park High School Canoga Park High School is a high school located in Canoga Park in the western San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is in the Los Angeles Unified School District. It is located at the start of the L ...

. In 1968, Chatsworth High School gymnast Steven Hug represented USA in the Olympics. He became the youngest US male Olympian in history. In 2009, the Track and Field Organization decided to create a new award named after an athlete "Nolan Blake" who brought incredible inspirational and motivation to the program that will live on forever. Prior to this, it was called the "Most Inspirational Award", but starting in 2009 it was renamed to the "Nolan Blake Award" to honor his accomplishments and the award is still being given out under the new name as of today. This would also go down in history as being the first ever award named after someone who attended Chatsworth High School. Most recently the school's softball team won their first ever LA-CIF championship in May 2015 versus Carson High School. Coach John Forgerson, named Daily News coach of the year, guided the star-studded team in his first year at the school. Four of the seniors signed letters of intent with Division 1 schools across the nation and anchored the infield. It was the first championship for the Chatsworth since the 2009 baseball team won the CIF-LA title.

Notable alumni

Farah Alvin Farah Alvin (born September 28, 1976) is an American theatre actress. She is the daughter of cinematic poster artist John Alvin. Early life Alvin grew up in Los Angeles, the daughter of the artists John Alvin and Andrea Alvin. In 1993, at th ...

, broadway performer * Rich Aude, baseball player * Howard S. Berger, filmmaker *

Larry Beinfest Larry Beinfest (born March 3, 1964) is an American former professional baseball front office executive who was the general manager and, later, the president, baseball operations of the Miami Marlins, a Major League Baseball franchise in the Nat ...

, baseball executive *

Jim Benedict James Scott Benedict (born February 1, 1961) is an American professional baseball pitcher, coach, scout, and front office executive. He works for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has also worked in MLB for the Texas Rangers, M ...

, baseball executive *

Gennifer Brandon Gennifer Diane Brandon (born November 23, 1990) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at the University of California, ...

, basketball player *

Alex Borstein Alexandrea Borstein (born February 15, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. Borstein voices Lois Griffin on the animated comedy television series '' Family Guy'' (1999–present), and won a Primetime Emmy Award for the rol ...

, actress *

Kirk Cameron Kirk Thomas Cameron (born October 12, 1970) is an American actor and evangelist. He first gained fame as a teen actor playing Mike Seaver on the ABC sitcom ''Growing Pains'' (1985–1992), a role for which he was nominated for two Golden Glob ...

, actor *

Matt Cassel Matthew Brennan Cassel (born May 17, 1982) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. A member of seven NFL teams, Cassel's most notable stints were with the New England Patriots ...

, football player *

Christie Claridge Christie Ellen Claridge (born November 21, 1962, in Chatsworth, California) is an American model, actress, and beauty queen who was crowned Miss International 1982. Miss International Hailing from California and representing the Golden State, Cla ...

, actress and model *

, baseball player *

Lori Beth Denberg Lori Beth Denberg (born February 2, 1976) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her work as an original cast member of the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series ''All That'' and for her role as Lydia Liza Gutman on The WB sitco ...

, actress * Matt Dominguez , baseball player *

Scott English Sheldon David "Scott" English (January 10, 1937 – November 16, 2018) was an American songwriter, arranger and record producer. He is best known as the co-writer of "Brandy" which he wrote with Richard Kerr. This song became a No. 1 hit fo ...

, basketball player *

Christine Essel Christine "Chris" Essel is the President of Southern California Grantmakers (SCG), a regional association of philanthropic leaders whose mission is to support and advance effective, responsible philanthropy for the public good. Prior to SCG, Es ...

, film executive *

Dwight Evans Dwight Evans may refer to: * Dwight Evans (baseball) (born 1951), American former baseball player * Dwight Evans (politician) (born 1954), American politician {{hndis, Evans, Dwight ...

, baseball player *

Greg Glassman CrossFit is a branded fitness regimen that involves constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. The method was developed by Greg Glassman, who founded CrossFit with Lauren Jenai in 2000, with CrossFit its registered trad ...

, founder of

CrossFit CrossFit is a branded fitness regimen that involves constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. The method was developed by Greg Glassman, who founded CrossFit with Lauren Jenai in 2000, with CrossFit its registered trad ...

Brian Grazer Brian Thomas Grazer (born July 12, 1951) is an American film and television producer and writer. He founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. The films they produced have grossed over $15 billion. Grazer was personally nominated f ...

, film executive * Steve Hug, gymnast *

, actor * Stepfanie Kramer, actress *

Rory Markas Rory Markas (December 20, 1955 – January 4, 2010) was an American sportscaster best known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's play-by-play broadcaster for eight seasons and as the radio voice of the University of Southern California men's ba ...

, sports broadcaster * Oscar Marin, baseball coach *

, baseball player * Bryan Petersen, baseball player *

Rhonda Jo Petty Rhonda Jo Petty (born March 30, 1955) is an American pornographic actress. She is a member of the AVN Hall of Fame and the XRCO Hall of Fame. Known life and known career Petty was born in North Hollywood, California and raised in Chatsworth, Ca ...

, actress *

Bradley Pierce Bradley Michael Pierce is an American actor, producer and cinematographer. Along with other roles and bit parts in television, films, direct-to-video animation, advertising, and video games, he played Peter Shepherd in ''Jumanji'', the original ...

, actor*

, baseball player * Steve Reed, baseball player *

Adam Rich Adam Rich (October 12, 1968 – January 7, 2023) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Nicholas Bradford, the youngest son on the television series ''Eight Is Enough'', which ran for five seasons (1977–1981). A di ...

, actor *

Lindsay Sloane Lindsay Sloane Leikin-Rollins (born August 8, 1977) is an American actress. She is known for playing Valerie Birkhead on ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' (1997–99) and Emily in ''The Odd Couple'' (2015–17). She has also starred in films such a ...

, actress *

, actor *

Deshawn Stephens Deshawn Stephens (born October 9, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for Dinamo Sassari of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for Santa Monica College and San Diego State Aztecs men's basketball, ...

, basketball player *

Ty Van Burkleo Tyler Lee Van Burkleo (born October 7, 1963) is a former bench coach for the Seattle Mariners, hitting coach for the Cleveland Indians, and a former first baseman in Major League Baseball. He played for two different major league teams in his care ...

, baseball player *

, actress * Donna Lee Wennerstrom, 1976 Summer Olympic Finalist 400m IM *

Arianne Zucker Arianne Bethene Zucker (born June 3, 1974) is an American actress and model. She is known for playing Nicole Walker on the NBC daytime soap opera '' Days of Our Lives'' since 1998. Early life Zucker was born in Northridge, California, and raise ...

, actress and model

References

External links

* *
Chatsworth High School website

{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1963 High schools in Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles Unified School District schools High schools in the San Fernando Valley Public high schools in California Chatsworth, Los Angeles 1963 establishments in California