Wildwood School

Wildwood School
Location
12201 Washington Place (Elementary School) 11811 Olympic Blvd. (Secondary School)

,
90066

United States
Coordinates34°02′01″N 118°27′04″W / 34.033527°N 118.451170°W / 34.033527; -118.451170
Information
TypePrivate K-12 school
Opened1971 (1971) (Elementary School)
2000 (2000) (Secondary School)
Head of schoolLandis Green
Teaching staff75.1 (FTE))[1]
GradesK-12
GenderCoeducational[1]
Enrollment742 (2021–22)[1]
Student to teacher ratio9.9:1[1]
ColorsBlue  , Silver  
MascotWolves
AffiliationsNational Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)[1]
Websitewildwood.org

Wildwood School is an independent progressive K–12 school located in Los Angeles. Wildwood was founded as an elementary school in 1971, by a group of parents led by a lawyer, Belle Mason.[2] The secondary campus (middle and high school) opened in 2000. The elementary campus is in Los Angeles and the middle and upper school campus is in West Los Angeles. There are approximately 300 students in grades K-5, the elementary campus, and 400 in grades 6–12 at the middle and upper school campus.

History

The Olympic Boulevard campus as of May 2021.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the school was housed in one building on Olympic Boulevard in Santa Monica, where the current campus for New Roads School is located. The first graduating elementary class had only ten students. In 1991 Hope Boyd, previously the Middle School Head of Westlake School for Girls (now known as Harvard-Westlake School), became the head of Wildwood, and the following year the elementary campus relocated to its current Culver City location.[2]

During Boyd's time in post the number of students doubled. In 1999, the board of trustees decided to create a middle and upper school. The school was to be based on the principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools and teach project-based equitable learning. The middle and upper school opened in 2000 on Olympic Boulevard in West Los Angeles, in a small and limiting former warehouse, with no windows (which has become a subject of humor amongst Wildwood students), mercurial temperature controls, and only 100 students.[2] George Wood, a respected national educator and principal of Federal Hocking High School in Ohio, was the founding director of the secondary school. The full remodeling of the middle and upper school building was finished in 2002.[2]

Outreach Center

In 2001, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation granted Wildwood the funds to create an Outreach Center. The mission of the Outreach Center is to support the creation, development, and enhancement of small, personalized, learner-centered schools in Southern California and throughout the nation. The center was given a boost in 2004, when the Los Angeles Unified School District gave its public schools two years to break down into smaller schools. As a result, Wildwood's Outreach Center has held numerous professional development workshops educating public school teachers and administrators on the elements of successful small schools including, Advisory Programs, Project-Based Learning, Habits of Mind and Heart and Portfolios and Exhibitions. In addition, Wildwood School was named a Coalition of Essential Schools mentor school in 2004. In 2005, Wildwood received a National Association of Independent Schools Leading Edge award for the outreach work it has done with public and charter schools.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Search for Private Schools – School Detail for Wildwood School". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "Wildwood School: Community Login". Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  3. ^ Barlow, Eve (June 29, 2015). "Cherry Glazerr". Wonderland. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  4. ^ Bohannon, Molly (August 22, 2024). "Here's What To Know About Ella Emhoff As She Speaks At DNC". Forbes. Forbes Media LLC. Retrieved September 22, 2024. Ella, who lives in Brooklyn, grew up in the Los Angeles area, and was in high school when her father married Harris—she began her senior year at Wildwood School when Harris was elected to the Senate.
  5. ^ Zeitchik, Steven (June 29, 2017). "Zoe Kazan, an intense intellectual in a Judd Apatow world". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 22, 2024. Her friend group at school — Wildwood, Windward, Marlborough — could be limited, owing to her adolescent bookishness.
  6. ^ "Class of 2011 College Matriculation List" (PDF). Los Angeles, California: Wildwood School. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 26, 2024. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  7. ^ Rosseinsky, Katie (December 18, 2025). "The tragic truth about Rob Reiner's son Nick and how his parents desperately tried to help him". The Independent. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  8. ^ Montague, Tayler (October 19, 2018). "Understanding the Weight: An Interview with Amandla Stenberg". Rookie. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2024. And then, when we were talking about how Starr presents herself when she is in a white environment, or having to make herself more accessible to white people–or at least the way she thinks she has to–we would reference 'Williamson,' which is the school Starr goes to, or 'Wildwood,' which is the school that I went to.
  9. ^ Gurley, Alex (August 23, 2024). "All About Bruce Willis' 5 Daughters". People. Dotdash Meredith. Retrieved September 26, 2024. As a high schooler, she moved to Los Angeles, where she attended Wildwood Secondary School.
  10. ^ "Wildwood School Division One 2010-2011 Advisory List" (PDF). Wildwood School. September 24, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2025.