Paramount High School

Paramount High School
Location
West campus: 14708 Paramount Blvd
Paramount, California 90723
Senior campus: 14429 Downey Ave
Paramount, California 90723

United States
Information
TypePublic
Motto"Once a Pirate, Always a Pirate"
Established1953
School district
Paramount Unified School District
NCES District ID
0629850
NCES School ID
062985004653
Principal
Elizabeth Salcido (Senior Campus); Ebony Jordan (West Campus)
Teaching staff
183.83 (FTE)
Grades9–12
Enrollment3,547 (2023–2024)
Student to teacher ratio
19.30
Colors  Maroon
  White
Athletics conference
[[Suburban Valley Conference]
Team namePirates
NewspaperThe Porthole
Information(562)602-6064
WebsiteSenior campus website
West campus website

Paramount High School is a comprehensive public high school in Paramount, California, USA. It is part of the Paramount Unified School District. The school serves students in grades 9–12 on two campuses, West Campus for 9th grade students and Senior Campus for grades 10–12. With 3,370 students enrolled for the 2025-26 school year, it is one of the largest school in the area.

Paramount USD, of which this is the sole comprehensive high school, includes all of Paramount and sections of Bellflower, Compton, Lakewood, Long Beach, and South Gate.

History

Paramount High School has had a 70+ year long history as the school was established in 1953. The school originally opened due to an increase of population in the area due to the end of World War 2. Before the school had opened many people still were living in Paramount and had no home high school. The local students would have to attend Compton High School. As the school began to expand students and services available for the community, the city was falling apart. In 1982, the Rand corporation deemed the city of Paramount as one of the eight "disaster areas" in the nation. The students who went to the schools started to be affected by this, the city bounced back on there feet. The damage was already done to the local community and the students. In 2001, Paramount high school was deemed as 1:1 high school. Meaning the school is in bottom ten percent of schools in the state. This created a need for new administration, that is when ETS Pulliam got hired as the new district superintendent. By the year 2004, the scores of students at the school jumped by 49%.

Campuses

Curriculum

Paramount High School offers a comprehensive curriculum. A number of Advanced Placement classes are available for interested students.

Reconstruction

On 2008, Paramount High School has Renovations, Modernizations, and New Constructions. The $72 Million high school program includes a new athletic stadium, field house, mini gym, academic/science classroom building, and library/media center. The first phrase of program scheduled for construction is the athletic stadium and field house. The project incorporates solar power into all new buildings.

The site was completed in 2010.

Athletics

The Paramount Pirates are in the Suburban Valley Conference, along with 20 other schools such as Downey, Bellflower, Whittier and Pioneer. The Paramount boys' soccer team was 2010 Division III and State Regional Division I CIF champions. The Paramount boys' soccer team won CIF for 3 consecutive years (2010, 2011, 2012) thus given the nickname, the 3-peat champs. In 2012, they also won State Regional Champions. The Paramount wrestling team was 2011 Division VI CIF runner-up. In 2012, the Paramount boys varsity tennis won the first ever 4-peat in tennis. The recent years that tennis has won league, was in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. The Pirates have also won CIF state for boys soccer in 2017.

Notable alumni

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Paramount High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved June 1, 2025.
  2. ↑ "School Profile: Paramount High (CA Dept of Education)". www.cde.ca.gov. Retrieved April 15, 2026.
  3. ↑ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Los Angeles County, CA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 10 (PDF p. 11/19). Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  4. ↑ "How our local schools and communities got their names". The Downey Patriot. May 23, 2025. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
  5. ↑ ComptonSchools (May 27, 2025). Compton High School History Slide Show (1896 - 2025). Retrieved September 17, 2026 – via YouTube.
  6. ↑ "Pitch in Paramount: city reflects on a program inspired by a 1980s Rand Corporation study". April 21, 2023. Archived from the original on December 8, 2025. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
  7. ↑ Rasmussen, Cecilia (January 16, 1996). "From the beginning, they were a civic..." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  8. ↑ "ETS Pulliam's focus on standards drives student scores past expectations: Paramount High School showed significant improvement in almost every area." District Administration 41, no. 1 (2005): 15. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints (accessed September 17, 2026). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A128205096/OVIC?u=long89855&sid=summon&xid=db2de6cb.
  9. ↑ "FOOTHILL AREA RELEAGUING – Major changes coming to area schools for 2026-2027 academic year". Los Cerritos Community News. May 6, 2025. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
  10. ↑ Morales, Robert (November 15, 2013). "Andre Ward dominates Edwin Rodriguez, winning wide unanimous decision". Long Beach Press-Telegram. Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  11. ↑ Sondheimer, Eric (April 19, 2010). "Paramount to honor Brian Hunter". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  12. ↑ Wagner, Dick (November 29, 1990). "Paramount Star Sets Example in Class, Too". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  13. ↑ Allen, Scott (February 7, 2014). "Report: Long Beach Poly hires former NFL linebacker Antonio Pierce as next coach". USA Today. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  14. ↑ Gurza, Agustin (April 3, 2004). "To His Fans, Sanchez Was Family". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  15. ↑ Cafardo, Nick (February 21, 1988). "Smith's ready to achieve some fame". The Telegraph. Retrieved March 2, 2014.