Introduction

The Zoo Magnet Center high school is a model small learning community located adjacent to the Los Angeles Zoo in Griffith Park and a proud member of the North Hollywood High School family giving our students access to the extensive academic, athletic, and cultural opportunities offered on their main campus.

Established in 1981, the Zoo Magnet Center offers a challenging curriculum in animal and biological sciences with a strong emphasis on student research
and the development of analytical thought. We feature a number of courses available at no other California high school, and enjoy a close, cooperative, and growing relationship with the Los Angeles Zoo. Moreover, we make frequent use of our neighboring Griffith Park facilities: literature and drama classes perform in the theater of the Autry National Center, astronomy students map the stars in the planetarium of the Griffith Park Observatory, history classes climb aboard the industrial revolution at Travel Town, while others survey the banks of the Los Angeles River, or determine the soil chemistry of Griffith Park. Our singular campus setting provides a multitude of learning environments unique to any school in California, and perhaps the nation.

Our small safe friendly campus enables students and teachers to interact personally in and out of the classroom and contributes to a student body atmosphere of inclusion and social acceptance. The Zoo Magnet is challenging, but it's a fun place.

Graduates of our program have enjoyed success at many of the finest colleges and universities in the nation, including: Art Center, Brandeis, Cornell, Harvard, Howard, MIT, Penn, Princeton, Reed, Smith, Stanford, Swarthmore, USC, and all the campuses of the University of California.

To apply to the Zoo Magnet Center, students simply complete the application in the L.A.U.S.D. "Choices" brochure which is available at all
Los Angeles city schools.

Students are selected for admission to the Zoo Magnet Center based on their demonstrated interest in Animal and Biological Sciences and criteria established for all Magnet Schools by the Los Angeles Unified School District. While admissions are not based solely on academic performance, our curriculum is rigorous and graduation requires mastery of several academically challenging science courses not required of students in other California high schools. Choosing the Zoo Magnet assumes that students are prepared for a strenuous college preparatory program and committed to scholarship on campus and after school. Yes, our teachers do assign homework, and independent study as well.

Successful completion of Algebra I prior to admission is strongly recommended!

The Zoo Magnet's maintains a full list of required
and elective courses. Not all courses are available in a given year.