William Howard Taft Charter High School is a public school located on the corner of Ventura Boulevard and Winnetka Avenue in the Woodland Hills district of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California, within the Los Angeles Unified School District. The school gained affiliated charter status beginning with the 2013–2014 school year.

History

Named after former U.S. president William Howard Taft, the school first opened in 1960.

It was in the Los Angeles City High School District until 1961, when it merged into LAUSD.

In the 2013–2014 school year, Taft High School became a charter school.

Notable alumni

• Jeshua Anderson – track and field sprinter
• Rick Auerbach – MLB shortstop 1971–1981
• Steve Bartek – musician, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Oingo Boingo
• Matteo Barzini – Italian filmmaker
• Justine Bateman – actress, TV series Family Ties
• Mike Bercovici – college and pro football quarterback
• Sandra Black - Member of Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers
• Scott Bloch – Office of Special Counsel
• Mike Borzello – 5-time World Series champion. Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees
• Craig Buck – Olympic volleyball player
• Phil Buckman – musician, actor, and voiceover artist, bass player for Filter
• Kihei Clark – NCAA champion basketball player at Virginia
• DeAndre Daniels – professional basketball player, college player at UConn
• Bryce Dejean-Jones – basketball shooting guard
• Larry Dierker – MLB pitcher, manager, broadcaster
• Spencer Dinwiddie – NBA guard for the Los Angeles Lakers
• Larry Drew II – basketball point guard
• Eazy-E – rapper, West Coast hip hop
• Everlast – rapper/singer House of Pain
• Jordan Farmar – basketball point guard, 2-time NBA champion
• William Finnegan – Pulitzer Prize winning writer surfing essayist
• Jeff Fisher – Former NFL player and Tennessee Titans coach from 1995 to 2010, as well as the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams from 2012 to 2016
• Char Fontane – actress and singer
• Barry Green – orchestral and solo double bass player and teacher
• Guy Hansen – professional baseball pitcher and coach
• Steve Hartman – sportscaster
• Ice Cube – rapper, actor, director, producer, Friday, Are We There Yet?, Straight Outta Compton
• Airabin Justin – NFL and CFL defensive back
• Gabe Kapler – Former MLB outfielder and current San Francisco Giants manager, 2021 National League Manager of the Year
• Brad Kearns – professional triathlete, Guinness world record speedgolfer, The New York Times bestselling author
• Kevin Kennedy – MLB manager and radio-TV baseball commentator
• Dave Koz – smooth jazz saxophonist, radio personality
• Lisa Kudrow – actress, TV series Friends
• Pete LaCock – MLB first baseman and coach
• Dale Launer – comedy screenwriter
• Ken Levine – Emmy-winning comedy writer, screenwriter, radio announce and play-by-play commentator
• Epic Mazur – vocalist, rapper, and record producer
• Maureen McCormick – actress, TV series The Brady Bunch
• Danny Boy O’Connor – rapper, House of Pain
• Susan Olsen – actress, TV series The Brady Bunch
• Kelly Paris – MLB third baseman
• Dana Plato – actress, TV series Diff'rent Strokes
• DaShon Polk – NFL linebacker
• Paul Pratt – NFL defensive back for Detroit Lions
• Jordan Roberts -- Screenwriter, Academy Award-winning films, March of the Penguins and Big Hero 6.
• Malcolm Smith – Super Bowl XLVIII champion and MVP
• Steve Smith – NFL wide receiver, Super Bowl XLII champion
• Jan Smithers – actress, TV series WKRP in Cincinnati
• Jeff Stork – volleyball Hall of Famer, member of 1988 Summer Olympics gold-medal U.S. men's team
• Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan – NASA Space Shuttle astronaut
• Michael Thomas – NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver, New Orleans Saints
• Justin Tryon – NFL cornerback
• Mark Tulin – musician, founding member of The Electric Prunes
• Wilmer Valderrama – actor, TV series That '70s Show
• Holly Beth Vincent – musician, member of Holly and the Italians
• Duffy Waldorf – professional golfer, member of UCLA Sports Hall of Fame
• Quincy Watts – athlete, winner of two gold medals at 1992 Summer Olympics
• Darrion Weems – NFL offensive tackle
• Jane Wiedlin – musician, singer and original member of band The Go-Go's
• Brad Wilk – drummer for Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave
• Antwaun Woods – Nose tackle for the Dallas Cowboys, college Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2016
• Robin Wright – actress, The Princess Bride, Forrest Gump, House of Cards, Wonder Woman
• Larry Yount – MLB pitcher
• Robin Yount – Baseball Hall of Fame player, 19 seasons with Milwaukee Brewers of MLB

In popular culture

There have been a handful of films and TV shows filmed at Taft. The 1976 film The Boy in the Plastic Bubble was filmed at the high school, as well as the films Mask (1985), Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), The Prom (2020), and the television series Never Have I Ever (2020).