From a new $270 million Centennial High School campus to the Iovine and Young Center program at Compton High School, major education investments are underway in Compton.
Some great education news has been coming out of Compton, and as a former college prep advisor for a nonprofit that used to serve Compton high schools, I am raising my invisible pom-poms: Hip, hip hooray for Compton Unified School District (CUSD)! The district is on a roll, including the opening of a new Compton High School last year —the first new high school facility constructed in nearly a decade in the greater Los Angeles area — and now the groundbreaking of the new $270 million Centennial High School.
Taking place earlier this year, Centennial’s groundbreaking drew Grammy-winning artist Kendrick Lamar, hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre (both Centennial alum) and Grammy-winning musician will.i.am. Designed by DLR Group, the 220,000-square-foot campus will replace the original school, which opened in 1954. When it opens in August 2029, it is expected to serve more than 1,800 students and 135 staff and will include a 42,000-square-foot performing arts center, collegiate-level athletics facilities, a CIF competition pool and career technical education spaces.
And the good news keeps coming: Compton High School has been selected to join the Iovine and Young Center Network, with a cohort of 60 freshmen beginning the program in the 2026-27 school year. The program, founded by Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, emphasizes design thinking, technology, entrepreneurship and hands-on, real-world learning.
Learn more at compton.k12.ca.us.
