Dorsey High School

Over the years, Dorsey and Crenshaw High Schools -- two athletic powerhouses known for waging historic battles in basketball, football and track and field -- have enjoyed one of the most intense neighborhood rivalries in the nation. But while the Dorsey Dons and Crenshaw Cougars routinely attract large crowds and widespread attention in sports, they usually don't generate the same level of excitement when it comes to events like the Academic Decathlon.

Most members of the Dorsey High School Global Warriors had never heard of the California least tern when it nested last spring on a breezy beach near Marina del Rey. Yet like seasoned conservation biologists, the Warriors reeled off facts Saturday as they wrestled invading Cakile maritima from the sands where the rare seabird is due to return in April. "We haven't seen them personally.

In the cramped, cobwebbed weight room, filled this early morning with soft-eyed high school football players from this city's hardest parts, Martin Ludlow's past is but a memory. Here, every school day morning starting at 6:30, he pushes. Come on, come on, let's go . . . do not give up! He prods. That's it, good job . . . lift, lift, don't think, just lift! He cajoles. When you leave here this morning, remember that there are people out there who might challenge you. I'm telling you, walk away!

A yearlong effort by former Mayor Richard Riordan to lead reforms at storied Dorsey High School was met Tuesday with a clear answer: Thanks but no thanks. The longtime education philanthropist has sought a quasi-management role at a low-performing high school, much like current Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other civic leaders. "I'm offering my heart, my soul, my reputation, my pocketbook and everything to the students at Dorsey High School," said Riordan, who also served as Gov.

It may not be a masterpiece, but for Janet Horwitz Colman, it's a treasure. For more than 15 years, the Dorsey High School alumna, former teacher and founder of the school's alumni association searched for a valuable piece of Dorsey's history: a 1928 portrait of the school's namesake, Susan Miller Dorsey, the first female superintendent of the Los Angeles public school system. "Most teachers and students don't even know who she was," Colman said in an interview.

As the first step in fostering a long-term partnership between the entertainment industry and the city's cash-strapped public school arts programs, the ICM Foundation is set to announce today that it has pledged $500,000 toward the $1-million renovation of the auditorium of Dorsey High School in Baldwin Hills.

Dorsey High School is the focal point of an increasingly heated fight between transit officials determined to build a light-rail line from downtown Los Angeles to the Westside, and Crenshaw District residents who fear that fast-moving trains will threaten the safety of students crossing the tracks. The first leg of the rail line, scheduled to open in 2010, will run near the 2,000-student high school where at 3:08 p.m. most weekdays, chaos reigns.

The California Public Utilities Commission will closely scrutinize the safety of the planned Exposition light-rail line after South Los Angeles residents told officials they fear that running trains at street level would pose an unacceptable risk to the public.

The board overseeing construction of the Exposition light-rail line has narrowed its options for reducing pedestrian traffic risks near Dorsey High School. The Exposition Construction Authority decided Thursday to study building a pedestrian bridge over the tracks near Farmdale Avenue. In doing so, the authority rejected five other safety options, including a $25-million overpass for the trains.

Three years ago, the tiny nine-member choir at Dorsey High School was unpolished, suffering from bare-bones training, shunned by students in the popular school cliques. Now it is a powerhouse, 33 strong, whose students will sing tonight on stage at Carnegie Hall. Most of the teenagers don't know how to read music, but they will perform Dvorak's "Te Deum," in Latin. Many come from poor neighborhoods or broken families or group homes -- or all three.