William Howard Taft High School (LAUSD)
| William Howard Taft High School | |
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[[Image:|center||William Howard Taft High School logo]] | |
| School Founded | 1960 |
| Team Established | |
| History | Taft has won 3 National Championships, 5 California Academic Decathlon titles, and 7 LAUSD titles. |
| City | Woodland Hills, California |
| Team Colors | Red and Gold |
| Principal | Sharon Thomas |
| Head Coach | Arthur Berchin |
| Associate/Other Head Coach(es) | Dara Blumfield |
| National Championships | 3, (1989, 1994, 2006) |
| State Championships | 5, (1988, 1989, 1993, 1994, 2006) |
| Regional/County Championships | 7 (1988?, 1989?, 1993, 1994, 2003, 2005, 2006) |
| Region/County Location | LAUSD |
| Highest Finish | National Champions (3 times; 1989, 1994, 2006) |
| School Website | {{{website}}} |
William Howard Taft High School (frequently abbreviated "Taft") is among the most victorious schools in Academic Decathlon's history. The school was named for a large president with an equally-large mustache. It has captured three national championships, as well as five California state championships, and seven LAUSD titles. Taft won its national titles in 1989, 1994, and, most recently, in 2006.
The school is also notable for its individual decathletes, most famously, Daniel Berdichevsky, an honors of the 1994 team and founder of DemiDec, whose score of 9,297 stood as the highest individual score of all time for fourteen seasons. Atish Sawant, a scholastic from Taft's 2006 team, is the second-highest scoring scholastic ever, and Ari Morcos, from Taft's 2008 team, is the fourth-highest scoring varsity of all time.
Taft's 2006 state championship was the only time between 2001 and 2010 that a school other than El Camino Real High School or Moorpark High School won the California state competition.
Record Board
Honors: Daniel Berdichevsky, 1994 Regionals - 9,297
Scholastic: Atish Sawant, 2006 Nationals - 9,091.7
Varsity: Ari Morcos, 2008 Regionals - 8,775
