ENCINO

Encino (Spanish for "oak") is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.

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Encino is situated in the central portion of the southern San Fernando Valley and on the north slope of the Santa Monica Mountains. It is flanked on the north by Reseda and the Sepulveda Basin, on the east by Sherman Oaks, on the southeast by Bel-Air, on the south by Brentwood and on the west by Tarzana.

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Parks and Recreation

California State Parks operates the 5-acre (2.0 ha) Los Encinos State Historic Park in Encino. The park includes the original nine room de la Ossa Adobe, the Garnier Building, a blacksmith shop, a pond, and a natural spring.

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The Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area, located in Encino, includes the Woodley Worel/Magnus Cricket Complex with the four best grass cricket pitches in the United States. Host to many famous stars and games reflecting cricket's origins in Los Angeles from 1888. Also included in the basin is the Encino Golf Course and the Balboa Golf Course, having a total of 36 golf holes. The Balboa Municipal Golf Course, a short-length golf course, was lengthened by Steve Timm in 2008. The Balboa course has a banquet room, back nine play, cart rental, club rental, classes, a lighted driving range, a lounge, practice chipping greens, practice putting greens, and a restaurant. The Encino Municipal Golf Course, the second course of the two Sepulveda Dam courses, is a medium-length course that was designed by William P. Bell and Sons and opened in 1957. The course has large, tree-lined fairways. The course has the same features that the Balboa course has.

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The Balboa Sports Complex in Encino includes a lighted baseball diamond, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a community room, a lighted football field, a lighted handball court, an indoor gymnasium without weights and with a capacity for 400 people, an unlighted soccer field, lighted tennis courts, and lighted volleyball courts. The Sepulveda Basin Off-leash Dog Park is a dog park in Encino. The dog park has 6.5 acres (2.6 ha) of leash-free dog area, a 0.5-acre (0.20 ha) small dog area, an on-leash picnic area, 100 parking spots, and public telephones. The Sepulveda Garden Center, a community garden area in Encino, has about 16 acres (6.5 ha) of land and 420 garden plots.

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Notable Attractions

The Encino Velodrome has provided an outdoor oval bicycle racing track since 1961.

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Los Encinos State Historic Park features historic buildings, a small museum, and picnic grounds. In 2009 it faced closure due to California's budget crisis. However, the Park remains open today.

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The Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area[94][95] is a large area with multiple golf courses, tennis courts, soccer fields, baseball diamonds, bike paths, and a lake bordered by about 2,000 Pink Cloud cherry trees that blossom in the spring and were donated anonymously. Encino Park was founded around 1937 and still draws youngsters to its playgrounds, as well as visitors to its basketball courts and two lighted tennis courts.

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For over a millennium, the area known as Encino was the home of a massive California live oak known as the Encino Oak Tree. It is possible that Encino is named because of this particular tree. (Encino is the Spanish word for "evergreen" or "holm oak.") It was known for its size and longevity. The tree died on February 7, 1998, after an El Niño storm felled it. Today there is a monument to the tree at the corner of Ventura Boulevard and Louise Avenue where the Encino Oak once stood.

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In popular culture

Encino is a recurring location in the SpongeBob SquarePants series, where the character, Patchy the Pirate, takes residence in the neighborhood. In the special episode, Atlantis SquarePantis, Patchy stars in a subplot in which he had to return home to Encino to watch the new SpongeBob episode, but the neighborhood had disappeared.

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Notable People:

A-K

• Colleen Ballinger, actress, comedian, singer

• Bud Abbott, comedian

• Steve Allen, actor, author

• Don Ameche, actor

• Daniel Amen, psychiatrist, born in Encino

• Marc Anthony, singer-songwriter

• Gilbert Arenas, NBA player

• Catherine Bach, actress

• Foster Brooks, comedian

• Edgar Rice Burroughs, author

• Reggie Bush, NFL player

• Richard Carlson, actor and film director

• Jack Carson, actor

• Johnny Carson, talk show host

• Dana Carvey, actor-comedian

• Johnny Cash, singer

• Richard Crenna, actor

• Cherie Currie, singer and actress, born in Encino

• Marie Currie, singer and actress, born in Encino

• Sondra Currie, actress

• Lenny Dykstra, professional athlete

• Alice Faye, actress

• David Forst, general manager of Oakland Athletics

• Annette Funicello, actress

• Clark Gable, actor

• David Gregory, television journalist

• Dave Grohl, musician

• Selena Gomez, singer and actor

• Phil Harris, musician

• Phil Hartman, actor

• David Hasselhoff, actor and singer

• Chick Hearn, sportscaster

• Edward Everett Horton, actor

• Ron Howard, actor, director and producer

• Ice Cube, rapper and actor

• Jackson family, musical group

• Samuel L. Jackson, actor and producer

• Kelly Johnson, engineer, Lockheed Aircraft executive

• Al Jolson, singer and actor

• Victoria Justice, actress and singer

• Daren Kagasoff, actor, born in Encino

• Lisa Kudrow, actress

 

L-Z

• Nick Lachey, singer

• Tim Laker, professional baseball player

• Martin Lawrence, actor and comedian

• Carole Lombard, actress

• Julie London, actress

• Jayne Meadows, actor, author

• Leighton Meester, actress and singer

• Michael Milken, financier, born in Encino

• Mahbod Moghadam, internet entrepreneur

• Lori Nelson, actress

• Barney Oldfield, race car driver

• Kelly Paris, baseball player, born in Encino

• Candace Parker and Shelden Williams, basketball stars

• Chris Paul, NBA player

• Logan Paul, YouTuber, actor, and director

• Daniel Pearl, journalist

• Tom Petty, singer-songwriter

• Richard Pryor, actor and comedian

• Jeff Rake, producer and screenwriter

• Billy Ray (born 1971), screenwriter and film director

• Sally Ride, physicist and astronaut, born in Encino

• Jenni Rivera, singer

• Mickey Rooney, actor

• Kyle Richards, actress

• Ann Sheridan, actress

• Ashlee Simpson, singer and actress

• Slash, musician

• Kenny Smith, NBA player and TNT host

• Bob Thomas, Hollywood reporter and author

• John Travolta, actor

• Arthur Treacher, actor

• Steve Vai, guitarist

• John Wayne, actor and director

• Jack Webb, actor and director

• Roger Williams, pianist

• John Wooden, basketball coach

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Education

By 2000, forty-six percent of Encino residents aged 25 and older had earned a four-year degree, a high percentage for both the city and the county. The percentage of those residents with a master's degree or higher was also high for the county.

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Schools within the Encino boundaries are:

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Public
Encino is served by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

• Hesby Oaks Leadership Charter School (K-8 school)

• Encino Charter Elementary School

• Emelita Street Elementary School

• Fred E. Lull Special Education Center

• Lanai Road Elementary School

As of 2009, there were no public high schools in Encino. Public high schools serving portions of Encino were Birmingham High School in Lake Balboa, and Reseda High School in Reseda.

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In 1982 the board considered closing Rhoda Street Elementary School in Encino. In April 1983 an advisory committee of the LAUSD recommended closing eight LAUSD schools, including Rhoda Street School. In August 1983 the board publicly considered closing Rhoda, which had 262 students at the time. In 1984 the board voted to close the Rhoda Street School.

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Private

• Sage Academy, elementary, 5901 Lindley Avenue

• Westmark School, 5461 Louise Avenue

• Holy Martyrs Armenian High School/Ferrahian, 5300 White Oak Avenue

• Crespi Carmelite High School, 5031 Alonzo Avenue

• Our Lady of Grace School, elementary, 17720 Ventura Boulevard

• Los Encinos School, elementary, 17114 Ventura Boulevard

• Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, elementary, 4650 Haskell Avenue

• Valley Beth Shalom Day School, 15739 Ventura Boulevard

• International School of Los Angeles (Lycee International de Los Angeles), 5933 Lindley Avenue

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View the school ratings and reviews here.

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Sources:

Wikipedia