School and community leaders Thursday celebrated the opening of a $200 million campus for Compton High School with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and an appearance by Dr. Dre, who donated $10 million for a performing arts center.
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The new 31-acre campus for the nearly 120-year-old school will serve more than 1,800 students and feature a 140,639-square-foot academic building, a 36,534-square-foot gymnasium, a half-size Olympic pool and enhanced landscaping with California native plants, officials said.
The project was funded through the district's bond measure approved in 2015.
Compton Unified School District expects to welcome its first class of students to the campus in August.
CUSD board members, Superintendent Darin Brawley, Mayor Emma Sharif and City Council members were among those on hand for the ceremony alongside some students, families and Compton residents.
Dr. Dre, whose real name is Andre Young, bankrolled construction of the 40,868-square-foot Andre "Dr. Dre" Young Performing Arts Center.
"Compton is a breeding ground for talent," Dr. Dre said. "There's something in the soil here. There's something special about growing up here. It's a certain kind of grit that gets cultivated navigating these streets, and that grit carried me farther than I could ever imagine. But I'm also excited to see the kind of talent that emerges when grit is paired with a first-rate education."
Dr. Dre attended Centennial High -- about 4 1/2 miles west of Compton High School -- before transferring to Fremont High in South Los Angeles. The Compton native later started the rap group N.W.A. with Arabian Prince, Eazy-E and Ice Cube, rocketing to fame.
He pledged to donate royalties from his 2015 album, "Compton," to support the performing arts center.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, he joked about not knowing that his face would be painted so large on the side of the building.
Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, who together co-founded Beats Electronics, opened a magnet public school in South L.A. in 2022. They've also donated $70 million to USC for a new academy.
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