Alain Leroy Locke Senior High School was opened in 1967 in response to the Watts riots.

It was created to provide families in South Los Angeles a safe and secure school.

LAUSD made this decision in response to a conversion charter petition submitted by the teachers of Locke High School in support of the transition.

[3] On January 22, 1974, an 18-year-old male student who was an innocent bystander was killed on the school jogging track in a gang-related shooting.

[5] On March 17, 2005, another gang related shooting happened in which a 15-year-old female student was shot outside of campus who died of her injuries.

[6][7][8] On May 10, 2008, a fight "between rival groups of black and Latino students at Locke High School quickly escalated into a campus-wide melee" involving up to 600 people.