Highland High School (Arizona)

Highland High School
Location
4301 E. Guadalupe Rd.
Gilbert, Arizona
United States
Coordinates 33°21′49″N 111°41′53″W / 33.363611°N 111.698056°W / 33.363611; -111.698056Coordinates: 33°21′49″N 111°41′53″W / 33.363611°N 111.698056°W / 33.363611; -111.698056
Information
Type Public
Established 1993
School district Gilbert Public Schools
Principal Melinda Murphy
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 3,065 (2014-15)[1]
Color(s)           Black and teal
Mascot Hawks
Newspaper The Highland Sun
Yearbook Talon
Website Official website

Highland High School (HHS) is a public high school located in Gilbert, Arizona, United States. It was built in 1992 and is part of the Gilbert Public Schools district. It accommodates grades 9-12, and in 2010, the school had a student body of 2,957.

In athletics, the school is known collectively as the Highland Hawks. Highland is a member of the Arizona Interscholastic Association's 6A Conference and competes in Division I in all AIA sports.[2]

Campus

Highland High School is located at 4301 E. Guadalupe Road in Gilbert, Arizona, on the south side of Guadalupe between Recker Road and Power Road. Its campus includes a two-story main building, and separate buildings for athletics, administration, and the performing arts. It has a gymnasium, three baseball diamonds, a football field, a marching band practice field, a softball field, and two soccer fields. The school features a student-run convenience store, the Spirit Store, which also sells Highland branded merchandise. An on-campus cafeteria offers school meal options as well as offerings from nationwide vendors. A library serves the student body from 7 am to 4 pm.

Academics

Highland's academic offers are organized under 12 departments:

  • Agriculture
  • Business
  • English
  • Family & Consumer Science
  • Fine & Performing Arts
  • Industrial Arts
  • Math
  • Modern Language
  • Physical Education, Education for the body
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Special Education

Honors courses are offered in English literature, laboratory science, and math, for first- and second-year students. Upperclassmen may then elect to participate in any of 17 Advanced Placement (AP) courses taught at the school.[3] Highland students who maintain at least a 3.8 GPA during the first three grading quarters are recognized as Golden Scholars at a ceremony at the end of each year.[4] Graduation from Highland entails a baccalaureate service and a commencement ceremony.

In 2004, Highland was honored as a Blue Ribbon school.[5]

Student life

Highland hosts more than 70 activities and student clubs. The school has participated in FIRST Robotics either as a stand-alone entity or in partnership with other schools or universities. It won the AZ Regional FRC Competition in 2007, 2008, 2009. It won LA Vegas FRC in 2008. It won the AZ regional FTC competition in 2011 and 2012.[6] It took first place in 2009 and 2010 at the university level at NURC in cooperation with teammates from Arizona State University. It won the Sparkfun AVC (Autonomous Vehicle Challenge) competition in 2012.[6]

The school's Future Farmers of America (FFA) Chapter won first in state for its ag sales team in 2007.

Other groups at Highland include contingents for Academic Decathlon.

Dances sponsored by the school are Homecoming, Winter Formal, Morp (Valentine's dance; "Prom" spelled backwards, where girls ask guys), and Prom.

Twenty-three percent of HHS students participate in a daily, release-time seminary program operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has a religious instruction building adjacent to campus.

Athletics

Highland is known collectively as the Highland Hawks in athletic competition and has won several team and individual state titles.

State championships for the Hawks in sports include the following:

  • Girls' basketball: 1994, 1995, 2003, 2005, 2008, and 2009
  • Boys' cross country: 2011
  • Boys' croquet: 2003 and 2010
  • Boys' soccer: 2007 and 2009[7]
  • Girls' soccer: 2012 and 2015
  • Boys' volleyball: 2004, 2005, and 2013 [8]
  • Wrestling: 2001, 2005, and 2009

Performing arts

Highland's band program has an enrollment of over 300 students.[9] The marching band has received national recognition, and has marched in the Fiesta Bowl Parade (1999), the Disneyland Light Parade (2000), the Tournament of Roses Parade (2001), and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (2004).[10] It ranked #4 in the Fiesta Bowl National Band Championship Competition in 1999 and in 2009.

The Concert Choir traveled to New York City in March 2007 to perform at Carnegie Hall under the direction of then Mormon Tabernacle Choir director Craig Jessop. Previously, it performed at Chicago's Orchestra Hall and at the MENC National Conference in 1998.[11]

Highland's orchestra also performed at Carnegie Hall (2002),[12] and its Symphonic Orchestra performed at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago in 1997, 2007 and 2013. HHS is the only school in Arizona to have been selected twice to perform at the Midwest Clinic.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ "Highland High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  2. ↑ AIA member schools directory
  3. ↑ "Advanced Placement". HHS. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  4. ↑ "Hawk Talk" (PDF). Highland High School. March 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  5. ↑ http://www2.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/list-2003.pdf
  6. 1 2 https://my.usfirst.org/myarea/index.lasso?page=teaminfo&team=39&event_type=FRC
  7. ↑ Kyle Odegard, Tribune. "Gilbert Highland boys win soccer title | VarsityXtra - Arizona High School Sports". Varsity.evtrib.com. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
  8. ↑ http://www.azcentral.com/sports/preps/articles/2011/04/26/20110426arizona-best-high-school-boys-volleyball-programs.html
  9. ↑ "Welcome". HHS bands. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  10. ↑ "Gilbert band heats up NYC". Azcentral.com. 2004-11-26. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
  11. ↑ "About the choir". HHS choir. Archived from the original on 2013-09-30. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  12. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  13. ↑ "Alex Naddour". Team USA. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
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