Catalina Foothills High School

Catalina Foothills High School
Address
4300 East Sunrise Drive
Catalina Foothills, Arizona, 85718
United States
Coordinates 32°18′28.96″N 110°53′55.55″W / 32.3080444°N 110.8987639°W / 32.3080444; -110.8987639Coordinates: 32°18′28.96″N 110°53′55.55″W / 32.3080444°N 110.8987639°W / 32.3080444; -110.8987639
Information
Type Public
Founded 1992
School district Catalina Foothills School District #16
Principal Dr. Angela Chomokos
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 1,657 students (October 1, 2012)[1]
Campus type Suburban
Color(s) Royal blue and silver
Mascot Falcons
Rivals Salpointe Catholic High School
Website http://www.cfsd16.org/schools/foothillshigh/

Catalina Foothills High School (Catalina Foothills, Foothills, or CFHS) is a public high school, located in the upscale suburban community of Catalina Foothills, just north of Tucson, Arizona, USA. Catalina Foothills is the only high school in the Catalina Foothills School District, located in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Founded in 1992, Foothills now serves approximately 1,650 students in grades nine through twelve. The school mascot is the peregrine falcon, and the school colors are blue and silver. Based on the percentage of students passing or exceeding the AIMS, Catalina Foothills is one of the best high schools in the state. In 2006, Catalina Foothills had the state's second highest percentage of students exceeding math, the third highest percentage of students exceeding reading standards, and the ninth highest percentage of student exceeding writing standards. Catalina Foothills has been ranked in the top 1.7% of high schools in the U.S. Annually, Catalina Foothills averages about 12 National Merit Finalists.[2]

School history

Prior to the establishment of Catalina Foothills, some district students attended high school in Tucson Unified School District and the rest primarily in the Amphitheater district. The establishment of Catalina Foothills was postponed several decades due to the ability of district students to attend high school in neighboring school districts.[3]

As the population grew in the area, a large core of Catalina Foothills students attended Amphitheater High School in North Tucson, as the closer Canyon del Oro High School in Oro Valley was virtually closed to out-of-district students. As the Amphitheater district began to experience overcrowding, the need for a high school in the Catalina Foothills School District became apparent.

Construction began in 1991 on a 40-acre (160,000 m2) site centrally located in the district. The Catalina Foothills School Board had acquired the site in the late 1970s. The school opened to the ninth grade in 1992 when classes met at a district middle school. In 1993 campus was opened to ninth and tenth graders, and the first graduating class of Foothills High walked in late spring 1996.[3]

The Catalina Foothills School District was also involved in a 1993 Supreme Court case, Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District. In this case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the district must pay for an interpreter for a deaf child wishing to attend a private Catholic school. The vote was a 5-4 decision.

Rankings

In 2014, the US News & World Report rankings of the Best High Schools ranked CFHS at number 584 out of 19,400 in the country (in the top 3.0% of all public high schools nationally), number 9 out of 433 in the state of Arizona, and number 4 out of 45 in Tucson. In 2013, CFHS also ranked 245th amongst all high schools in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics fields, although lost its rank in 2014. US News awarded the school a Silver Medal in its rankings survey.[4] Newsweek ranked CFHS 497 out of the top 2,000 public high schools in the United States (this puts it in the top 25% of the high schools on the list) in its 2013 ranking of America's Best High Schools. Newsweek's list placed CFHS 4th in Tucson and 8th out of the 29 Arizona high schools.[5]

Activities

Performing arts

The Catalina Foothills Marching Band consists of around 240 students annually and has an international reputation. In the 2009-2010 school year, the band participated in the Fiesta Bowl parade and competition, placing 4th out of 7 competing bands in the country.[9] In 2006, the Falcon band represented the state of Arizona at the 80th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Soon after performing on live television, the Chinese-American Cultural Bridge Center, on behalf of the Olympic International Festival Committee,[10] invited the band to perform in a youth festival in China a month before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. during the summer of 2008. In the summer of 2012, the band traveled to the east coast of Australia for 7 days,[11] visiting local marching bands and experiencing local culture.

References

References

  1. ↑ AIA 2012 enrollment figures
  2. ↑ http://www.cfsd16.org/schools/foothillshigh/results/documents/quick_facts.pdf
  3. 1 2 http://www.cfsd.k12.az.us/districtInfo/history.html
  4. ↑ "US News and World Report". usnews.com. Retrieved 2014-05-04.
  5. ↑ "America's Best High Schools". usnews.com. Retrieved 2013-05-17.
  6. ↑ http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12617/760/; http://www.uschess.org/content/view/7693/319/
  7. ↑ "Arizona Science Olympiad". Gc.maricopa.edu. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  8. ↑ "HS Honor Society Records". Nflonline.org. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  9. ↑ "2 Arizona marching bands compete for Fiesta Bowl championship". The Arizona Republic. 30 December 2009. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  10. ↑ Commings, Jeff (2007-02-01). "Foothills High band could get a gig in China". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  11. ↑ Falcon Band. "Foothills Falcon Band in Australia". Falconbandinaustralia.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2013-11-18.

External links

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