University High School (Tucson)

University High School
Address
420 N. Arcadia Ave. Tucson, Arizona USA
Coordinates	32°13′35″N 110°53′20″W / 32.226492°N 110.88876°W / 32.226492; -110.88876Coordinates: 32°13′35″N 110°53′20″W / 32.226492°N 110.88876°W / 32.226492; -110.88876
Information
Type	Public (magnet) secondary
Established	1976
Oversight	Tucson Unified School District
Principal	Amy Cislak
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	1,014; 2,072 combined with Rincon(Oct. 1, 2010)^[1]
Campus	Urban
Color(s)	Black and white
Mascot	Penguin
Newspaper	The Perspective
Website	edweb.tusd.k12.az.us/uhs/

University High School (UHS) is an accelerated public high school located in Tucson, Arizona. Originally known as Special Projects High School (SPHS), University High School is in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). The mission statement of UHS identifies it as "a special function high school which serves students who are academically focused and intellectually gifted and provides curriculum and social support not offered in the comprehensive high school."

Location and Features

The school currently shares a centrally located campus with Rincon High School. UHS was located at the Tucson High School campus before moving to Rincon's campus at the beginning of September 1985.

The mascot at UHS is the penguin. When it was known as Special Projects High School, the mascot was the skunk. Both mascots give the school its reputable colors of black and white. While UHS is a public school, entry is based upon a combination of exam scores and 7th and 8th grade GPAs. Unlike most schools, the only students who are admitted after freshman year replace the students who leave.

Relationship with Rincon

University High students participate in Rincon's athletics and fine arts programs. Students from both schools are generally able to participate in classes that are only offered by the other school. A few extracurricular activities are separate between the schools, mostly competitive clubs such as Academic Decathlon, the chess team, Mock Trial, Model United Nations, Science Olympiad, etc. Generally, school clubs are commonly open to both Rincon and UHS students. The TUSD school district has planned to move University High School many times, but it has not happened yet. They will have their own fine arts and athletics programs and might take the campus of Palo Verde High School, both members of TUSD. If this happens, whichever school UHS is moved to will send its students to Rincon.

AP Offerings

UHS students graduate after taking a minimum of 8 Advanced Placement (AP) classes (AP English as upperclassmen and AP US History and AP US Government), while many opt to take additional AP courses, some even complete as many as 16. In 2004, the school had the greatest percentage of students passing the AP exams for United States History, Comparative Politics and English Language of any high school in the world. Also, nearly all of students continue on to college with 50-75% achieving one or more scholarships. As of 2009, the following AP courses are offered (28 of the 31 that the College Board offers):

APs

AP English Literature
AP German Language
AP English Language
AP Spanish Language
AP Spanish Literature
AP European History
AP World History
AP Biology
AP Chemistry
AP Physics B
AP Microeconomics
AP Macroeconomics
AP Phys C (Electricity & Magnetism)
AP U.S. History
AP Govt & Politics: US
AP History of Art
AP Calculus AB
AP Studio Art
AP Calculus BC
AP Music Theory
AP Statistics
AP Psychology
AP Human Geography
AP French Language
AP Computer Science A
AP French Literature
AP Computer Sci AB
AP Environmental Sciences

Honors as a College Preparatory School

UHS is routinely recognized prominently as a top institution on lists and rankings of the nation’s best high schools.

US News and World Report consistently identifies UHS as one of "America's Best High Schools" out of approximately 19,400 schools nationwide.^[2]

Year	Rank
2014	Ranked #7 ^[3]
2013	Ranked #28
2012	Ranked #4

In 2014, the Washington Post recognizes UHS at #28^[4] on its review of "America's Most Challenging High Schools," that ranks the 1,900 highest-performing high schools nationally.^[5]

In 2013, the Daily Beast listed UHS at #19 on its annual list of the "Best 2,000 High Schools in the Nation.^[6]

In May 2006, Newsweek named UHS as one of "The Public Elites," schools that, "NEWSWEEK excluded...from the list of Best High Schools because so many of their students score well above average on the SAT and ACT."^[7]

On January 30, 2013 Jonathan Rothschild the mayor of Tucson, Arizona declared said day to be University High School Day.

In 2005, it was honored as a Blue Ribbon school.^[8]

Notable alumni

Max Cannon, Creator of Red Meat comic strip^[9]
Gabrielle Giffords, US Representative from Arizona's 8th district^[10]
Thomas Harlan, author and game designer^[11]
Martha Crawford Heitzmann, vice president for research and development, Air Liquide, France^[12]
Timothy Reckart, Academy Award nominated filmmaker^[13]
Max Tegmark, MIT physicist and author of Our Mathematical Universe
Michael Thompson, Professional golfer^[14]
Jessica Grace Wing, composer and filmmaker^[15]
Zach Selwyn, actor, TV host, musician and writer^[16] Guinness World Records Gone Wild^[17]
Kaiser Kuo, writer, musician, podcaster, and Director of International Communications at Baidu^[18]
Jay Kuo, Broadway producer, composer, writer and lyricist ^[19]

UHS Parents' Association

The University High School Parents' Association, Inc. (UHSPA) is a charitable, non-profit organization classified as a 501 (c)(3) entity by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The UHSPA’s primary mission is to assist students and their families during their four years at University High School, fostering a learning environment and support systems that contribute to students’ academic success, while helping them prepare for college. For more information, see:^[20]

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.