Canyon del Oro High School

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Canyon del Oro High School
© Canyon del Oro High School
Motto: Más Allá (Spanish, "Go Beyond")
Established	1962
Type	Public secondary (U.S.)
Principal	Dr. Michael Gemma
Faculty	93
Students	1,732
Grades	9–12
Location	25 West Calle Concordia Oro Valley, Arizona, USA 85704
Oversight	Amphitheater Public Schools
Campus	Suburban, 68.08 acres (0.28 km²) adjacent to a U.S. National Forest and a public park
Colors	Forest green and gold
Mascot	Dorados
Website	[1]

Canyon del Oro High School (also known as CDO) is a public high school, located in Oro Valley, Arizona. CDO is one of three high schools in Amphitheater Public Schools of Tucson, Arizona and serves over 1,700 students in grades 9-12. The school name originates from the large Canyon del Oro in the nearby Santa Catalina Mountains. The school mascot is the Dorado (from the Legend of El Dorado), a mythical Latin American warrior, and the school colors are forest green and gold. The Dorado mascot was created by former art teacher Diane Redhair in the mid-1960s [2].

CDO is statistically one of the highest achieving schools in Arizona, both academically and athletically. In 2005 CDO was academically classified as Excelling by the Arizona Department of Education (top 15 percent in Arizona) [3]. CDO has graduated 22 National Merit Scholar Finalists in the last five years [4]. CDO is also home to the 2006 Arizona Academic Decathlon State Champions, who finished 5th in the National Academic Decathlon. CDO is also ranked 6th in Arizona for the most all-time state championships in 4A & 5A (large school) team sports as of 2006 (Arizona Interscholastic Association).

Contents 1 Notable awards and recognition 2 Academics 3 Athletics 3.1 Athletic state titles 4 School history 5 Notable alumni 5.1 Academia 5.2 Politics & government 5.3 Athletics 6 Attendance boundaries 6.1 Feeder schools 7 Enrollment history 8 External links

[edit] Notable awards and recognition

• Arizona Academic Decathlon State Champions, 5th place in the National Academic Decathlon (2006).
• 2006 National Merit Finalists: 7.
• 4A DI Girls Track & Field State Champions (2006).
• Named an Excelling School by the Arizona Department of Education (2005).
• Five students placed in the state's top 50 scorers in the Arizona State Math Contest, with another 10 students scoring in the top 10 percent in the state (2006).
• Family and consumer sciences teacher Patti Schmalzel was selected Circle K/UA Athletics/KOLD Teacher of the Year for the Tucson area (2006).
• Southern Region Academic Decathlon Champions (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006).
• 5A State Softball Champions (2005), 5A State Baseball Champions (2002).
• Softball team ranked in the top 25 nationally in 2006, including a no. 2 rank for the months of March, April, and May.
• Math teacher Chris Yetman was named an Ambassador for Excellence by the Arizona Educational Foundation as a top 5 finalist for Arizona Teacher of the Year (2005).
• Arizona Academic Decathlon named math teacher Chris Yetman Region III Coach of the Year (2002).
• Awarded the Tony Komadina Award for best women's athletic program in the state (1993).
• 4A DI Sonoran Region Football Champs (2005-2006).

[edit] Academics

Throughout CDO's history, the school has continually ranked among the top high schools in Arizona in standardized test administrations and academic performance evaluations by the Arizona Department of Education. As a comprehensive institution, the course selection at CDO is extensive. The school offers 17 Advanced Placement courses, among the widest variety available. Over 90% of the school's graduates seek post-secondary education. Half (49.5%) of CDO faculty have attained a Master's degree or a PhD[5]. Canyon del Oro is under accreditation by the North Central Association.

CDO has graduated among the highest number of National Merit Scholars in Arizona. Scholars have been represented in every graduating class since the school's first class in 1968, with the exception of two years (2000 & 2002). The school has also promoted several Flinn Scholars of the Flinn Foundation, the highest scholastic honor in Arizona, into the state's institutions of higher learning.

Achievement rates on Advanced Placement exams, particularly in the laboratory sciences and mathematics, have historically far exceeded the national average. The school's journalism department has been recognized by the Interscholastic Press Association for outstanding work by the school newspaper, The Palantir, and the yearbook, Años de Oro. Since the school opened in the 1960s, CDO has also had a notable history in chess, with teams continually ranked nationally.

Canyon del Oro is also home to one of the top performing Academic Decathlon teams in Arizona. The CDO team is a perennial powerhouse in the region, defeating other academically reputable schools in the area nearly every year. As of 2006, the team had captured five consecutive region titles. Additionally, CDO placed 3rd in Arizona in 2005 [6].

In 2006 the team became the Arizona Academic Decathlon State Champions, outscoring defending state champs Mesa Mountain View 46,482 points to 46,406 points. CDO represented Arizona in the National competition, placing 5th. [7].

[edit] Athletics

Competing in the 5A Division for 25 years, the school captured several hundred championship titles (region and state). These have included state crowns in baseball, softball, and volleyball regularly. Due to recent downsizing from the construction of a new high school, CDO presently competes in the Arizona Interscholastic Association 4A Sonoran Conference, Division I (Arizona Interscholastic Association).

Recently, boy's volleyball has been recognized nationally. CDO boy's volleyball won the Arizona 5A State title in 1996 and fielded one of the school's most successful teams in 2005. In 2005, the team compiled a record of 40-3, and despite losing the state title game, CDO was widely recognized as one of the premier boy's volleyball teams in the nation (Arizona Interscholastic Association).

Canyon del Oro baseball is also well known for its prominence in Arizona and the U.S. CDO's most recent baseball state titles include 1997, 2000 and 2002. CDO baseball has produced a significant number of players drafted by Major League Baseball. The 2002 state championship team merits special distinction, as it was ranked 12th, out of more than 1,000 other high schools, nationally by the USA Today. This team finished with a record of 27-6, never losing a home game (Arizona Interscholastic Association).

[edit] Athletic state titles

Main article: Canyon del Oro High School Athletic Titles

CDO teams have won over 75 State Championships, and placed as the State Runner-Up nearly 30 times. CDO has also had 7 athletes medal in golf. The school has been recognized as maintaining the most outstanding girls' athletic program in Arizona, and received the Overall Excellence Award for the highest achieving athletic program in Arizona 7 times. CDO has won more 4A & 5A (large school) state championships than all other schools in southern Arizona, with the exception of the oldest, Tucson High School (Arizona Interscholastic Association).

[edit] School history

Canyon del Oro opened as a junior high school in 1962 with only a seventh grade class. The campus was only a few buildings with a large grass courtyard accessed by Calle Concordia, which was then only a small dirt road. Land values north of Tucson were beginning to appreciate through the 1950s, and many residents of the Amphitheater School District expressed concern that the site for the school at the base of Pusch Ridge in the Santa Catalina Mountains was too expensive (Amphitheater by Peyton Reavis, 1981).

CDO acquired a new grade level each year, and was declared a high school by the State of Arizona on July 1, 1965, serving grades 7-10 with only a few hundred students. Construction continued on the campus, and the school gained recognition as a school of privilege with state-of-the-art facilities. The high school gymnasium featured a four-sided score board suspended above the basketball court. The first graduating class was in 1968 (Amphitheater by Peyton Reavis, 1981).

CDO expanded with the gradual population increase in the area. The school was the original community center of the town of Oro Valley when it incorporated in 1974. That same year CDO transferred grades 7 and 8 to a new middle school campus, and became solely a high school with grades 9-12 (Amphitheater by Peyton Reavis, 1981).

Among the most notable families whose children attended CDO in its early years were the Udalls. Mo Udall represented much of southern Arizona in the U.S. House of Representatives at the time, and his brother Stewart Udall served as president of the Amphitheater School Board before later serving as Secretary of the Interior under U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

From the 1960s through the 1980s, CDO became a dominating presence in golf and tennis, capturing the respective state titles nearly each year. CDO also won back-to-back state championships in both basketball and football in the late 1970s. The CDO girl's basketball team registered an undefeated 28-0 record in 1987, capturing the 5A State title (Arizona Interscholastic Association).

As the Oro Valley area boomed with growth in the 1990s, enrollment at CDO increased as well. At its enrollment peak, CDO served a student population of nearly 3,100 in 2001. The growth and desirability of Oro Valley (the fastest growing municipality in Arizona for several years in the 1990s), was often credited by the media to CDO and the strong educational tradition it forged in the area (Arizona Daily Star). In 2002, CDO received relief as the Amphitheater School District opened Ironwood Ridge, the district's third high school, in northwestern Oro Valley.

Canyon del Oro continues to register among the highest standardized test scores in Arizona, and a notable number of National Merit Scholars. In 2005, CDO was one of three high schools in the Tucson metropolitan area designated as the highest academic distinction by the Arizona Department of Education [8].

[edit] Notable alumni

Since the school's first graduating class in 1968, nearly 17,000 individuals have been awarded high school diplomas from Canyon del Oro (2006). The following is a list of encyclopedic people associated with Canyon del Oro. Notable alumni include a current member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a head NFL referee for several Super Bowls, and a significant number of former and active Major League Baseball players.

[edit] Academia

• Four members of the class of 1971 (out of 200) are now faculty members at major universities: Alanah Fitch, Loyola University of Chicago (chemistry of lead pollution, science education in Africa); Keith Nelson, MIT (ultrafast laser chemistry); Joseph Polchinski, University of California at Santa Barbara (high energy physics, string theory); Tom Stoker, MIT (economics).
• Susan Lowell, Author of children's books including The Three Little Javelinas (1992), and Josefina Javelina: A Hairy Tale (2005)

[edit] Politics & government

• Mark Udall, U.S. Congressman representing District 2 of Colorado (primarily Boulder) [9]
• Dan Felix, former Director of Pima County & Tucson Parks & Recreation [10]

[edit] Athletics

• Ed Hochuli, Super Bowl referee official for the National Football League (including Super Bowls XXXII and XXXVIII), Attorney in Phoenix, Arizona[11]
• Ryan Hietala, Professional golfer in the PGA, winner of the 2005 Chitimacha Louisiana Open on the Nationwide Tour, 1995 WAC Player of the Year [12]
• Brian Anderson, baseball player (outfielder) for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball [13]
• Dennis Anderson, baseball player for the Florida Marlins farm team of Major League Baseball [14]
• Callista Balko, softball player (catcher) for the 2006 University of Arizona NCAA National Championship team, World University Games member and an Olympic Camp Tryout Invitee [15]
• Chris Duncan, baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball, son of MLB pitching coach Dave Duncan [16]
• Shelley Duncan, baseball player (outfielder) for the New York Yankees farm team of Major League Baseball, son of MLB pitching coach Dave Duncan
• Scott Hairston, baseball player (outfielder) for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball, brother of Jerry Hairston, Jr. [17]
• Ian Kinsler, baseball player (second baseman) for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball [18]
• Colin Porter, baseball player for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball [19]
• Ryan Schroyer, baseball player for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball
• Jason Stanford, baseball player for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball [20]

[edit] Attendance boundaries

The attendance boundaries of Canyon del Oro encompass segments of the communities of Oro Valley, Casas Adobes, and Catalina Foothills.

The northern boundary roughly follows the Cañada del Oro and East/West Lambert Lane. The eastern boundary is defined by Catalina State Park and the Coronado National Forest/Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area. The southern boundary is East/West Orange Grove Road from North Shannon Road east to North First Avenue. Between North First Avenue and the North Alvernon Road parallel, East Ina Road is the southern boundary (including the neighborhoods of Pima Canyon Estates and Cobblestone Estates). The western boundary is North Shannon Road [21].

[edit] Feeder schools

Elementary schools in the Canyon del Oro attendance area include Marion Donaldson, Winifred Harelson, Mesa Verde, and Copper Creek. L.W. Cross Middle School is the only middle school feeding into Canyon del Oro [22].

[edit] Enrollment history

CDO opened in the fall of 1962 with a limited enrollment of only grade 7, and by 1965 the school had a high school enrollment of 283 students (specifically grades 9-10.) In its first year as a high school with grades 9-12, CDO had an enrollment of 560 students. Enrollment gradually increased, exceeding 1,000 students in 1972, 2,000 students in 1987, and 3,000 students in the fall of 2000. The largest enrollment was 3,080 in 2000 (when CDO was the 6th largest high school in Arizona), and declined to 1,700 in 2005 due to the establishment of a new high school (Ironwood Ridge High School) in the fall of 2001 (Arizona Interscholastic Association).

[edit] External links

• Amphitheater Public Schools
• Arizona Department of Education School Report Card
• Town of Oro Valley

High Schools of Amphitheater Public Schools
•Amphitheater High School • Canyon del Oro High School • Ironwood Ridge High School

Schools in Oro Valley, Arizona, USA
•Canyon del Oro High School • Immaculate Heart High School • Ironwood Ridge High School • Pusch Ridge Christian Academy