Coachella Valley High School

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Coachella Valley
High School
Location
83-800 Airport Blvd,
Coachella, CA 92236
Information
Principal Manuel Arredondo
Enrollment

2900
Type Public
Established 1916
Information (760) 399-5183
Mascot Arab
Homepage CVHS Home Page

Coachella Valley High School is a public high school for grades 9-12. It is located in Thermal, California. The CVUSD headquarters is located next door and proposed grade and middle school sites to accommodate a fast-growing population of the area, which is predominantly Hispanic (over 80% of CVUSD students, excluding those from seasonal migrant laborers) and residents from Coachella are a large portion of students in the high school.


Contents

[edit] History

The high school was opened in September 1916 after ten acres of desert brush land was donated. CVHS is the oldest public school in the Coachella Valley. It was incorporated into the Coachella Valley Unified School District in 1966 to include a high school instead of only elementary schools in nearby Coachella. A second high school, Desert Mirage High School opened in 2003 to ease overcrowding (at 2,500 maximum in the early 2000's).

The school's location was decided on because it was the central point of the Coachella Valley. In 2002, social studies teacher Chauncey Veatch was honored as National Teacher of the Year.[1]

The high school struggles with issues like obtaining state and federal academic accreditation, high levels of poverty among its' students, Hispanic cultural issues (the school's large percentage of ESL-English as a Second Language learners), youth gangs, illegal drug activity, teen pregnancy/parenthood rates and a resurgence of academic standards after recent years of decline.

Rumor has it the school mascot was name to honor the once large imported Arab colony involved in the date palm growing industry, but the mascot namesake is the local desert foundation. In 2002, CVHS officials had a meeting whether to rename the mascot out of concern it might produce negative stereotypes against Arabs and Middle Eastern people, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The mascot name remains unchanged and concerns over the sensitivity of "Arabs" has all but vanished.

[edit] Clubs and Groups

  • ASB
  • Gavel Club
  • Valley's Promise
  • California's Cadet Corps
  • Scholar's Club
  • Spanish Club/MEChA
  • K2S Bible Club
  • Future Teachers of American Club
  • Future Farmers of America Club
  • Future Business Leaders of American Club
  • Outdoorsman Club
  • Drama Club
  • Film Club
  • Art Club
  • Anime Club
  • Dance Club
  • Xochipilli Folkloric Dance Club
  • Chorus Club
  • Mariachi Club
  • Boy's Varsity Club
  • Girl's Varsity Club


[edit] Athletics

Coachella Valley High School is in the Desert Valley League which includes Cathedral City, Coachella Valley, Indio, La Quinta, Palm Desert and Palm Springs. Out of conference opponents sometimes include Desert Hot Springs and Desert Mirage High School near Mecca, California. Coachella Valley High School's main athletic competition (rival) is Indio High School.

  • Cheerleading (Varsity, Jr. Varsity, & Freshman)
  • Football (Varsity, Jr. Varsity, & Freshman)
  • Volleyball (Varsity, Jr. Varsity, & Freshman)
  • Boys Cross Country (Varsity/Jr. Varsity)
  • Girls Cross Country (Varsity/Jr. Varsity)
  • Lady Arabs Tennis
  • Track & Field
  • Swimming
  • Boys Tennis
  • Boys Golf
  • Lady Arabs Golf
  • Basketball (Varsity, Jr. Varsity, & Freshman)
  • Soccer (Varsity/Jr. Varsity)
  • Wrestling (Varsity/Jr. Varsity)
  • Baseball (Varsity, Jr. Varsity, & Freshman)
  • Softball (Varsity, Jr. Varsity, & Freshman)



[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] References

  1. ^ CNN.com - Teacher of the Year: 'I love what I do' - August 15, 2002

[edit] External links