Desert Ridge High School

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This article is about Desert Ridge High School . For Desert Ridge Junior High School , see Desert Ridge Junior High School.

Desert Ridge High School
Established	2002
Type	Public High School
Principal	Mr. Dan Coombs
Students	Approximately 2,300
Grades	9-12
Location	10045 E. Madero Ave., Mesa, Arizona, 85209, United States Of America
District	Gilbert Unified School District
Colors	Red and Black
Mascot	Jaguar
Yearbook	La Cordillera
Newspaper	The Spot Light

Desert Ridge High School (DRHS) was founded in 2002 in Mesa, Arizona and is part of the Gilbert Unified School District.

[edit] Overview

DRHS is home to Air Force JROTC unit AZ-20022.^[1]

For the 2004-2005 school year Desert Ridge High School received an "Excelling" from the Arizona Department of Education and has met all No Child Left Behind requirements since the school opened.^[2]

In 2005 chemistry and engineering teacher Sylvia Grace was honored with a $25,000 Milken National Educator Award. Through her involvement with Project Lead the Way, which she brought to Desert Ridge, Grace distinguished herself as a teacher who is intelligent, patient, and has a sense of humor, all of the qualities needed to win such an award. She was the only Arizona recipient of the award among the 100 educators honored nationwide.^[3]

In 2007 the DRHS Drama Department's production of The Odd Couple was selected to go the Arizona Thespian Society's Annual State Conference as a mainstage, to be performed in front of the estimated 1,900 Thespians attending the event in November.^{[citation needed]} In spring 2007 they had a wildly successful production of the musical Footloose. Their highly anticipated spring production of Romeo and Juliet debuted on April 3rd 2008.

The 2007-2008 Boys Varisty Basketball team is widely known for having a number of recruited players from various other schools in the East Valley. They have been openly critized in a number of newspapers and articles on the internet. Journalist and columist agree with these accusations mainly because of the amount of unknown players on the team from the last 2006-2007 team, and throughout the program the number of players missing from this years roster.