| Coachella Valley High School |
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| Location | |
| 83-800 Airport Blvd, Coachella, California 92236 |
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| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1910 |
| Principal | Mary Velasco |
| Enrollment | 2900 |
| Information | (760) 399-5183 |
| Mascot | Arab |
| Website | 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, as well from Indio.
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The high school was opened in September 1910 after 10 acres (40,000 m2) 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 2000s).
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]
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 September 11 terrorist attacks. The mascot name remains unchanged and concerns over the sensitivity of "Arabs" continues.
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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.