| Valencia High School | |
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"Every student; at or above grade level every year"
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| Location | |
| Los Lunas, NM, United States | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public High School |
| Established | founded 2006 |
| Locale | Valencia County |
| Student Body President | Lucas Romero |
| Grades | 9 to 12 |
| Number of students | approx. 1,100+ (9th-12th Grades) |
| Athletics | Cross Country, Football, Soccer, Volleyball, Basketball, Wrestling, Track & Field, Baseball, Softball, Golf, Swimming, marching band |
| Mascot | Jaguars |
| Phone | |
| Website | http://www.llschools.net |
Valencia High School is a high school (grades 9 - 12) that opened in the fall of 2006 in Los Lunas, Valencia County, New Mexico. Formerly known as the "Los Lunas Career Academy", the high school will serve students on the east side of the Rio Grande with the exception being students who attended Ann Parish Elementary School. The school campus was founded in 2000 by Claire Enton under the name of "Los Lunas Career Academy," then a satellite campus of the only high school in Los Lunas, Los Lunas High School. The site adopted the name of Valencia High School shortly after the district re-zoned and create Los Lunas' second formal high school in 2005.Additions to the campus were constructed using $6.3 million from the Public Schools Capital Outlay Commission.
Valencia is currently difficult to locate and access, as it is about 13 miles southeast of Los Lunas proper. The best way to describe its location is about a mile east of the Manzano Expressway on Rio del Oro Loop. All outdoor athletic facilities are located to the rear (east side) of the campus, while the gymnasium is on the south side.
The school mascot is the jaguar, and official school colors are turquoise, red and silver.
The school opened in Fall 2006 with its first freshmen class. The first full four-year graduating group will be the Class of 2013.
Valencia High School's chief rival in interscholastic competition is within in its own school district in Los Lunas High School , but Belen High is only 12 miles to the southwest. In the fall of 2008, VHS participated in full varsity competition for the first time.
The Jaguar football team won a varsity game for the first time when it beat Grants 21-14 on Oct. 18, 2008. In fall of 2009, the football team also had an emotional win over St. Pius.
The first female Valencia athletes to qualify for a state championship were the members of the girls cross country team. Both the boys and girls XC teams competed at the state championships in Rio Rancho on Nov. 8, 2008. In the fall 2009, the boys beat the Valencia's cross town rival, Los Lunas High School. They were the first Jaguar team to do so.
For the first time, in the fall of 2009, the boys soccer team, beat Albuquerque Academy in an overtime match, and made the playoffs for the first time.
The school has facilities that currently include a weight room, wrestling room, gymnasium and locker rooms, two soccer fields, a football stadium with an all-weather track, a baseball field, softball field, and newly built field house. These were all completed between 2006 and 2011.
Valencia High Schools' other extracurricular activities include Band (including Marching Band, Concert Band and Jazz Band ), Drama, MESA, Student Council, National Honor Society, and FFA.
The Valenica High School Band Program is under the direction of Mr. Anthony Baca and Mr. Jordan Sayre, assisted by Mr. Bill Austell. Currently, the program has about 100 students ranging from freshmen to seniors with all grades participating in all bands at every level. Through the efforts of the Directors and students, the program has seen success from the beginning ranging from Marching Band to Concert Band and Solo and Ensemble. In the 2010-2011 school year, the students of the band program established the first Band Council at Valencia High School, electing Mr. Morris Sparkman and Mr. Randy Burson, President and Vice President of Bands. Now in its second session, the students of the Valencia High School Band Council have elected as their President and Vice President, Mr. Morris Sparkman and Mr. Manuel Mora.
VHS Drama Club, led by Mr. I. Sanchez, had produced three plays as of April 2009. The first being a one act play entitled Check Please by Jonathan Rand, produced April 2008. The second play, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was produced in December 2008. A Midsummers' Night Dream by William Shakespeare, their third production, was enacted April 2009. Some of the upcoming production are Wednesday Night Live, a monthly rendition of Saturday Night Live (SNL) and Much Ado About Nothing, coming Spring 2010. Check Please Take Two (Fall 2010) and Reservations (Spring 2011).
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