Las Cruces High School

Las Cruces High School
Address
1755 El Paseo Rd. Las Cruces, New Mexico, 88005 United States
Coordinates	32°17′30″N 106°46′05″W / 32.2916°N 106.7680°W / 32.2916; -106.7680Coordinates: 32°17′30″N 106°46′05″W / 32.2916°N 106.7680°W / 32.2916; -106.7680
Information
School type	Public, high school
Founded	1918 (as Las Cruces Union High School), 1954 (consolidation of Las Cruces Public Schools)
School district	Las Cruces Public Schools
Principal	Jed Hendee
Assistant principals	Anthony Chavez, Gina Rivera, Lorraine Paz, Bobby Campos
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	2,300 (September 2009)
Language	English
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Red , Blue
Mascot	Bulldawgs
Communities served	south and west Las Cruces, Mesilla, Talaveras, Mesilla Park, University Park, Tortugas
Feeder schools	Lynn Middle School , Zia Middle School
Rival schools	Mayfield High School, Oñate High School, Centennial High School
Athletic conference	NMAA, 6A Dist. 3
Website	http://lascruces.lcps.k12.nm.us/

Las Cruces High School is the oldest high school in the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico. LCHS opened in 1954 and serves approximately 2,300 students from grades 9-12.^[1]

History

Although the school's official history dates only to the formation of Las Cruces Public Schools in 1954, LCHS is considered the successor to the former Las Cruces Union High School (1918), which was located at the corner of Alameda and Picacho Avenues near downtown Las Cruces. LCHS inherited the Bulldog mascot and school colors from the former school, which served as a unified high school for the several smaller school districts that existed in the area before being consolidated to form LCPS. The present campus on El Paseo Road opened in 1956, at which point the old LCUHS building was converted to house Alameda Junior High School. AJHS itself closed its doors in the early 1980s and the old building sat vacant for several years before being extensively renovated to house the Third Judicial District Court. The New Mexico Activities Association considers LCUHS and LCHS to be the same school and credits LCHS with all state titles won by the previous school.

LCHS "Bulldawgs" emblem

Aerial view of the current LCHS Building

Central Hallway, "D" Wing

The current campus has undergone numerous renovations and expansions since opening its doors in 1956. Among the more recent additions to the campus a vocational arts building was constructed in 1993, a new classroom wing and central hallway ("D" wing) were built in 1997, the music wing was renovated and a new band facility added between 1996 and 1998, the cafeteria was renovated and a commons area added in 2000, and another new classroom wing opened in 2002. Beginning in the summer of 2013 the campus is undergoing a massive multi-year "extreme makeover" which will see many of the current campus buildings demolished and replaced with new facilities.^[2]

Rivalry

LCHS enjoys a particularly heated and passionate rivalry with Mayfield, the city's second-oldest public high school, with the annual football clash between the schools routinely attracting more than 20,000 fans. LCHS and MHS have combined to win 13 of the past 19 New Mexico state championships in football, with the annual year-end game between the schools almost invariably determining the district title. With only two exceptions (1997 and 2004), either LCHS or MHS has played in the state championship game every year since 1995. In 2002 and 2013 LCHS and MHS played each other in the state championship game, and the schools also met in the state playoff semifinals in 2008, with the Bulldawgs victorious on all three occasions. Mayfield leads the overall series 27-22-1, but LCHS has won 6 of the past 8 meetings. The Mayfield-Las Cruces high school football rivalry was voted the 9th best in the nation by rivals.com in 2008. The documentary film Cruces Divided is based on this rivalry.^[3]

Athletics

LCHS competes in the New Mexico Activities Association (NMAA), as a class 6A school in District 3. In 2014, NMAA realigned the state's schools in to six classifications and adjusted district boundaries.^[4] In addition to Las Cruces High School, the schools in District 3-6A include: Oñate High School, Mayfield High School, Gadsden High School and Deming High School.