Mt. Carmel High School (San Diego, California)

Mt. Carmel High School (MCHS), a California Distinguished High School in 2005, is located in Rancho Peñasquitos, a community of San Diego, California, United States. The school belongs to the Poway Unified School District and its mascot is the Sundevil. The current principal is Greg Magno, who replaced Dawn Kastner.

Mt. Carmel High School is both a California Distinguished School Award winner(1985, 1999, 2005) and a National Blue Ribbon School(1989, 2000). The school's main rival is Westview High School, although prior to the opening of Westview, its main rival was Poway High School.

History

Mt. Carmel High School was built in 1974, with its first fall semester classes being held at the neighboring Black Mountain Middle School while the rest of construction finished. In 1999, the movie Bring It On filmed on the campus, with the locker room, weight room and football scoreboard making it into the film. In 2010, Mt. Carmel became the second school in the San Diego Section of the California Interscholastic Federation(CIF) to win 100 CIFs.

Mt. Carmel or Mount Carmel?

There has been controversy over how the school's official name is spelled. One of the school's nicknames is "The Mount", seen in a sign just beyond the campus' main entrance that reads, "Welcome to The Mount". "The Mount" is also seen on the Boys Basketball team's home jerseys. However, every other program in the school, athletic and academic, wears "Mt. Carmel", and the school's official recognized name in CIF competition, the Poway Unified School District as well as the National Blue Ribbon School program, is "Mt. Carmel High School".

Stadium

Mt. Carmel's on-campus football field, Sundevil Stadium, is a multi-purpose venue designed for football, soccer, lacrosse, track and field, and the annual Mt. Carmel Tournament of Bands, which is held on the 3rd Saturday of each October. The stadium was designed in 1971 and opened in 1974, with a capacity of 6,000. The Mt. Carmel football team's successes in the late 1980s and early 1990s brought Sundevil Stadium its first, and to date, only major renovation after the 1991 season, adding seats to both the home and visitor sides, raising total capacity to 11,000, making it the largest on-campus high school stadium in the state of California. The largest on-campus crowd in school history came to Sundevil Stadium for the first ever game between the Mt. Carmel Sundevils and the Westview Wolverines in 2002, with an announced attendance of 11,107. Mt. Carmel won the game, 34-0, the first shutout at Sundevil Stadium since 1997 when the Sundevils blanked Rancho Bernardo, 27-0. Following the 2002-2003 school year, and in conjunction with the other major upgrades to the school, the natural grass field was removed and artificial turf installed. Renovations started in August 2009 and completed in July 2010 added handicap accessibility to every section in the stadium, handrails were put on every staircase, plus handicap seating was installed at the top of sections 2, 3, 5, 9, and 11. In August 2007, the stadium was the host of a Drum Corps International competition featuring Phantom Regiment, Carolina Crown, The Colts, Spirit from JSU, Blue Stars, Madison Scouts, Pacific Crest, and Pioneer.^[2]

Instrumental Music Program

Mt. Carmel's three-time Grammy Award-winning band^[3] and orchestra, were directed by nationally-recognized director Warren Torns (now retired), and are now directed by Garry McPherson.^[4] In 1988, the Marching Sundevil Band was featured in the opening scenes of the movie "Little Nikita", starring Sidney Poitier, River Phoenix and Richard Jenkins. The school's Marching Band, Concert Band, Wind Ensemble II, and Wind Ensemble I, and orchestra are led by Garry McPherson. The school performed in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl,^[5] both in the field tournament and parade. The band took 2nd in the field show competition by .05 and 1st place in the parade making them the overall champions of the Fiesta Bowl National Band Championship. In 2006, the Marching Sundevils performed for the 11th time in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. In 2005, Mt. Carmel's Music Department hosted the Holiday Bowl High School Band Competition. The annual Mt. Carmel Tournament of Bands, has been held each October since 1976, and is the most widely attended parade and field competition in San Diego with over 35 bands in attendance.^[6] The band has traditionally traveled to Hawaii every 4 years, and Europe every 4 years. In April 2009, the band took part in the Hawaii Invitational Band Review, winning 1st place with an overall score of 97.2 out of a possible 100. In 2015, the Marching Sundevils were awarded the Gold 1st Place Medal at the SCSBOA 6A Field Show Championships, as well as the Combined Grand Champion of the Arcadia Festival of Bands, a title held by Rancho Bernardo the last 14-straight years. The Marching Sundevils have also performed in the Gator Bowl, Alamo Bowl, and Sugar Bowl parades, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, and the Disneyland Christmas Day Parade. The Marching Sundevils also have gone undefeated in field competition in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008. Undefeated parade band seasons have been 1976, 1977, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2005.

Mt. Carmel Sports

Image of a former Mt. Carmel High School varsity gymnast competing on the balance beam in Sundevil Arena.

Mt. Carmel sports are quite successful, the girls softball team achieved a four-peat starting in 2006 and continued until 2010. The girls are still going and hoping to continue winning. The boys volleyball team achieved back-to-back CIF Championships in 2003 and 2004 followed by a three-peat starting in 2007. In 2010, the team was ranked 17th in the nation, and qualified for California State Finals, and lost to the Mira Costa Mustang in three games. In 2010 gymnastics achieved a two-peat in CIF and are trying for a three-peat this 2011 season. Girls Tennis won three-peat CIF titles in 2007, 2008, 2009 and lost in the final game in 2010.

Fall Sports include: Football, Field Hockey, Girls Tennis, Boys and Girls Cross Country, Girls Golf, Girls Volleyball, and Boys Water Polo. Winter Sports include: Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, Boys Soccer, Girls Soccer, Girls Water Polo, Wrestling, and Ultimate Frisbee Spring Sports include: Baseball, Softball, Gymnastics, Boys and Girls Track and Field, Boys and Girls Swimming and Diving, Boys Lacrosse, Girls Lacrosse, Boys Tennis, Boys Golf, and Boys Volleyball

Renovation

In the spring of 2004, after the passage of California Proposition U and funds approved by district voters, the school received funding for a major renovation. The "Pardon our Dust"-sloganed renovation took place from 2004 to 2007. In addition to modernizing existing buildings, including the practical arts and sciences departments, the project constructed several new buildings, including a new facility for the wrestling and gymnastics teams, and a new band room. The "Theater at the Mount" was the last main building that was under construction, completed in September 2007, along with the choir and drama rooms.^[7]

Notable alumni

• Adam Lambert, Superstar Season 8 Finalist^[8]
• Billy Beane, General manager and minority owner of the Oakland Athletics, the storyline of the 2011 film Moneyball centers around Beane.^[9]
• Darren Balsley, Pitching coach, San Diego Padres^[10]
• Duke Preston, Football Player, Dallas Cowboys^[11]
• Eric Anthony, Retired baseball player^[12]
• Eric Chavez, Retired baseball player^[13]
• Eric Munson, Baseball player, Houston Astros^[14]
• John Hyden, Professional Volleyball Player^[15]
• Johnny Jeter, Pro Wrestler^[16]
• Leigh Ann Robinson, Professional Soccer Player, Philadelphia Independence^[17]
• Steve Cherundolo, Defender, Hannover 96, U.S. National Soccer Team^[18]
• Scott Speer, Film director and author^[19]

See also

• Primary and secondary schools in San Diego

References

External links

• Mt. Carmel High School official website.
• Mt. Carmel's Alumni class website.
• The Sun, Mt. Carmel's student newspaper.
• The Mt. Carmel Band Boosters Website.
• The Mt. Carmel's Band Website
• The Mt. Carmel Tournament of Bands Website

Coordinates: 32°58′0″N 117°7′16″W / 32.96667°N 117.12111°W / 32.96667; -117.12111