Corona del Sol High School

Corona del Sol High School
Location
1001 E Knox Road Tempe, AZ United States
Coordinates	33°19′34″N 111°55′36″W / 33.326145°N 111.926769°W / 33.326145; -111.926769Coordinates: 33°19′34″N 111°55′36″W / 33.326145°N 111.926769°W / 33.326145; -111.926769
Information
Type	Public
Established	1977
School district	Tempe Union High School District
Principal	Mr. Brent Brown
Staff	approx. 200
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	2460
Color(s)	Orange and Yellow
Athletics conference	AIA 5A[1]
Mascot	Aztec
Website	Official Website

Corona del Sol High School located in Tempe, Arizona, United States, was established in 1977 and is a part of the Tempe Union High School District. It was expanded in 1986.^[2] It was expanded again in 2001.

Campus

As of 2010, Corona del Sol is an open enrollment school. Corona enforces a closed-campus policy. Students attending through grades 9, 10 and 11 may not leave campus without an adult checking them out for the day. Seniors are only permitted to leave campus with a special ID which can only be obtained with a signed and notarized parent permission form.^{[citation needed]}

Academics

Corona's AIMS and TerraNova test scores as well as student pass rates are consistently above its district and state averages, as is its graduation rate (99%)^{[citation needed]}. Corona is also among the top schools in the state in the number of National Merit Semifinalists produced each year (16 in 2006)^{[citation needed]}. These and other achievements are recognized by the school's NCLB rating of "Excellent" for the past three years.^{[citation needed]}

Arts

Corona del Sol has a large music and fine arts program, with three concert bands, a percussion program, an award winning marching band, a concert orchestra and chamber orchestra, as well as five choir classes. Piano, Guitar, and World Music (Steel Drums) are also offered. Other fine arts that students may enroll in include Intermediate Dance, Advanced Dance, Dance Performance, Photography, three Levels of Drama, Film Study, Stagecraft, Ceramics, Basic Art and Design, Drawing and Painting, Culinary Arts.

Orchestra

There are two orchestra classes offered;Chamber and Concert.

Choir Program

The Choir Program has about 300 students involved in the program. There are 5 choirs (listed from most advanced to least): Jaztecs, A Capella, Encore, Men's Chorus, and Women's Ensemble. Their website: http://www.cdschoir.com/

Band Program

The Corona del Sol band and percussion program has over 250 students enrolled. There are 3 concert bands (listed from most advanced to least): Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band. There are 4 different classes of Percussion with similar performance skill classifications. The school also has an award-winning marching band, 5 jazz ensembles, and a large steel drum band. The Corona del Sol Band Program is considered one of the best in Arizona, earning consistent "Superior with Distinction" ratings in Marching Band and Concert Bands for the past 25 years. However in recent years, the Corona Del Sol Band had deteriorated in rating from a "Superior" to an "Excellent". The Marching Band placed 2nd in the Fiesta Bowl National Band Championship in January 2000. The Band has a parent fundraising arm called the Band Booster Club. Band Booster club website

Activities

The school has over 100 clubs and activities including an award-winning school newspaper and yearbook, various sports teams, speech and debate, and a plethora of community service organizations. Other clubs also include Monday Mythology Madness, the Random Acts of Kindness Society, and a ping pong team.

Clubs

• Acatecs — A club primarily for gifted students (although open to all students) that organizes AcaTutoring sessions and provides advice to students.
• Animal Rights Club
• Anime Club — Holds weekly meetings on Thursdays to watch anime (Japanese animation) movies and TV shows.
• [cdstv] — The production of the Advanced TV Production class taught by Mr. Forbes. Broadcasts are brought to classrooms on occasion- covering news, events and sketches about Corona del Sol. [cdstv] won a 1st place "Best in Show" award by the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) for their best works for the 2008-2009 school year.^[3]
• Sol Buddies - A club for the development of relationships and support for students with special needs.
• Chess Club — This club is a place where people can play chess without being judged. All skill levels and all grades can come. In addition, the first semester. This club goes to chess tournaments every other Saturday and, along with China Club, hosts the annual Chinese Chess Tournament.
• China Club — Experimental organization to raise awareness of Chinese and other Asian culture and runs the annual CdS Chinese Chess Tournament along with the Chess Club. Recently^[when?] changed to the Asian Student Union (ASU).
• Computer Club[2]
• Corona Conservatives Club
• Fishing Club
• Hip Hop Coalition- A club where different age groups gather after school to show and experience different styles of dancing, and to compete in different competitions throughout the valley. Dancing styles include popping, breakdancing, ballet and a whole lot more of other different types.
• Language clubs — the French Club is the extracurricular counterpart to French classes, explores French culture, holds an annual cheese tasting event. The is also a German analogue of French Club. The Spanish Honor Society is similar to the other language clubs, but with community service requirements, where the volunteering must be Spanish related.
• Math Club — This is a club where people who enjoy doing math come and socialize with each other. There are weekly problems and several contests throughout the year, most prominently the AMC (the entry stage of the USA Math Olympiad).
• "Men's Lacrosse" - A chill club that learns the sport of lacrosse and competes all over the state.
• Model United Nations
• Music Appreciation Society
• Music For Cure — This club is for those who are able to play an instrument and/or sing, they practice music to play at hospitals, hospices etc. This club deals with Music Therapy.
• National Art Honor Society
• National Honor Society — The CdS chapter of the national organization. Members must have a GPA above 3.7 and complete 24 hours of community service per year. Officer selection process uses written applications which are blind-read by the sponsor and other faculty.
• Mythology Club — Holds weekly meetings to talk about myths and legends, and watches videos on the subject.
• Outdoor Science Club- Advanced Biology Club Run by Mr.Trimble. 148 Members in 2009 school year. Club trips include : Survival Trip, Catalina Island Marine Institute (Snorkel Trip), and the Scuba Trip.
• Philosophy Club — A discussion group where people can talk and debate each other about almost anything.
• Ping Pong Club
• Random Acts of Kindness Society
• Robotics Club — Formerly the Society of Future Engineers; advanced to the FIRST FRC Robotics national competition as the 1st place rookie team in 2007. Placed 2nd seed at the Arizona Regional in 2008. Website
• Speech and Debate — The CdS forensics team which meets frequently and participates in both speech and debate competitions in the area, occasionally traveling out of state. The debate division is one of the best in Arizona and its members have won many of the local tournaments in the past two years.[3]
• Style Club
• Sunrise Newspaper -Award winning newspaper program, ran by advisor Kris Urban. Website
• TheaterWorks — Affiliated with the Drama program at CdS, performs several stage plays in the CdS auditorium each year.
• Trivia Club — The successor organization to the CdS Brainstorm[4] team, which participates in the Arizona Cox Communications quiz show, now in its second season. Corona won the first season of the show. The team appeared twice, defeating opposing teams from Notre Dame Preparatory and Buena Vista High School (episode airdate: Nov. 28, 2007 6:30pm) and Fountain Hills and Desert Hills High Schools (episode airdate: May 14, 2007 6:30pm).^[4][5]
• Video Game Club
• Writer's Guild - A forum for young writers of all genres to meet and share their work with fellow students.
• Young Democrats Club — The club aims to promote liberal ideas and regularly volunteers for democratic politicians by performing a variety of activities, including canvassing, phonebanking, and literature dropping. Past guest speakers have included United States Congresswoman and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Barney Frank.
• Youth In Government — A discussion group with a focus on politics and government related issues. This group discusses current issues, different kinds of government, as well as controversial issues that are represented from different sides that effect the student's everyday lives.

Community service clubs

• Aztecs for Soldiers — community service club, founded by Shihiayah Young in 2007
• Cancer Community — community service club focusing on cancer causes such as Race for the Cure
• Interact Club' — community service plus an annual trip to the Model U.N. program at New York
• Key Club — community service club; CdS chapter of Key Club International
• March of Dimes — community service club affiliated with, and focusing on fundraising for, March of Dimes/WalkAmerica
• Red Cross Club — community service club affiliated with the American Red Cross

Controversies

2007 Columbine anniversary week

In April 2007, threats were issued for Corona over supposed violence to take place on the 20th, the anniversary of the Columbine shootings. The first message was found on a boys' bathroom stall on April 10; an olive tree was burned down and a message on the ground nearby found on April 13. Subsequent messages were found later on April 13 and on April 16 in bathroom stalls.^[6][7] On April 19, 2007 the school was evacuated to the stadium due to a suspicious package found in a bathroom. The box turned out to be a student's physics science project in a shoebox.

Despite high tensions, April 20 passed without incident, exactly as the administration predicted. Still, the false alarm from April 19 as well as the coincidental Virginia Tech shootings earlier in the week served to magnify fears that had already been raised by the unprecedented repetition of the graffiti threats. Although Corona has been threatened every April for the past several years, this is the first year that 4 messages have been found in succession making the same threat. Few classes had over 50% attendance, and it is estimated that over 2000 of the school's 2900 students took Friday off.^{[citation needed]}

The administration and faculty were unfazed by the threats, but troubled by the exaggerated rumors that the threats spawned and occasionally inaccurate media reporting.^{[citation needed]} The threats were taken seriously, and extra police were deployed to Corona pending completion of the investigation. A monetary reward for information leading to an arrest has since been increased to $5,000. Tips may be directed to the Tempe Police. The school and Tempe Union District are soliciting donations to increase the reward further.^{[citation needed]}

Unsolved Case of Gretchen White

On March 20, 1981, the dead body of 23-year old Gretchen White was found on the Corona del Sol campus. Sources say that at 2:30 A.M. a man was heard yelling outside of White's apartment. Neighbors had called the police who arrived 10 minutes later to find her apartment empty. When White was discovered, she was wearing only a bathrobe and had appeared to be strangled, raped, and run over by her own car. Her car was found back at her apartment, but in a different parking spot. Thirty years later, her killer has yet to be found. White was a textile major at Arizona State University and belonged to a sorority. People who knew her say she was a reserved woman who "never got into trouble and didn't seem to be associated with people who did".

Notable alumni

• Andrew "Scooter" Molander - Collegiate Quarterback at Phoenix College(Div.II), Colorado State (Div.1)- NFL Player- Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, NY Giants -Played in Arena Football League (AFL)- Current Head Football Coach for Brophy College Preparatory, (Phoenix, AZ)^[8]
• Pat Kirch - Drummer of the band The Maine^{[citation needed]}
• Jared Monaco - Lead Guitarist of the band The Maine^{[citation needed]}
• Mike Pollak - NFL Player - Indianapolis Colts^{[citation needed]}
• Ade Obayomi - Finalist on So You Think You Can Dance (season 5)^{[citation needed]}
• Keilana Valdez - Professional Junior Surfer^[9]
• Ashley Hansen - second baseman for USA Softball Team^[10]
• Freddy Lockhart- Actor/Comedian Comedy Central Live At Gotham and star of Frank TV on TBS^{[citation needed]}
• Eric Halvorsen - Bassist of the band A Rocket to the Moon^[11]
• Michael Sawitzke - Guitar player for the band Eels^[12]

References

1. ^ Corona del Sol High School
2. ^ http://www.azsfb.gov/sfb/sfbweb/sfbaays/agmn/mn070607.pdf p16
3. ^ [1]
4. ^ Announcements
5. ^ Brainstorm
6. ^ http://www.tuhsd.k12.az.us/cds/CdSAdminLetter17April.pdf
7. ^ http://www.tuhsd.k12.az.us/cds/TempePoliceStatemet.pdf
8. ^ http://www.brophyfootball.org/scooter.html
9. ^ http://www.hawaiisurfteam.org/2010-Team/
10. ^ http://www.usasoftball.com/bios.asp?uid=1026
11. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/19/john-huppenthal-keith-wag_n_618317.html
12. ^ http://eelstheband.com

External links

• Official Website
• AIA School Profile