Sandra Day O'Connor High School (Arizona)

Sandra Day O'Connor High School
Location
25250 N. 35th Ave Phoenix, Arizona 85083-2465
Coordinates	33°43′03″N 112°08′18″W
Information
Type	Public
Established	2002
Principal	Dr. Bryce Anderson
Enrollment	2,413 students (Oct. 1, 2010)
Color(s)	Royal Blue   and Metallic Gold
Mascot	Eagle
Newspaper	The Talon
Website	http://sdohs.dvusd.org

Sandra Day O’Connor High School, part of the Deer Valley Unified School District (DVUSD), is located just west of I-17 and north of Happy Valley Road in Phoenix, Arizona. The campus is named after former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who grew up in Arizona, served as an assistant attorney general, was member of the state senate, and eventually became the first woman appointed as a Supreme Court Justice. When confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1981, Justice O’Connor was the only sitting member of the Court who had been elected to a public office.

This Arizona high school is not to be confused with the one in Helotes, Texas (whose mascot is most distinctly a Panther). Hillcrest Middle School, Stetson Hills K-8, and West Wing K-8 school feed into O'Connor.

History

SDOHS opened as the fourth high school in the Deer Valley Unified School District, on Thursday, August 22, 2002, accommodating grades 9 and 10. Due to time constraints, the school was opened unfinished and still under construction, with no performing arts building and only one academic building, which caused problems for students and staff. Note that in the manner of most Arizona schools, the facility is designed after the style of many community college models—a series of many buildings. The following year, the school expanded to grades 9-11 and opened a new academic building. The next year, the auxiliary gym and performing arts building opened. The performing arts building became the new and permanent home to dance, ceramics, band, choir, guitar, and theater classes. It currently provides a 200 seat auditorium and a smaller auditorium for various school-centered purposes. That same year, the school finally became a 9-12 facility, with its first graduation ceremony held in May 2005.

Media coverage

On April 1, 2005, O'Connor held a unique fundraiser to help benefit two students diagnosed with cancer. One was 14-year-old Samantha Thorne, who had leukemia and was awaiting a bone-marrow transplant. The other was 17-year-old Kendra Raymond, who was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer. The fundraiser was to help raise money for Kendra's Race, a race initially dedicated to Raymond, who was the only student battling the disease in previous years. The fundraiser was unique in which students were to sign up to win a raffle ticket for getting their head shaved. While head-shaving benefits supporting those battling cancer are fairly common, it was at the time a distinctive feat for Glendale. Thorne's sister won a chance and Thorne gratefully shaved off her sister's long hair, which was donated to Locks of Love, an organization that fashions human hair into high quality wigs for cancer patients. Other students won chances as well, including various teachers and coaches. The fundraiser accumulated a total of around $700.

In May 2007, former student Jordin Sparks, then a semi-finalist on the famed TV show American Idol, was visiting Glendale to film footage of her hometown for the following week's semi-finals. During her visit, she had come back to O'Connor to sing two songs she performed on the show. In light of her visitation, the school put on a welcome back assembly for her in the main gym. When she went up in front of the nearly 2,000 students, she announced, "Hey, guys. Did you miss me?" KSAZ (Arizona's FOX network) and KTVK (Arizona's own 3TV network) were present to film the occasion. Jordin would have been attending as a junior that year.

Activities and academics

SDOHS offers a full complement of academics, College Board/AP/honors level courses, special education inclusion, fine arts, career and technical education, and technology courses to students in grades nine through twelve. In addition, a wide range of student activities and clubs are available to all students. The school offers music and theater programs that include as extracurricular activities the Eagle Pride marching band, a competition jazz band, and an orchestra for the pit at school musicals. Competitive athletics for both young men and women are offered at the freshmen, junior varsity and varsity levels. SDOHS also offers a Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC) program enrolling over 160 cadets, the most in school history as of Aug 2011. Some activities of the AFJROTC programs are competitive drill teams, color guards and orientering teams. The SDOHS AFJROTC program has won back-to-back outstanding unit awards for the 2009 and 2010 school year.

Athletics

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Chess
• Cross country running Girls cross country won state in 06-07 school year and in the 07-08 school year.
• Football The O'Connor football team went undefeated regionally in the 09-10 school year. Also undefeated regionally in the 10-11 school year going 11-1 in all that year.
• Golf
• Hockey
• Soccer
• Marching Band Has the Best Marching Band Program IN Arizona
• Swimming
• Softball
• Tennis
• Track and field Girls win region. Boys take third in region.
• Volleyball
• Wrestling
• Theater Has the Best Theater Program IN Arizona

Notable alumni

• Rachel Gress - Pseudo-Asian attending Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Vocal opponent of Disneyland Theme Park because of its overrated magic. In the wise words of Ms. Gress- "Magic happens in the bedroom too."
• Jordin Sparks - winner, American Idol season 6 (did not graduate)

See also

• Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS)
• List of school districts in Arizona
• List of high schools in Arizona

External links

• Deer Valley Unified School District