Hamilton High School (Chandler, Arizona)

Infobox Secondary school
name = Hamilton High School
picture =
motto = Dare to Dream [ [http://www.blueribbonschools.com/Conferences/ConferenceArchives/2006BlueprintforExcellenceConference/FeaturedSchools/HamiltonHighSchoolAZ/tabid/215/Default.aspx Hamilton High School (AZ) ] ]
established = 1998
city = Chandler
state = Arizona
country =
type = Public High school
principal = Dr. Fred DePrez
faculty =
enrollment = 3,000
grades = 9-12
address = 3700 S. Arizona Ave.
district = Chandler Unified School District
oversight =
mascot = Husky
colors = Black, Maroon and Silver
newspaper = The Paw Print (Editor-in-Chief: Nesima Aberra)
yearbook = Notlimah (Chief Editor: Emma McArthur)
website = [http://www.hamiltonhuskies.com/ Hamilton High School]
picture =

Hamilton High School is the second public high school built in Chandler, Arizona. It was the first high school in Chandler to have a branch of the Chandler Public Library integrated into the school.

Academics

Hamilton High received the Chandler Education Foundation 100% Awareness status from 1998-2001Fact|date=February 2007, and was the only Arizona A+ school in 2005. Hamilton's faculty includes more instructors with master's degrees than any other school in Arizona, and is recognized as an academic powerhouse. [http://www.ade.state.az.us/edd/NewDetails.asp?EntityID=6015&RefTypeID=1153 Public School Search ] ]

Athletics

Hamilton is well-known throughout the state for its superiority in sports. . Students are involved in numerous athletic activities, such as football, soccer, basketball, golf, lacrosse, hockey, softball, wrestling, tennis, badminton, and volleyball. Its traditional rival in the Chandler School District is Chandler High School, but competition is increasing with the city's second newest high school, Basha High School. The city of Chandler and Chandler Unified School District's rapid growth has contributed to the construction of a fourth high school in the district, Perry High School, which opened in 2007.

Hamilton High School's football teams are perennially dominant: they won Arizona Division 5A State Championships for the 2003-2004, 2004-2005 and 2006-2007 school years, and also played in the title games in 2001 (vs Red Mountain) and 2005 (vs Brophy). Hamilton has enjoyed some national attention through its superior players like Covaughn Deboskie, Gerrell Robinson and current NFL Baltimore Ravens Linebacker Terrell Suggs.The baseball team has won three state championships including 2007-2008, and appeared in two others. The freshman team was also titled Babe Ruth National Champions in 2007-2008. Hamilton's Coed Cheer Squad regularly competes and finishes in the top five at the national championships, as well as having won the state championship almost every year since Hamilton opened.Fact|date=February 2007

In 2007, there were allegations that some local high school athletic programs, including Hamilton's, recruit athletes. This has drawn the attention of the Arizona Interscholastic Association, which governs high school sports in the state of Arizona. [East Valley Tribune (Sep 28, 2007) " [http://varsity.evtrib.com/story/98437 State Rep., AIA question Hamilton football] "] [Arizona Republic (Apr 3, 2008) " [http://www.azcentral.com/sports/preps/articles/2008/04/03/20080403sevaiainvestigates.html AIA investigator getting mixed welcome] "]

Fine arts program

The fine arts program at Hamilton High School is considered one of the best in the state of ArizonaFact|date=June 2008. The department chair is Colonel Frank Dubuy. The fine arts programs include choir, orchestra, band (including marching band), creative writing, photography, ceramics, advanced art and drama. Hamilton's chapter of ITS won the 2005 State competition with a performance of "Up the Down Staircase". Hamilton's "We the People" Honors class has won 1st place each of the past 4 years at the district level and taken 2nd three of the past 4 years at state. [" [http://www.hamiltonhuskies.com/content/view/78/129/ Hamilton High School - We the People] "] The Marching Huskies have achieved ratings of Superior and/or Superior With Distinction at the A.B.O.D.A State Marching Festival for the past two years in a row.Fact|date=July 2008

Orchestra

The orchestra at Hamilton High School is conducted by Colonel Frank Dubuy. It consists of first violins, second violins, a large viola section, a large cello section, and a bassist. The majority of the students in the ensemble have qualified for regionals.Fact|date=June 2008 The current concertmaster is Ryan Chang, a junior.

Future trips

As a result of the music program's successful trip to the Heritage Festival in Boston, they have been invited to a Gold Star festival in which occurs in the world famous Carnegie Hall.

Activities

Extracurricular activities include 27 interscholastic athletic teams, a chapter of the National Honor Society, Academic Decathlon, We the People, Speech and Debate, Student Government, and forty diverse clubs and organizations. Among these are the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Step Dancing Club, Invisible Children Club, Key Club, Young Republicans, Young Democrats, Muslim Students Association, Asian Club, and Dance Dance Revolution Club.

Each year, Hamilton hosts the "Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair" (HISEF), in which high-school students from all schools in the Chandler School District compete in many different categories, including biology, physics, mathematics and computers, behavioral science, botany, and zoology. Elementary and middle-schoolers also compete in their own divisions. In addition, the SECME mousetrap car competitions are held the day of the fair.

Design

Initially built to hold 2,600 students, the 3,000+ students at Hamilton may find getting around school a bit difficult. Hamilton is, for the most part, a two story, completely enclosed campus (all main classrooms and main facilities are inside of the same building, with the exception of few mobile classrooms, in the back part of the school. This keeps students of out the scorching hot weather during the summer, and it also creates a safer environment and makes securing the school easier if a lock-down is necessary) with a unique and fashionable design that one may mistake for a mall if looking from the outside. Some mall-like traits are evident on the inside as well. Each class is located in one of Hamilton's eight main hallways. Each hallway has its own staircase so students don't have to go to a very crowded main hallway in order to get to a class upstairs. The main hallways are the only connection to the library, administrations office, cafeteria, gym, and auditorium located on the southern side of the school. Many electives such as P.E., theater, choir, band, and orchestra take place in these areas. The auditorium sits about 600, a cafeteria for 600, which nevertheless is very crowded during lunch, a gym that seats about 1,900, and the football stadium seats 7,500. Hamilton also has a track, a public swimming pool where the swim team practices, complete with special water features, multiple tennis courts, two soccer fields, and six fields used for baseball and practice. [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Hamilton+High+School,+3700+S+Arizona+Ave,+Chandler,+AZ&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=34.122306,82.529297&ie=UTF8&ll=33.251232,-111.840885&spn=0.008793,0.020149&t=h&z=16 See Aerial View via Google Maps]

Notable alumni

* Terrell Suggs, Baltimore Ravens defensive end / linebacker

References

External links

* [http://www.hamiltonhuskies.com/ Hamilton High School official website]
* [http://www.ade.state.az.us/edd/NewDetails.asp?EntityID=6015&RefTypeID=1153 School report card] from the Arizona Department of Education
* [http://hhsmusic.com/default.aspx Hamilton High School Instrumental Music Program]
* [http://www.hamiltonsoccer.org Hamilton Soccer Website]