Safford High School

Safford High School, of the Safford Unified School District, is one of two public high schools in Safford, Arizona.

The high school has an average attendance of 815 students and 78 staff members.

History of the SHS Campus

Safford High School was established as an institution in 1915 [p. 39. "Bulldogs Forever: A History of Safford High School, 1915-2007", by James Earl Gonzales. Eastern Arizona College Press, Thatcher, Arizona. 2007] .

Original SHS campus

The original Safford High School building, which was located where Safford Middle School is currently located, was opened in 1915. It served as the main high school building through the 1979-80 school year. Over the years other buildings were built. This included Baker Stadium, which served as the home of the Safford Bulldogs from 1938 through the 1986 season, a gymnasium in 1943, which allowed the previous gym to be retrofitted into an auditorium, and the other classroom buildings. This included a library built in the 1960's. It is noted that during this period the baseball stadium was at the old bleachers by Lafe Nelson School as was the field house for the football and wrestling teams [p. 56. "Bulldogs Forever: A History of Safford High School, 1915-2007", by James Earl Gonzales. Eastern Arizona College Press, Thatcher, Arizona. 2007] .

Once the high school moved to its current campus the original Safford Junior High School, which had its own building adjacent to the high school, was torn down in 1980. Safford Junior High, then later Middle, School occupied the main building and the gymnasium until the mid 1990's when concerns for those buildings safety prompted them to be razed and replaced [p. 159. "Bulldogs Forever: A History of Safford High School, 1915-2007", by James Earl Gonzales. Eastern Arizona College Press, Thatcher, Arizona. 2007] . However Baker Stadium is still used as the home field for the Middle School football teams.

Current SHS campus

The current SHS campus was carved out of cotton fields in 1980. The superintendent at that time was Ray Evans. Donald Wilson had retired in 1978. The fact of the matter is that the current campus was built in bits and pieces over the course of two and a half decades. The original plan for the high school was not completed, with some modification, until the opening of the new auditorium in 2006. When opened there was just the main classroom building and the gym. They were painted brown. In 1985, under the guidance of Superintendent Ron Starcher, the high school was repainted its current slightly cream/beige color. A teacher at the time termed the new paint job, "Very much an improvement." [p. 234. "Bulldogs Forever: A History of Safford High School, 1915-2007", by James Earl Gonzales. Eastern Arizona College Press, Thatcher, Arizona. 2007] There was also just one paved road to the school, eleventh street. During the 1984-85 school years the roads connecting the school to Relation Street and to 20th Ave were completed. In 1986 a bond issue passed that allowed for the cafeteria, orchestra pit, and shop building that connects the gym and main building to be built. It also approved the construction of the current football stadium and track. Until that time there was no cafeteria, just a snack bar, all of the shop students still had to go over to the junior high, and all home track meets were at EAC. All of these new facilities were opened by the 1987-88 school year. It was this year the current bus barn was added. Then in 1990 the current baseball stadium and tennis courts were developed and later softball fields were developed when that sport was added. In the late 1990's the road connecting the school to Eighth Street was completed. In 2000 the new second gym and wrestling rooms was added to the building. Then in 2006 the auditorium was finished. [p. 123. "Gila Valley Daze: A Sociological Odyssey into a Modern-day Boomtown", by Mordecai Richler McManus. Eastern Arizona College Press, Thatcher, Arizona. 2007]

Notable alumni

While there have been many alumni of note within the small universe that is the Gila Valley there haven't been many who would be known by anybody who was not from Safford. However Beau Allred, class of 1983, spent many years playing major and minor league baseball. In 1990 he did hit a home run off Roger Clemens while a member of the Cleveland Indians. [p. 197. "Cleveland Indians 1991 Media Guide"]

See also

* [http://www.saffordusd.k12.az.us/exec/eHome.asp?set_site_to=SHS&division=Site:+Home&group_is= Safford High School Home Page]
*Vance Moya

References