Coronado High School (El Paso, Texas)

Coronado High School
Location
100 Champions Place El Paso, Texas 79912 USA
Information
Type	Public
Motto	Pride Of The Westside
Established	1962
School district	El Paso Independent School District
Principal	María Eloisa "Marielo" Morales
Faculty	155.4 (on FTE basis)[1]
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	3,335[1]  (2009-10)
Student to teacher ratio	16.2[1]
Campus type	Urban
Color(s)	Navy Blue, White and Gold
Athletics conference	1-5A
Mascot	Thunderbird
Nickname	T-Birds
Affiliations	International Baccalaureate[2]
Website	explorer.episd.org

Coronado High School in El Paso, Texas is located on the west side of El Paso near the intersection of North Mesa Street and Resler Drive. It serves the southern part of west El Paso: east of Interstate 10, from the vicinity of Executive Center Boulevard north approximately three miles to around Coronado Arroyo, a normally dry stream bed running west down from the Franklin Mountains just north of Escondido Drive; and the portion of the Upper Valley (the part of El Paso County beside the Rio Grande west of Interstate 10) which lies south of Country Club Road. Most of the Coronado attendance zone is zoned to Morehead Middle School for grades six to eight. The elementary schools in the Coronado feeder pattern include Green, Johnson, Putnam, Rivera, Western Hills and White (often called Zach White, for its namesake, prominent 19th-century El Paso business and civic leader Zachariah "Zach" White). The Upper Valley portion of the Coronado attendance area is zoned to Zach White Elementary and Lincoln Middle School, except for the Buena Vista neighborhood around Interstate 10 and West Paisano Drive, which is zoned to Johnson Elementary and Morehead Middle School. Green (named for local doctor and school board member Leighton Green and often called Dr. Green Elementary), Johnson, Putnam, Rivera and Western Hills elementary schools all graduate into Morehead Middle School.^[3]

Coronado High is named for Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, whose expeditions in what is now the southwestern United States took him through what is now El Paso.

Identity

Coronado High's mascot, inspired by a natural silhouette on its Franklin Mountain backdrop, is the Thunderbird, shortened to T-Bird, and its slogan is "The Pride of the West Side." Coronado's school colors are Navy blue and Las Vegas gold. The school has a strong rivalry with the Franklin High School Cougars.

Academics

The mission of Coronado High School is to advance the academic, artistic, emotional, physical, and social education of every student in order to develop productive citizens.

Coronado High School has offered the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme since 2000. Students who are accepted into the program take a series of examinations at the end of a four-year curriculum.^[2]

Campus

Coronado has six main buildings labeled A, B, C, D, E, and G Building. Along with these buildings, Coronado has a new Fine Arts building, the Lee Ross Capshaw Auditorium (named after the orchestra and band directors' father), the Jack Quarles Thunderbird Stadium, Baseball and Softball fields, Tennis courts, Cafeteria, Agricultural Building, and Big Gym (which received a renovation in the fall of 2009) and the Small Gym. To the south of the Small Gym lie approximately 19 portables that also provide classes. The administrative office is located in A building just beyond the main entrance to the school.

Band

The Thunderbird Marching Band and Symphonic Ensembles are one of only twelve high school bands in the world to have received both the Sudler Flag of Honor (For Consistent High Excellence in Concert events) and the Sudler Shield (For Consistent High Excellence in Marching events)- the two most prestigious honors bestowed upon a high school band ensemble. The other 11 Bands who have received them are from: Marian Catholic High School, Sumter High School, L.D. Bell High School, Duncanville High School, The Woodlands High School, Lassiter High School, Westfield High School, Owasso High School, North Hardin High School, Westlake HS in Austin, and Langham Creek High School.

The Coronado High School Marching Band has won the "Grand Champion" ranking (out of the 32 different bands from Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado) at the New Mexico Tournament of Bands competition more times than any other organization in the history of the 30+ year competition.^{[citation needed]}.

The Coronado High School band has also competed numerous times at the Texas UIL State Marching Contest, nationally at many Bands of America regional and super-regional marching contests, and internationally at various concert events. Some of the visited sites the band has gone to include Moscow, Hawaii, Dallas, Toronto, San Antonio, Houston, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Orlando, and New York City. The band is directed by Kenneth Capshaw, Mark Saenz, and Carl (Sancho) Ortega.

The Coronado Jazz Bands boast consistent division one ratings at local and state Jazz Clinics and Contests, with the top Jazz Band (directed by Kenneth Capshaw) winning 1st place at the Hanks Jazz contest numerous times.

The Coronado Wind Ensemble is the only high school wind ensemble in El Paso and West Texas to ever advance to state as a 5a Texas Honor Band. (having been in the ranks 5 times in TMEA history)

Orchestra

The Coronado High School Orchestra is nationally ranked. In 1988, 1998, 2002 and 2007, the Coronado symphony orchestra performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City.^[4] The Coronado Orchestra has traveled to various locations around the world to perform, including Italy, Japan, England, Mexico, Austria, Czech Republic and more. The Coronado Orchestra has also been selected Honor Orchestra by the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) three times and has also performed at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic twice. The Coronado Orchestra won first place in 1984 and second and third place in 2000 at the very prestigious Youth and Music Festival in Vienna. The group is currently directed by Ida Steadman. She is a Texas String Teacher of the Year winner, TODA Director of the Year for 1997.

Athletics

Coronado has a wide range of athletic teams. Swimming, Baseball, Football, Tennis, Golf, Track and Field, Cross Country, Softball, Basketball, Wrestling, and Soccer to name a few.

Coronado tennis teams have continued success. They have won the UIL 5A State Tennis Team title in both 1990 and 2000. They were state runner up in the 2001 tournament. They also made it to the quarter-finals of the tournament in 2002. They won the UIL 5A State Girls Doubles Tournament in 2001 and 2003, both times with players Nicole Fintell and Megan Schumulbach; the State Girls Singles in 1987; the State Boys Doubles in 2003; and the Boys Singles in 1991 and 1992.Head Coach Jerry Pippins is currently 124-0 in team tennis District play.

The Men's Soccer Team won a state championship in 1996.

The T-Birds have had success in baseball as well. They went to the state semi-finals in 1992 with future major league pitcher Rocky Coppinger leading the way. The team was coached by Juan Orozco.

As with many Texas high schools, Coronado has also had a long standing tradition of football excellence. In 1966, only two years after the school was first opened, Head Coach Jack Quarles took the team to Texas State Playoffs. They were Bi-District Champions in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2006, 2007 and Area Champions (state quarterfinals) in 1973, 1975, 1979. They made State Playoffs again in 1980, 1982, 1983, 1991, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, and 2008 under Coach Don Brooks, who has been the Head Coach since 1977.

The football team won a district championship in 2006, also winning a bi-district championship with a 39-23 win over Midland High School. The football team won Bi-District Championships in 2009 vs. Midland Lee (49-27) and 2010 vs. Amarillo High (27-13). In each of these years they lost the Area Championship game to Abilene High (The eventual state champion in 2009). The 2009 team won the district championship with a perfect 10-0 season.

Notable alumni

• Alan Culpepper, distance runner^[5]
• Rocky Coppinger, Major League Baseball pitcher^[6][7]
• Musicians Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala from the band The Mars Volta
• Professional Jockey Jerry Bailey^[8]
• Professional Boxer, David Rodriguez
• Kirk Wilson, professional soccer player

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Coronado H S". National Center for Education Statistics. http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolID=481830001678&ID=481830001678. Retrieved 2008-04-10. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Coronado High School". IB Diploma Programme. http://www.ibo.org/school/001192/. Retrieved 2008-04-10. "IB school code: 001192... since January 2000" 
3. ^ http://www.episd.org
4. ^ MidAmerica Productions - Carnegie Hall Concert Series
5. ^ "Three to get ready...". Worcester Telegram and Gazette (United States Olympic Committee). April 17, 2005. http://www.olympic-usa.org/11611_32293.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-10. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Rocky Coppinger. Major League Baseball. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
7. ^ 1993 Draft -- June Regular Phase. Major League Baseball. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
8. ^ "Silky Smooth". CNN. 2000-11-06. http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1020987/index.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-30. 

External links

• Official site