Santa Fe High School (New Mexico)

Infobox Secondary school
name = Santa Fe (very) High School

city = Santa Fe
state = New Mexico
country = USA
colors = Blue and Gold
district = Santa Fe Public Schools
mascot = Demon
grades = 9-12
established = 1899
type = Public high school
enrollment = 1,733
motto =
principal =
yearbook =
newspaper = Demon Tatler
website = http://www.sfps.k12.nm.us
address = 1134 Yucca Road
campus =

Santa Fe High School, founded in 1899, is a public high school (grades 9-12) in the Santa Fe Public Schools. It is located about two miles southwest of downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico and is the largest school in Santa Fe, public or private, with an enrollment of 1,733. [ [http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/nm/671 great schools, Santa Fe High School] ]

Santa Fe High's mascot is the Demons. The school is laid out in multiple buildings, and students walk outdoors from one building to another between classes. There are two distinct clusters of buildings, the "main campus" that offers most of the standard English, math, history and science classes, and the "vo-tech" campus that offers courses such as auto mechanics. Students may take classes at either cluster.

Santa Fe High's student population is as ethnically diverse as is the city itself.Fact|date=April 2008 Students of primarily native American, Hispanic, Mexican, and Caucasian backgrounds attend.Fact|date=April 2008 However, there is racial tension at the school because the more affluent white population has, to some extent, displaced the Hispanic and native American families living in the city.Fact|date=April 2008

Because the school serves populations of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds, it offers a wide array of classes from advanced placement and honors program college prep classes to remedial English and math classes.Fact|date=April 2008

Ironically, the overwhelmingly Catholic city hosts a school with a devilish mascot. This routinely outrages local groups who periodically petition the school board and local authorities to have the Demon mascot removed from the school.Fact|date=April 2008 Through the late 1980's the Toby Roybal Memorial Gym was host to a wall-size painting of a large demon coming through flames. Without proper notice or adequate authority the newly hired principal instructed the grounds crew to come in to paint over the mural. Attempts to have the image restored failed, and the principal in question has since left the school..cite web |title=Principal Tries to Whitewash |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-2000149_ITM |accessdate=2008-07-02

In 2000 the administration building in the middle of the north campus was burned severely, destroying important records, including students' SAT scores. The fire resulted in school being cancelled for 3 days. The building was left standing but was scorched inside and out and eventually was torn down. After investigation the fire was deemed arson. This, however, was not the only time flames were spotted on campus. Students with an unusual sense of humor were known to set fire to a large dumpster between north and south campus. It would repeatedly be extinguished just to be reignited shortly thereafter. In 2005 the small shack that housed the security guard at the southern side of the student parking lot was burned down. Also, that same year, a rack of tires used for running football drills was burned, along with a twenty-five square foot patch of the running track and turf field.

There was a concrete and metal staircase leading up to the library and administration buildings that injured many students. The way the metal was coming loose from the concrete allowed people to get their feet caught in between the metal and concrete. This would often trip the student and send them face first into the fairly sharp metal edges. These dangerous stairs became more of a nuisance during the winter months when they were iced over. Because of a lack of school funding, they often remained unsalted, making matters worse.

The school had many security guards that were supposed to keep students in classes. This however failed miserably as there is the Arroyo Chamiso bike trail that runs through the southern part of Santa Fe.This trail passes right under the bridge between the north and south campuses. Students could easily, and very often would, just walk down the slope of the bridge foundation onto the trail and off the campus.

References

External links

* [http://www.sfps.k12.nm.us/education/school/school.php?sectiondetailid=329&sc_id=1176297753 Santa Fe High School website]
* [http://www.sfps.k12.nm.us/education/district/district.php?sectionid=1 District website] Santa Fe Alumni Web Site - http://www.santafedemon.com/
* [http://www.santafedemon.com/]