Casa Grande High School

articleissues
refimprove=June 2008infobox school
name=Casa Grande High School


streetaddress=333 Casa Grande Road
city=Petaluma
state=California
country=USA
type=public
grades=9-12
Enrollment=1900+
campus=suburban
district=Petaluma City Schools
principal=Linda Scheele
mascot=Gaucho
website=http://www.casagrandehighschool.org/

Casa Grande High School is a public high school in Petaluma, California. The current principal is Linda Scheele. The four assistant principals are Dennis Harrington, Erin Fender, Mark Molina, and Eric Backman.

Academics

Educational Pathways

Starting just a few years ago, Casa Grande offers classes focused on a specific field of study, the most notable being the Health Career Pathway courses. In this program, about 30 students have three classes in common, all of which focus on medicine and health care. Other Pathway programs have started up, including Visual and Performing Arts. The 2007-2008 school year will provide opportunities for all students to select an area of interest. Beside the two above, they will include: Technology and Industrial Applications, Culinary Arts and Event Planning, Sustainable Society and Legal and Social Justice. The purpose behind these programs is to develop an intimacy among the students and create relevant curriculum that is tied to students' interest outside of school. These will provide a connection and relevance that did not exist otherwise and help students achieve greater academic success.

Some critics say, however, that the basis of these programs, which is the overall success of students in Advanced Placement courses and the fact that those students have always been in a small learning community, does not take into account the difference between an average student's academic drive and that of an AP student. Hopefully though, offering students classes that are more aligned with their interests and intelligence styles will address their academic curiosity and drive. Although many students were placed in a cluster that they did not select during the initial pilot year, the opportunity to select from six different areas of interest should address that problem in the 2007-2008 school year.

Extracurricular activities

Academic Decathlon

Casa Grande's Academic Decathlon team has seen success over the years. The team has represented Sonoma County for the last 24 years in the decathlon's state-level competition, where the team has had great success, including winning California's Division II title seven times in the last nine years. The team has advanced to the final competition at the national level once, where it took sixth place overall.

Most recently, in the 2007-2008 school year, the team won the Division II title with the highest score ever achieved by any Casa Team, defeating perennial rival Vanden High School from Fairfield, California. It was awarded 7th place overall, defeating many strong Division I teams, such as Taft High School.

Journalism

The Gaucho Gazette is Casa Grande High School's award-winning student-run newspaper.Fact|date=June 2008

Band

Casa Grande has five bands, with a combined number of 150+ students. There are three concert bands: Symphonic band at the top, followed by Concert and Freshman Band. There are also two jazz bands, Varsity and J.V. The Casa Band has won many awards, one of the more notable being all three concert bands achieving a Unanimous Superior rating at the CMEA festival during the 2006-2007 school year. The Casa Band also maintains a large marching band, playing at numerous football games as well as marching in the annual Veterans Day and Butter-and-Eggs day parades in downtown Petaluma. Casa band students have achieved much success, with many of Casa's students playing the county and state honor bands.

Football

The Casa Grande Varsity football team has been very successful, defeating crosstown rival Petaluma High School in the annual Egg Bowl for the past seven years.

Cross Country

Casa Grande's Cross Country has over 50 athletes, and has produced some of the North Bay's leading long distance runners. The team’s home course is at Martinelli Ranch, which is located between Petaluma and Sonoma on state highway 116.

Notable alumni

*Jonny Gomes - Outfielder/Designated Hitter, Tampa Bay Rays
*Glenn Rubenstein - Journalist, Musician

External links

* [http://www.casagrandehighschool.org/ Official website]
* [http://www.casaxc.com Cross Country team]
* [http://www.casaband.org Casa Grande Band]