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New Schools Gear Up
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New Schools Gear Up For Varsity Level
The editors of our sister
site, CalHiSports.com, thought readers of DyeStatCal.com would be interested It’s time for our annual report on the state’s continued rapid growth for new schools. We’ve got updates on schools ready to field first varsity teams, those just about to open and those still under construction. Go inside for complete list and see which new school gets our award for best nickname. While doing research for our annual report on new schools and new athletic programs to watch in our incredibly immense and heavily-populated state, we came across an item that certainly qualifies as a naming problem no school has perhaps ever faced. This month, the Sweetwater Union High School District of southern San Diego County is opening its third high school in five years with the addition of a comprehensive high school located close to the U.S. Olympic training facility in Chula Vista. It was initially decided to name the new school Olympic High School. To do that, though, permission had to be granted from the U.S. Olympic Committee. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the USOC denied that request and one of the reasons given in a letter to the district was the USOC’s protection of its sponsors. The district, you see, has long had an affiliation with Pepsi, but one of the USOC’s biggest sponsors is Coke. Does this mean the Olympic High name would have stuck if the district was spitting out Coke from its vending machines instead of Pepsi? Let’s hope not. While the Olympic High School name on its own was nixed, the district instead got permission for a variation of the same name: Olympic Vista High School. A search of the district web site revealed no nickname – or mascot – yet for the new school, which is a process that usually involves the first group of incoming students. The third high school that will be opened in the Murrieta Valley Unified School district also has become part of a naming controversy. Although that third school -- which will go with Murrieta Valley and recently-opened Murrieta Vista -- is only in the planning stages, a naming contest was recently staged with the overwhelming winner being the name Ronald Reagan High School. It appears some from outside
of the community helped push the Ronald Reagan name but district trustee
Ken Dickson has been the main proponent. That would be true, and the Murrieta community does seem to be pretty conservative, which would make it easier to quell the expected outcry from those who aren’t. Our only concern about naming a high school in the state after Reagan is that it probably should be for a new school built someday close to the area in which the former president lived and where he’s buried. There don’t appear to be any new high schools coming soon in the Simi Valley area, but there could be one in the next 3-4 years by the Oxnard Union High School District. We’re not conservative, but even the biggest liberal would have to admit that Reagan was one of the most beloved presidents the country has ever had. And although he was born and went to high school in a small town in Illinois, Reagan spent almost all of his adult life in California and was our governor for eight years as well. Of course, there should be a high school in California named after him. Then again, we also think there should be one named for Richard Nixon, too, because he is the only person to ever come from a California high school that went on to become president. We wonder if there are any conservatives in Arkansas who think the same about a possible Bill Clinton High School from their state? Speaking of presidential names, the new school opening this fall in Corona will be named Roosevelt High School. Instead of presidents Franklin Delano or Theodore, however, that one is named in honor of Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Franklin. See the chart below for more on each of California’s brand new high schools (note: private schools other than new parochial schools are not included and this report also doesn’t include re-openings, such as this fall at Lincoln of San Diego): New High Schools Getting Ready For Varsity Football Central Valley (Ceres) – Second school in the town will be starting out in the Valley Oak League. Nickname: Hawks. Their first game will be Sept. 1 against Modesto Christian. Cesar Chavez (Stockton) – Former Stagg of Stockton assistant Eric Duncan is the head coach of the Titans, which reportedly have an impressive group of sophomores on the way up. First game will be on Sept. 8 at home against Stagg. Eastside (Lancaster) – This school actually opened last fall, but is still another year away from first varsity football games. The Lions will eventually join the CIF Southern Section’s Golden League. Heritage (Brentwood) – Recent story in Contra Costa Times showed how impressive this new school’s athletic facilities are. The Patriots will have varsity sports this year after the school started last fall, but will still wait one more year for varsity football. Lakeside (Elsinore) – The Lancers will play new school Summit of Fontana on Sept. 15, but open the week before against JSerra of SJ Capistrano. McNair (Lodi) –Named for late astronaut Ronald McNair, this school could have come up with a number of catchy, unique nicknames. Rockets or Challengers were our favorites. Alas, boredom won. The Eagles will play their first varsity game on Sept. 8 at Manteca. Orange Cove – New Central Section member actually played a couple of varsity games last year. This season, the Titans are stepping up with full varsity slate, starting Aug. 25 at Laton. Pajaro Valley (Watsonville) –This school was going to be called Millenium for the longest time. Actually opened two years ago with ninth graders at a former elementary school. This is the second year at new campus and varsity football is finally here. First game Sept. 9 at Scotts Valley. Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) –The Eagles and the rest of the schools in the Elk Grove district will all belong to the Delta League. The talent in the area definitely has spread out throughout the schools in the Elk Grove district, which is why you don’t see Elk Grove High being as dominant in football as it once was. Watch out for Pleasant Grove, too. Football coach is Joe Cattolico, who came over after success in Bay Area and is son of long-time Los Gatos coach Butch Cattolico. First game Sept. 9 vs. Hiram Johnson of Sacramento. River Valley (Yuba City) – History will be made on Nov. 9 when the Falcons will play Yuba City High in that town’s first-ever crosstown rivalry game. Their first game on Sept. 8 will be against Marysville, which used to be the big rival of Yuba City. Santee (South Gate) — The Mustangs will play in the Northern League of the L.A. City Section. First game will be Sept. 8 against Poly of Sun Valley. Segerstrom (Santa Ana) – The Jaguars play their first game on Sept. 8 against Laguna Hills. They play Bolsa Grande in week two, a program that has struggled mightily in recent years. St. Francis (Watsonville) – Prep football in Watsonville sure will be different this year with not only Pajaro Valley but this new parochial school. And if this St. Francis is even half as good as the other St. Francis in the Central Coast Section, then the Sharks will be a team to watch. First game Sept. 1 at Soquel. West Ranch (Santa Clarita) – Eventually, West Ranch and the other new school in the area, Golden Valley, will become rivals of some of the other big-time programs in the area. That won’t happen at least until next year. Golden Valley played varsity games last year. First game for West Ranch Sept. 8 at Mojave. Whitney (Rocklin) – The Wildcats figure to have it tough in the Pioneer Valley League against the likes of Colfax and Bear River. They don’t play Rocklin High this first season, either. First game Sept. 8 at Amador of Sutter Creek. New California High Schools 2006-07 School Year Arleta – This L.A. Unified School District high school is in the Mission Hills area of the San Fernando Valley. Future rivals would be Granada Hills, Kennedy, Monroe, San Fernando, Sylmar. Former Sylmar coach Jeff Engilman is coming over to start up the football program. James Enochs (Modesto) – If the Eagles get good in football real quick (their first varsity games won’t be until next year), it will be only natural to refer to them as being from the school of hard Enochs. Frontier (Bakersfield) – The Kern Unified H.S. District is a lot like Elk Grove with new schools opening frequently. Frontier will be called the Titans and is starting out this fall with freshman and sophomores only. Madera South –Kudos to this school for picking unique nickname (Stallions) and for picking a big-time coach to lead new program. Leading the way will be Scott Donegan, the guy who turned around small-school Chowchilla in recent years. Olympic Vista (Chula Vista) – The Sweetwater Union High School District has been busy lately. San Ysidro opened in 2002 while in 2003 it was Otay Ranch. Panorama (check here for best nickname honor) This is another L.A. City Unified campus ready to roll in the Panorama City area. Interesting also that new schools Arleta and Panorama both are off of famous Van Nuys Blvd. Major kudos to those who went with Pythons as the nickname. It’s the best nickname for a new school we’ve seen in a long time. Of course, this is the L.A. City Section we’re talking about, so good nicknames shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, L.A. is home to Jefferson Democrats, Hollywood Shieks, Venice Gondoliers, Poly Parrots, Manual Arts Toilers, Canoga Park Hunters and many more. When Panorama plays Poly, will the Pythons swallow the Parrots? Roosevelt (Corona) – The Corona-Norco district also is opening John F. Kennedy Middle College High this year, but that school will be part of a junior college and will be catering to students not interested in the traditional high school experience. While Roosevelt will have sports, Kennedy will not. Summit (Fontana) –This school opens on Sept. 5 after a one-year delay. Summit will be the fourth Fontana Unified high school to go with Fontana, A.B. Miller and Kaiser. Will open with three grades and will have varsity football right out of the gates. More California High Schools Coming On Line Soon Antelope Valley Unified – This district just opened Eastside High of Lancaster with two more high schools in the planning stages. Both of those will be out toward Palmdale. Capistrano Unified – It’s been a rocky road toward the opening of San Juan Hills High of SJ Capistrano and that road was made longer when this year’s expected opening was pushed back to the fall of 2007. Chaffey Joint Union H.S. District – After opening Los Osos and Colony a couple years back, this district is looking at yet another high school, out toward the Fontana area, and it may be open by the fall of 2008. Chico Unified – They’ve been batting around boundaries and environmental reports for years, but it is getting close to Canyon View High becoming a reality. Tentative opening for fall 2009. Clovis Unified – This district actually encompasses part of Fresno, but currently three of the four high schools have Clovis addresses. That will change in a couple of years when the fifth high school in the district will open off North Willow Avenue and International Avenue (a Fresno address). Colton Unified –Construction is set to begin in May of next year on this district’s third high school. The only two for a long time have been Colton and Bloomington. Maybe the new school will be built in time so that Don Markham can coach football there. He’s coached at just about everywhere else in the Inland Empire. Elk Grove Unified – They didn’t open a new school this fall after Pleasant Grove last year, but next year the district with what looks like the highest growth in the state (outside of L.A. Unified, which is really one of its kind) will be adding Cosumnes Oaks High School. After Cosumnes Oaks, the district’s new high school growth looks like will settle down. Folsom-Cordova – Vista del Lago is slated to become the second school in the Folsom area next fall. The Eagles (yech, another Eagle) will be joined perhaps as soon as two more years down the road by Mather High of Rancho Cordova. Galt – Last November, voters in this Central Valley city passed a bond to allow Liberty Ranch High to be built. Galt (located north of Lodi and south of Elk Grove) has been a one-school town for more than 90 years. School may be ready by 2009-10 school year. Hemet – The district’s third high school, which will go along with Hemet High and West Valley, will be named Tahquitz High and will be located out toward San Jacinto. Scheduled for fall 2007 opening. Jurupa Valley Unified – Rubidoux of Riverside students are going to a new campus this year while their old school is being completely updated and revamped. Next year, that new campus will be opened as new school Patriot High. Kern High School District – After Frontier this year, the KUHSD is coming back with two new high schools for the 2008-09 school year. One will be named Independence and the other will be named Mira Monte. We really hate Mira Monte with two words because we already have a Miramonte High in the state that’s one word. Los Angeles Unified – The district’s massive building frenzy – the largest of its kind by any school district in U.S. history – will continue for another 6-10 years. New high schools will be opening up at an average of two per year during the expansion. They say that by 2010 there will be 800,000 students enrolled in L.A. Unified. Think about that for a second. Just staggering. Modesto Unified – It’s been awhile between the opening of Johansen and Enochs, but the district won’t be waiting nearly as long between Enochs and Gregori. The new Thomas Gregori High School is tentatively set to open in fall 2009. Poway Unified – It’s going to sound weird to us to have a school named Del Norte so far south in the state, but that’s the name and Del Norte High (a reference no doubt to the North County of San Diego) will be opened possibly by fall 2008. Perris – The next addition to this district’s roster of high schools will be Heritage High of the Romoland area. Expected opening is next fall. Then a few years later, another high school could be opened for the Menifee community. Currently, that area is served by Paloma Valley. Redlands Unified – Redlands East Valley has been around long enough to have at least one pretty prominent athletic alum (soccer’s Landon Donovan), but by 2008 it’s expected that Citrus Valley will join REV and Redlands High in the district’s lineup of high schools. Roseville Joint Union High School District –There will be an Antelope High School in the Antelope community, although it won’t be ready until 2008. Note: We already have the Antelope Valley Antelopes in California, so if anybody says it should be the Antelope High Antelopes they should have their head slapped. San Diego Archdiocese – Work is progressing at brand new Mater Dei High of Chula Vista. The new South County campus should be done in 10-11 months and the school is scheduled for a fall 2007 opening. Mater Dei will replace Marian Catholic much like Cathedral Catholic replaced University of San Diego High last fall. Pax Christi of Oceanside, which isn’t replacing anything, will be up next for the ambitious archdiocese plan and may be ready for a fall 2008 startup. Salinas Union High School District – Voters have approved a bond measure to build the district’s fifth high school. Plans call for school to be built in the north part of town. Santa Ana Unified – After Segerstrom opened last fall, the new Godinez High was supposed to open this fall. That has now been delayed until 2007. The buildings are ready, but the district is putting all of the Santa Ana Valley kids on the new school’s campus while that other school undergoes major renovation. Temecula Valley Unified – It’s only been two years since Great Oak opened, but this is one of the state’s booming areas. The next high school in the district could be open and ready by 2008. Vacaville Unified – It still seems to be in the planning stages for the district’s third high school, which will go along with Vacaville High and Will C. Wood High. Vista Unified –The third high school in the district to go with Vista High and Rancho Buena Vista has a site, but it may be two or three years before it’s built and opened. Washington Unified – This school district in West Sacramento is building a new high school that will replace River City High. It could simply stay River City at new location or could be renamed. River City itself was new name from original district high school name of Washington. Steve Sax, the former L.A. Dodger baseball player, is a graduate of Washington High (West Sacramento). Yorba Linda – One of the biggest cities in the state without a high school will finally get one when Yorba Linda High opens in the fall of 2008. The school will finally ease overcrowding at nearby Esperanza of Anaheim. Yucaipa-Calimesa –The reported opening of a junior high this fall is said to be the start of a progression to open the district’s second high school. Probably still two or three years away. New California High Schools Reported With Varsity Football For The First Time During 2005 Season (does not include private schools): •Beckman (Irvine) Corrections or comments? Email [email protected].
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