Columbia High School is a four-year

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

Nampa, Idaho Nampa () is the largest city in Canyon County, Idaho. Its population was 100,200 at the time of the 2020 Census. It is Idaho's third-most populous city. Nampa is about west of Boise along Interstate 84, and six miles (10 km) west of Meridian. ...

. The third major high school in the Nampa School District 131, Columbia opened in 2006, designed with two floors and a separate building for technology, agriculture, and shop classes. The school district shuttles students from one high school to the other to meet their class requirements. Each school has a different focus; Columbia's is technology, performing arts, and broadcasting.

Naming controversy

Before the school was built, the district had decided on the name ''Aurora High School''. The name Aurora was based on the natural phenomenon

aurora borealis An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of br ...

. Following a letter-writing campaign by students of the middle schools feeding into the future high school, in which reference was made to the character Princess Aurora in the 1959 film ''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

'', the District altered its proposed name to ''Columbia High School'' after the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster. Students accepted this name and it is expected to be permanent.

Performing arts

Immediately after Columbia's establishment, its Performing Arts Department initiated several activities. All choirs in 2006 got a superior in the District Three Competition. The Drama Department has put on plays such as ''A Girl In The Mirror'', ''Arsenic and Old Lace'', and ''Snoopy'', as well as musicals such as ''Grease'' and ''Hairspray''. The High school marching band has won their division 8 times. Their shows include Latin Dances, Sound, Shape and Color, Second City Nights, Invincible, Signs, Relic, Persephone, Along Came a Spider, Mechanized, Light Prevails and Lost.

Athletics

Columbia competes in athletics in IHSAA Class 4A, the second highest classification, and are members of the Southern Idaho Conference (4A). Originally in Class 4A, Columbia moved up to 5A in the summer of 2014. Columbia moved back down to 4A in the summer of 2018. In its first season in 2007, the baseball team won the 4A state championship. The wrestling team won three consecutive 4A state championships (2009–11). The Wildcats football team made the 4A state playoffs in the fall of 2011.

State titles

Boys * Wrestling (3): (4A) 2009, 2010, 2011 idhsaa.org
- Wrestling champions - through 2012 * Baseball (1): (4A) 2007 ''(records not kept by IHSAA)'' Girls Dance *2010 Champion with 1st in Prop *2011 1st in Hip Hop *2012 1st in Kick 1st in Hip Hop *2019 Runner up with 1st in Hip Hop *2020 not contested due to covid *2021 Champion with 1st Dance 1st Military 2nd Hip Hop 2nd Kick *2022 Runner up with 1st in Prop 2nd in Dance, 3rd in Military and 3rd in Hip Hop *2023 Champion with 1st in Hip Hop 1st in Kick, 1st in Military and 1 st in Dance From Idhsaa.org

References

External links

*
Nampa School District #131
{{authority control Nampa, Idaho Public high schools in Idaho Schools in Canyon County, Idaho Treasure Valley 2006 establishments in Idaho