Foothill High School is a four-year

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

in the

Clark County School District The Clark County School District (CCSD) is the public school district serving Clark County in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is the largest school district in Nevada and the fifth-largest school district in the United States with 304,565 enro ...

, located in the city of

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the List of cities in Nevada, 2nd most populous city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with 317,610 residents. The city is part of the Las Vegas V ...

Programs and academics

SkillsUSA

Foothill operates a chapter of

SkillsUSA SkillsUSA is a United States career and technical student organization serving more than 395,000 high school, college and middle school students and professional members enrolled in training programs in trade, technical and skilled service oc ...

with many successes. In 2013, the team of James Schaeffer and Gino Alvarez placed 5th place in Television (Video) Production at the National Leadership and Skills Conference held in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2014, the team of Blake Wilson and Dustin Griffie placed 1st place in Web Design at the National Leadership and Skills Conference held in Kansas City, Missouri.

FST News

Foothill operates a student-run news station that mirrors a real world TV Station. The program was developed and launched in 2001 by instructor Karen Vaughan and student Matt Mayhood, the latter returning to teach the program in 2012 after working at various television stations. They provide a daily broadcast to students with news and other happenings around campus. FST News also works alongside the police departments of Henderson, Boulder City and Clark County (Las Vegas Metropolitan) to produce Every 15 Minutes.

Speech and debate

In June 2008, Foothill High School hosted the 2008

National Speech and Debate Association The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) is the largest interscholastic Individual events (speech), speech and Competitive debate in the United States, debate organization serving middle school and high school students in the United State ...

National Championships. Falcon Academy Established in 2019.

MAYBE Inc.

Foothill operated a business and leadership class, MAYBE Inc. Students were taught several skills including business management and workplace readiness. The program closed in 2019.

Athletics

Football

The Falcons reached the state semi-final game in 2001 where they lost by a last minute 57-yard field goal (kick was the 2nd longest FG in state history & made in snowy conditions). The school's football program has won several division championships, qualified for the playoffs yearly, and has reached the state tournament several times.

Marching band

The Foothill Marching Band is the largest marching band in the history of Nevada. The Foothill Marching Band broke state records when they made Finals in two Bands of America competitions in California and Utah in 2010. The band has made Band of America Regional Finals several times. "Finals" Performances by the Foothill High School in Bands of America Regional Championships As of right now, they are one of four bands across the country to help TAMA test their new drums (that have not yet been released.) The Marching Band has participated in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland. In May, 2012 the band traveled to march in the National Memorial Parade in Washington DC. In December 2012 the Foothill Drumline participated in the Very Vegas Holiday at The Smith's Center and performed with the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra. The Foothill Drumline also performed with Trace Adkins at the American Country Awards on December 10, 2013. This was nationally televised on Fox. The Marching Band is also one of few high schools to perform in the Macy's Day Parade in 2014. The Drumline captured sixth place at the WGI World Championship Finals in 2015. The Foothill High School Marching Band won the Marching Band Open Series (MBOS) Nevada Championships claiming the title of the Best Marching Band in State for three straight years, 2015, 2016 & 2017. Each year they have swept the high caption awards in every category; Outstanding Music, Outstanding Visual and Outstanding General Effect. The Marching Band performed at the 2017 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.

Cross country

The girls cross country team won the Sunrise Regional Championships in 2005 and 2006 and made a State Championship appearance in 2013. In 2014, the girls won the Sunrise Regional Championship with five of their teammates winning 1st, 6th, 7th, 10th and 11th places in the 5k. In 2016, the girls team took 2nd in the Sunrise Regional Championship by one point. The boys team won the Sunrise Regional Title in 2007 and 2010.

Basketball

The program hosts the annual Big Time Tournament during the summer, which attracts schools from all over the nation to compete.

Dance

The dance team has won several in and out of state competitions. The Foothill High School Varsity Dance Team has won the Nevada 4A State Dance Championships four times in the past four years and also placed 14th in the national championship. The team captured two national championship titles at the National Dance Championships in 2007, and another national title in 2008.

Baseball

Foothill has qualified for playoffs nearly every year. In the 2013–14 season, the Falcons made it to the semi-finals of the Regional Tournament.

Commencement speech controversy

An incident at the school's

commencement A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called commencement, congregation, convocation or invocation. The date of the graduation ...

on June 15, 2006 sparked a lawsuit against the school. The commencement was held at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, where 400 graduates and their families were gathered for graduation. The

commencement speech In the United States, a commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions and in similar institutions around the ...

of Foothill

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

, Brittany McComb (then 18 years old) was cut short after a school employee pulled the plug on the

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...

during her speech. A video of the incident shows that the sound system was cut off. McComb unsuccessfully brought

suit A suit, also called a lounge suit, business suit, dress suit, or formal suit, is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles generally worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt su ...

against the school in the

United States District Court for the District of Nevada The United States District Court for the District of Nevada (in case citations, D. Nev.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Nevada. The court has locations in Las Vegas and Reno. Cases from the District of Nevada ...

, citing as

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one juris ...

s the principal, the assistant principal, and the school employee who turned off the sound system on McComb.

SADIES poster controversy

In February 2021, a picture of a white cheerleader attending Foothill holding a SADIES poster circulated online. The poster read, "If you went to SADIES w/ me it would take my BREATH away,” with an image of

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd had used a counterfeit tw ...

, a black man who died while being arrested by police officers, drawn onto the board. CCSD discussed and implemented an anti-racism policy as a result of this incident.

Assault on a teacher controversy

On April 20, 2022, an incident occurred at the school where a student locked the door and subsequently pulled a knife out of her pocket, before charging at the teacher with the weapon. The teacher was not injured using a chair as defense before the Clark County School District Police arrived on the scene. This and a similar assault at Eldorado High School prompted Superintendent Jesus F. Jara to advocate for panic buttons in each classroom.

Notable faculty

Lisa Cano Burkhead Lisa Cano Burkhead (born 1970/1971) is an American educator and politician who served as the 36th lieutenant governor of Nevada from 2021 to 2023. She was nominated by Governor Steve Sisolak to replace Kate Marshall in December 2021. Prior to ser ...

, principal (2015–2021) and 36th Lieutenant Governor of Nevada

Feeder schools

*James E & A Rae Smalley Elementary School *Marlan J. Walker Elementary School *Fay Galloway Elementary School *Gordon McCaw Elementary School *Ulis Newton Elementary School *Lorna J. Kesterson Elementary School *Neil C. Twitchell Elementary School *John C. Vanderburg Elementary School *B. Mahlon Brown Junior High School *Lyal Burkholder Middle School *Jack & Terry Mannion Middle School *Bob Miller Middle School

Notes and references

External links

Official website
{{authority control Buildings and structures in Henderson, Nevada Clark County School District Education in Henderson, Nevada Educational institutions established in 1999 High schools in Clark County, Nevada Public high schools in Nevada 1999 establishments in Nevada