Gilbert High School (GHS) is the oldest

public high school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

Gilbert, Arizona Gilbert is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located southeast of Phoenix within the city's metropolitan area. Incorporated on July 6, 1920, Gilbert was once known as the "Hay Shipping Capital of the World". It is the fifth-larg ...

, United States and is part of

Gilbert Public Schools Gilbert Unified School District #41 (GUSD), also known as Gilbert Public Schools (GPS), is a school district based in Gilbert, Arizona, United States in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The district is the 7th largest in Arizona, and serves over ...

. It opened in 1918 and celebrated its 100th graduating class in 2017. The school enrolled 2,051 students in 2018-19, grades 9– 12, and operates on a traditional school calendar. Gilbert's colors are Black and Gold and the teams are collectively called the Tigers. In 2017, Gilbert High School earned the A+ School of Excellence™ Award from the Arizona Educational Foundation. The school is a member of the

Arizona Interscholastic Association The Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) is one of two regulatory bodies for high school athletics and activities in the state of Arizona. It comprises all of the state's public district high schools (except Ajo High School, Beaver Dam High S ...

's 5A San Tan Athletics Conference and competes in Division I and II sports. Gilbert High School Marquee

History

On June 19, 1917, an election was held "for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a high school" in the recently formed Gilbert School District #41. Gilbert High School's first building opened in 1917. The first graduating class, consisting of 4 graduates, was in 1918. In the 1960s, Gilbert relocated to a new site where present day Mesquite Junior High School now stands. In 1987, the school moved to its current location. Gilbert High School's original site is now the district administration building. In 2017, Gilbert High celebrated its 100th graduating class, consisting of 600 students.

Demographics

As of 2018-19, there were 102 total teachers, principals, and other school leaders and 2,051 students currently enrolled at the school with enrollment listed at 100%. Of the 102 teachers, principals, and other school leaders, 85 (83.33%) are listed as having greater than 3 years experience in the field and 7 (6.86%) of 102 are listed as teaching out of the subject area in which they are certified. The racial makeup of the students, in 2018-19, was 3.31%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 3.56%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 28.77%

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

, 1.66% Native American, 0.88%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, and 59.09% White. The four-year graduation rate within the first 4 years of enrolling in high school was 88.89%. Graduation rates were broken down to: 85.28% Male, 92.36% Female, 80% African American, 86.36% Asian, 86.47% Hispanic, N/A% Native American, 90.7% White, 81.82% Multiple Races, 81.9% Low

SES SES, S.E.S., Ses and similar variants can refere to: Business and economics * Socioeconomic status * Scottish Economic Society, a learned society in Scotland * SES, callsign of the TV station SES/RTS (Mount Gambier, South Australia) * SES S.A., ...

, and 76.19%

Special Education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

. In 2015-2016, reports indicate 414 students were enrolled in at least one

advanced placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

course, 515 students with chronic absenteeism, 31 indents of violence and 2 students reported as harassed or bullied based on sex, race, color, national origin or disability.

Academics

Gilbert High School is said to offer "over 220 courses in 14 departments" including: Accelerated Learning,

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

and

Honors Honour (or honor in American English) is the quality of being honorable. Honor or Honour may also refer to: People * Honor (given name), a unisex given name * Brian Honour (born 1964), English footballer and manager * Gareth Honor (born 1979) ...

Curriculum, Comprehensive Core Curriculum, School-to-Work, Community College

Dual Credit In the United States, dual enrollment (DE), also called concurrent enrollment, programs allow students to be enrolled in two separate, academically related institutions. Generally, it refers to high school students taking college or university cours ...

Courses, ELL, On-Site

, and Vocational Career /Technological Education Programs. In 2017, Gilbert High School earned the A+ School of Excellence™ Award from the Arizona Educational Foundation. The award program is said to be "a comprehensive school assessment program that celebrates outstanding schools and brings to light the positive stories and successes happening in public schools every day". In the fiscal year 2019, the

Arizona Department of Education Arizona Department of Education (ADE) is a state-level department tasked in Arizona with oversight of public education from kindergarten to secondary school. The ADE is run by an elected Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. History Th ...

published an annual achievement profile for Gilbert High School resulting in a grade of "B" based on an A through F scale. Scores were based on "year to year student academic growth, proficiency on English language arts, math and science, the proficiency and academic growth of English language learners, indicators that an elementary student is ready for success in high school and that high school students are ready to succeed in a career or higher education and high school graduation rates". In 2020, the United States national nonprofit organization,

GreatSchools GreatSchools is an American national nonprofit organization that provides information about PK-12 schools and education. The website provides ratings and comparison tools based on student growth, college readiness, equity, and test scores for pu ...

, gives Gilbert High School a 5/10 (down from 7/10 in 2019) overall rating noting that students perform "average on state tests, have above average college readiness measures, and are making average year-over-year academic improvement. This school is said to have below average results in how well it’s serving disadvantaged and low income students. The organization gives Gilbert High School academic scores of 7/10 (down from 8/10 in 2019) for "college readiness", 5/10 (down from 7/10 in 2019) for standardized "test scores", and 5/10 (down from 6/10 in 2019) for "Academic progress". The school was also given equity scores of 2/10 (down from 5/10 in 2019) for "equity overview" (disadvantaged students are falling behind) and 3/10 for "low income students" (low-income kids are being left behind).

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

Gilbert High School is one of six high schools in the Arizona 5A San Tan Athletics Conference. In 2017, the boys soccer team won the 2017 Arizona championship and finished 6th in the nation. In 2019, the boys Basketball Varsity team won the 2018-19 5A State of Arizona Championship at

Desert Financial Arena Desert Financial Arena (formerly ASU Activity Center and Wells Fargo Arena) is a 14,198-seat multi-purpose arena located at 600 E Veterans Way in Tempe, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. It sits immediately east of Sun Devil Stadium on the northern e ...

. and finished with a 29-1 record. State championships for the Tigers in sports include the following: *Boys' baseball: 1966, 1977, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1991 *Boys' basketball: 1962, 1985, 2003, and 2019 *Girls' basketball: 1984, 1986, 1991, and 1992 *Girls' cross country: 1992 *Boys' cross country: 2020 *Boys' football: 1973, 1975, 1978, and 1985 *Girls' golf: 1996 *Boys' soccer: 2004 and 2017 *Boys' track and field: 1927, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1971, 1972, 1983, 1984, and 1985 *Girls' track and field: 1983 and 1990 *Boys' volleyball: 2012 *Girls' volleyball: 1972, 1995, 2003, 2006, and 2011 *Boys' wrestling: 1985 and 1993

Band

Gilbert Band finished first in the 2018 Band State Championship Division 5. The band program is one of the top programs in the state, having their marching band, the Gilbert Tiger Pride, finish top 10 the past 6 years in Arizona and fourth place during the 2016 season. Other programs include the Gilbert Indoor Percussion and the Gilbert Black Guard. These programs both finished 2nd in Arizona during the 2017 season. During the 2018 season, both guard and drumline made it to finals for the western regional competition in California and placed 1st in the state of Arizona at WGAZ championships. The indoor percussion received first place in Arizona recently in 2014 and 2016, along with a 4th-place finish at the WGI World Championships in 2014.

Clubs and Activities

Gilbert High School Air Force Junior ROTC AZ-941 placed first in the

JROTC The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC -- commonly pronounced "JAY-rotsee") is a federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools across the United States and at US military ...

Desert Classic Drill Competition State Championship in 2019. * Air Force Junior ROTC AZ-941 * Art Club * Asian Culture Club * AVID * Band * Baseball * Basketball (Boys) * Choir Club * Clay Club * Community Service Club * Cross Country (Boys/Girls) * Culinary Club/ Hero FCCLA * Culture Club * Dance *

FCCLA Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA, formerly known as Future Homemakers of America) is a nonprofit national career and technical student organization for young men and women in Family and Consumer Sciences education in public ...

- TOYBOX * Fashion Club * Future Educators/Educators Rising *

Future Farmers of America National FFA Organization is an American 501(c)(3) youth organization, specifically a career and technical student organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. It was founded in 1925 at Vi ...

(FFA) Club *

Gay Straight Alliance ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

(GSA) * Golf (Boys) * Golf (Girls) * Goon Squad * HERO

* Japan club * Jokerfish * Marching Band * Math Club * Metals-Jewelry Club * National History Honor Society *

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

* Orchestra * Photo Club * Psychology Club * Science National Honor Society * Skills USA * Soccer (Boys) * Speech and Debate * Sports Medicine Club * Student Council * Tennis (Boys) * Tennis (Girls) * Gilbert Theater Ensemble * Tiger Buddies * Tiger Crew * Tiger Town * Tigers For Our Lives * Track * Yearbook Club *

Young Democratic Socialists of America The Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) is the youth section of the Democratic Socialists of America. The organization was known as Young Democratic Socialists (YDS) until 2017. History Formerly known as the Democratic Socialists o ...

(YDSA) * Youth Training Program (YTP)

Awards

* In 2017, Gilbert High School earned the A+ School of Excellence™ Award from the Arizona Educational Foundation. As of spring 2019, thirteen Gilbert Public Schools have earned the award. * In 2018, the Gilbert Tiger was awarded "Best Mascot" and the campus preschool was awarded "Best Preschool Program" in the ''Best of Gilbert 2018'' issue of the

East Valley Tribune The ''East Valley Tribune'' is a newspaper concentrated on cities within the East Valley region of metropolitan Phoenix, including Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek. Formerly a daily newspaper, the ''Tribune'' resulted from t ...

Notable alumni

Haley Cavinder Haley Cavinder is an American Internet celebrity, social media personality and college basketball player for the Miami Hurricanes women's basketball, Miami Hurricanes of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). She began her college career at Fresno ...

, social media personality and college basketball player * Alan Gordon, soccer player * D. J. Peterson, baseball player * Dustin Peterson, baseball player *

Dennis Sarfate Dennis Scott Sarfate (born April 9, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, and Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, Saitama Seibu L ...

, baseball player *

Stephen Tarpley Stephen Nicholas Tarpley (born February 17, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He made his MLB debut in 2018 for the New York Yankees and has also played ...

, baseball pitcher *

Ryan Toolson Ryan Toolson (born March 21, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Baxi Manresa of the Liga ACB. Standing at , he plays at the shooting guard position. Professional career In June 2013, Toolson signed a one- ...

, basketball player * Rick Woolstenhulme Jr., drummer

In popular media

Student Navey Baker was featured in the October 4, 2013 episode of NPR show ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internation ...

'' for her role as the Gilbert High Tiger mascot. She was also featured on the second season of the

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

original

documentary series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

, '' Behind the Mask''. Gilbert High School senior Samantha LaMay made the transformation from lacrosse-playing tomboy to stylish girly girl on the season premiere of MTV’s "

Made Made or MADE may refer to: Entertainment Film * ''Made'' (1972 film), United Kingdom * ''Made'' (2001 film), United States Music * ''Made'' (Big Bang album), 2016 * ''Made'' (Hawk Nelson album), 2013 * ''Made'' (Scarface album), 2007 *'' M.A.D.E. ...

" in 2005.Gilbert High Student Gets all Girly on MTV show
''Get Out''. June 14, 2005

References

External links

High School website

Gilbert Band Program
{{authority control Education in Gilbert, Arizona Educational institutions established in 1918 Public high schools in Arizona Schools in Maricopa County, Arizona 1917 establishments in Arizona