Highland High School is a high school in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, that opened in 1956 and has a student body of 1,546. It is located at 2166 South 1700 East, next to

Sugar House Park Sugar House Park, also known as Sugarhouse Park, is located between I-80, 2100 South, 1300 East, and 1700 East in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The park is at the heart of the Sugar House neighborhood. ...

, and is part of the

Salt Lake City School District The Salt Lake City School District (SLCSD) is the oldest public school district in Utah. Boundaries for the district are identical to the city limits for Salt Lake City. Employing about 1,300 teachers who instruct about 25,000 students K-12, the ...

. The current principal is Jeremy Chatterton.

Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts

During the 2006–2007 school year, Highland began hosting a school known as the Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts (SPA). It offers programs in music, digital media, theater, tech, and dance, as well as 3500 to 4000 seat

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

. However, the balcony seats have been made into science labs and rooms. Enrollment is expected to reach its maximum of 400 within thirteen years. Starting in August 2011, SPA classes were held in a separate building, the former Rosslyn Heights elementary school building, with the students being bussed to Highland for their core classes.

Rugby team

Highland High School is noted for its

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team. Under coach

Larry Gelwix Larry Gelwix (born in Oakland, California) has been the coach of the Highland Rugby team since its founding in Salt Lake City in 1976. The movie '' Forever Strong'' (2008) was inspired by him and his team's history. The Highland rugby team has c ...

, who started the team in 1976 and continued coaching until retirement in 2011, they compiled a phenomenal 418–10 record. It won the national high school championship in 20 of the 27 years under his reign (beginning with the championship's creation in 1985) and in that time span never placed lower than third, which it has achieved just once. It is also the only team to have participated in every national rugby championship. In 1998, Highland participated in the first World Schools Rugby Championship held in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. They were the only team from the

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included and placed 3rd out of 12 teams. Many successful football players have passed through this program, including 5-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

defensive lineman

Haloti Ngata Etuini Haloti Ngata (; born January 21, 1984) is a former American football defensive tackle. He played college football for the University of Oregon and earned consensus All-American honors. Ngata was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fi ...

. Following Gelwixes' retirement, the team went on hiatus for one year. In the spring of 2013, Mark Numbers, a Highland High School alumnus and former head coach of the University of Utah men's rugby team, became the team's head coach. Different from its former history, the rugby team at Highland now draws its players only from the Highland student body. As youth rugby in the United States continues to shift from national, club‐based competition to state‐based, single‐school competition, Highland Rugby has adopted the single‐school model. The movie ''

Forever Strong ''Forever Strong'' is a 2008 American sports drama film directed by Ryan Little, written by David Pliler and released on September 26, 2008. The film stars Sean Faris, Gary Cole, Neal McDonough, Sean Astin, Penn Badgley and Arielle Kebbel. The f ...

'', filmed locally and released in 2008, was based on the accomplishments of the Highland rugby team.

Noted alumni

Marv Bateman Marvin Fredrick Bateman (born April 5, 1950) is a former American football punter in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills. He played college football at the University of Utah. Early years Bateman attended Hi ...

– former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

punter for the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

(Utah's only two-time First Team All American),

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

– NFL

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...

in 1976, and

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– former NFL outside linebacker for the

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, and

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

Peter Breinholt Peter Breinholtis a recording artist in the Salt Lake City, Utah local music scene. Breinholt spent the first ten years of his life in Devon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, where his father Robert H. Breinholt taught at the Wharton Sch ...

– singer/songwriter * Mark W. Fuller – President and CEO of

WET Design WET, also known as WET Design, is a water feature design firm based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1983 by former Disney Walt Disney Imagineering, Imagineers Mark Fuller (designer), Mark Fuller, Melanie Simon, and Alan Robinson, the compa ...

* Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. – former

Governor of Utah A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and 2012 Republican presidential candidate * Jason Todd Ipson – writer, producer, director, surgeon; best known for directing the films ''

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'' and '' Everybody Wants to be Italian'' *

Jeff Judkins Jeff Reed Judkins (born March 23, 1956) is a retired American professional basketball player and coach. He coached the Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars women's basketball team from 2001 to 2022, after serving as their assistant coach in 2000 ...

– former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player for

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

, and

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; current head coach for

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

David LaFlamme David LaFlamme (born May 4, 1941 in New Britain, Connecticut) is an American singer and violinist best known for his longstanding association with the San Francisco band It's a Beautiful Day. LaFlamme's mother was from a Mormon family in Salt La ...

(née Gary Posie) - violinist/songwriter, notably with the band

It's a Beautiful Day It's a Beautiful Day is an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1967, featuring vocalist Pattie Santos along with violinist David LaFlamme and his wife, Linda LaFlamme, on keyboards. David LaFlamme, who as a youth had once p ...

Roberto Linck Roberto Moreira Linck Junior (born 31 July 1988 in Cachoeira do Sul), nicknamed Betu, is a Brazilian-born American footballer and filmmaker. He is the owner of Linck Group and Miami Dade FC. Youth and college Linck grew up playing in the yout ...

– professional soccer player for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

; owner of professional soccer team

Miami Dade FC Miami Dade FC is an American soccer team based in Miami, Florida. The club was founded in 2014 and is currently competing in United Premier Soccer League. In November 2015, the club made international headlines by announcing that former Brazil ...

; founder of Ginga Scout *

Alexander Magleby Alexander Magleby (born February 19, 1978) is the CEO of the professional rugby union team, The New England Free Jacks. He is a former professional rugby union coach, and former United States national team player and captain. Playing career Mag ...

– US national rugby team former player, captain, head coach; multiple national and Ivy League championships as head coach of

Dartmouth Rugby The Dartmouth Rugby Football Club (or Dartmouth Rugby) is the men's college rugby team of Dartmouth College. The student-run club was founded in 1951, and competes in the Ivy Rugby Conference against its traditional Ivy League rivals. Current hea ...

* Marcus Mailei – former NFL fullback * Bryan Mone – NFL

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

Steven Sharp Nelson Steven Sharp Nelson (born July 5, 1977) is an American cellist. He is best known as "The Cello Guy" of the classical new-age musical group The Piano Guys, with whom he has released eight number-one albums and dozens of music videos. He also has ...

– cellist *

– former NFL All-Pro

* Nate Orchard – NFL

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Morgan Scalley Morgan Scalley (born October 8, 1979) is an American football coach who is currently the defensive coordinator at the University of Utah. He also played high school football in Salt Lake City at Highland High School and college football at Utah, ...

- Defensive Coordinator for

Utah Utes Football The Utah Utes football program is a Power 5 Conference college football team that competes in the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12) of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I and represents the University of Utah. The Utah college football ...

* Jon Schmidt – New Age pianist and composer *

Logan Tom Logan Maile Lei Tom (born May 25, 1981) was an American indoor volleyball, beach volleyball player, and is current head coach of the Israel women's national volleyball team. She is a four-time Olympian at the outside hitter position. At age 19, ...

– Olympic indoor volleyball and professional beach volleyball player *

Terry Tempest Williams Terry Tempest Williams (born 8 September 1955), is an American writer, educator, conservationist, and activist. Williams' writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of Utah. Her work foc ...

– author best known for ''Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place.'' *

Fish Smithson Anthony “Fish” Smithson (born March 18, 1994) is a former American football free safety. He played college football at the University of Kansas. He was signed by the Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent in 2017. He also played for ...

- former NFL

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

* Bob Nilsen - formerly president of Burger King and, now co-owner of Cafe Rio restaurants.

References

{{authority control Public high schools in Utah Schools in Salt Lake City International Baccalaureate schools in Utah Educational institutions established in 1956 1956 establishments in Utah