Santa Maria High School (SMHS) is a public comprehensive

high 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 '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Santa Maria, California Santa Maria (Spanish language, Spanish for "Mary, mother of Jesus, St. Mary") is a city near the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California in northern Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County. It is approximately no ...

, United States. Located in the heart of the city, Santa Maria High School is the oldest school in the Santa Maria Valley and is part of the oldest high school district in California. The

Santa Maria Joint Union High School District Santa Maria Joint Union High School District (SMJUHSD) operates four high schools (Delta, Ernest Righetti, Santa Maria, and Pioneer Valley) located in Santa Maria, California. Currently, 7,800 students are enrolled in this district. History Pr ...

was founded on June 6, 1893. In 1996, SMHS was recognized as a

California Distinguished School California Distinguished School is an award given by the California State Board of Education to public schools within the state that best represent exemplary and quality educational programs. Approximately 5-10% of California schools are awarded t ...

History

Built originally on the corner of Broadway and Morrison in 1892, the original school house sat where the Ethel Pope Auditorium now stands. In 1920, the present school was built. The administration building and Ethel Pope Auditorium were connected and featured a bell tower. However, due to strict earthquake codes enforced after the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, portions of the school were condemned and demolished. The only original structures that remain are the Administration offices, the Auditorium, and the Choir, Science, Journalism, and English hall. One former SMHS faculty member of note is Dean of Girls Ethel Pope. The teacher started the school newspaper, ''The Breeze'', which first published in 1924 and is still active today. In 2007, Santa Maria High School became a closed campus, meaning that students are not allowed outside of school grounds for lunch. The school's new cafeteria now serves meals and is a gathering place for students at lunch. Santa Maria High School has remodeled and added on sections in recent years including a new library, pool, and cafeteria. Dave Boyd Field has also been renovated with a new synthetic turf and track, home stands and press box. The new stadium has been dedicated to longtime athletic director Ralph Baldiviez. On May 28, 2016, presidential candidate

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

held a campaign rally on campus at Dave Boyd Field.

Athletics

Santa Maria High School athletic teams are nicknamed the Saints, and its mascot is Sammy the Saint. Since 2018, the school has competed in the

Central Coast Athletic Association The Central Coast Athletic Association (CCAA) is a high school athletic conference in California that is affiliated with the CIF Central Section. The association was established in 2018 as the Central Coast Athletic Conference and consists of 16 sc ...

, a conference affiliated with the

CIF Central Section The California Interscholastic Federation—Central Section (CIF-CS) is the governing body of high school athletics in the central and southern portions of the San Joaquin Valley, the Eastern Sierra region, and as of the 2018/9 season, San Luis O ...

. Previously, SMHS was a long-time member of the

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...

(CIF-SS) and the

Los Padres League The Los Padres League was a high school athletic conference in California that was part of the CIF Southern Section (CIF-SS). Member schools were located in San Luis Obispo and northern Santa Barbara counties. The league was dissolved in 2018 afte ...

. Santa Maria has earned CIF-SS championships in football, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' water polo (1991), boys soccer (2005 Division IV), and boys baseball (2017 Division VI).

Awards

College Board The College Board is an American nonprofit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an association of colleges, it runs a ...

2004 Inspiration Award

Notable alumni

John Rudometkin John Rudometkin (June 6, 1940 – August 4, 2015) was an American professional basketball player, formerly of the New York Knicks and San Francisco Warriors in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected in the second round ...

, 1962

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

All-American and

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 *

Abel Maldonado Abel O. Maldonado Jr. (born August 21, 1967) is an American politician who served as the 48th lieutenant governor of California from April 27, 2010 to January 10, 2011. As of 2022, he is the last Republican to serve as lieutenant governor of C ...

, politician who served as 48th

Lieutenant Governor of California The lieutenant governor of California is the second highest executive officer of the government of the U.S. state of California. The lieutenant governor is elected to serve a four-year term and can serve a maximum of two terms. In addition to l ...

* Owen W. Siler, served as 15th

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

from 1974 to 1978. * Francisco Jiménez, author and

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

professor * Steve Patterson, NBA player for

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

, two-time NCAA champion with

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

* Devon Brock, Professional MMA Fighter

References

External links

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{{authority control High schools in Santa Barbara County, California Santa Maria, California Public high schools in California 1892 establishments in California