Coronado High School (CHS) is a

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 sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

high 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., ...

Coronado, California Coronado (Spanish language, Spanish for "Crowned") is a resort town, resort city in San Diego County, California, United States, across San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. It was founded in the 1880s and incorporated in 1890. Its population ...

. It is the only high school in the Coronado Unified School District. The Coronado School of the Arts (CoSA) is located on the campus of CHS. The

California Department of Education The California Department of Education is an agency within the government of California that oversees public education. The department oversees funding and testing, and holds local educational agencies accountable for student achievement. Its s ...

gave it 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 awarde ...

award in 2011 and two Model Continuation High School awards in 2014 and 2018. The boundary includes

Naval Amphibious Base Coronado Naval Amphibious Base Coronado (NAB Coronado) is a US naval installation in San Diego, California. The base, situated on Silver Strand between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, is a major United States Navy shore command, supporting over 30 t ...

and

Naval Air Station North Island Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (N ...

History

Coronado High School was established in 1913. In 1939, the original building was knocked down and rebuilt as part of

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

. It was renovated again in 1961 and 2006. In the 1970's, a group of students led by former Spanish teacher Lou Villar developed what became a $100-million dollar worldwide

drug smuggling The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types ...

operation. In 2008, the school was named a

National Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

. CHS was the only school in San Diego County to win the award. In 2016, CHS was ranked 433rd nationally and 70th amongst California high schools in th
USNews
list of "Best High Schools", out of more than 27,000 public high schools. It was awarded the

New American High Schools The New American High Schools initiative, started in 1996 under the direction of the United States Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, is a national recognition program for United States secondary schools. Description In 1996, 1998, 1999, ...

designation in 1998. It offers

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

Classes. In 2023, the football team added girls to the roster for the first time.

Sports

Coronado Sports, with the exception of Water Polo, Swimming, Tennis, Volleyball, Golf, Basketball, Cross Country, Baseball, and Softball are played at Niedermeyer Field which was completed in 2000. The Field, which hosts Football, Boys and Girls Soccer, and Boys and Girls Lacrosse was upgraded to field turf in 2005. The campus includes an aquatics complex named the Brian Bent Memorial Aquatics Complex., Three Coronado High School graduates played on the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

waterpolo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with more ...

team for the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

. In 1996, Adrian Taufaasau, a Coronado High quarterback, was tackled in a game and suffered what later was termed blunt force trauma to his head and neck, dying two days later. In 2007, Tennis Coach and Teacher Robbin Adair coached the Islanders to his 1,000th win.

Tortilla throwing incident

On June 20, 2021, the boys' basketball team forfeited the CIF Division 4A Regional Basketball Championship after members of the team threw tortillas at their predominantly Latino opponents from

Orange Glen High School Orange Glen High School (OGHS) is one of the five public high schools in the Escondido Union School District in Escondido, California. It was established in 1962. The school earned the California Distinguished School Award in 2007. In the 2 ...

during a victory celebration after the championship game. The move, which had previously been condemned by the

League of United Latin American Citizens The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the largest and oldest Hispanic and Latin-American civil rights organization in the United States. It was established on February 17, 1929, in Corpus Christi, Texas, largely by Hispanic and ...

, prompted an investigation by the San Diego County’s Human Relations Commission. The Coronado Unified School District apologized for "racism and classism" and fired head coach J.D. Laaperi over the incident. A 40-year-old alumni of the school who had no children of his own on the team or at the school claimed that he distributed the tortillas to team members and cheerleaders because tortilla throwing was a tradition at

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joined ...

where he and Laaperi attended at the same time. The UCSB Alumni Association has said tortilla throwing has had to be banned because of game interruptions and "associations with racist ideology." This followed an effort in 2020 to ensure that the school districts curriculum not be updated to include a focus on racial justice. On July 6, the school board voted to "initiate litigation" thereby "enabling the Superintendent to enter the appeal process within the 15 day window," claiming their independent investigation "found no evidence warranting forfeiture of the title."

Notable graduates

Layne Beaubien Ronald Layne Beaubien (born July 4, 1976) is an American water polo player. He was a member of the United States men's national water polo team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the championship game, the USA team won the silver medal, after defea ...

–

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player, 2004, 2008 & 2012 Olympics * Lisa Bruce – film producer, ''

The Theory of Everything (2014 film) ''The Theory of Everything'' is a 2014 British biographical drama film produced by Working Title Films and directed by James Marsh. Set at the University of Cambridge, it details the three decades of the life of the theoretical physicist Steph ...

'' * Don Davis – Florida politician * Ken Huff – former

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

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. *

Genai Kerr Genai Kerr is an American water polo player. He is a member of the United States men's national water polo team and played in the 2004 Athens Olympics.water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player, 2004 Olympics *

James Maslow James David Maslow (born July 16, 1990) is an American actor, singer, dancer and model. He played the role of James Diamond on Nickelodeon's ''Big Time Rush'', had roles in ''The Frozen Ground'' and '' Seeds of Yesterday'', and is a member of the ...

- actor, dancer, model, singer * Celina Mikolajczak – battery engineer and amateur astronomer * Lou Niles – radio host of 91X and executive director of Oceanside International Film Festival * Karlyn Pipes - decorated Masters-level swimmer and author * Alan G. Poindexter –

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

Nick Reynolds Nicholas Wells Reynolds (July 27, 1933 – October 1, 2008) was an American folk musician and recording artist. Reynolds was one of the founding members of The Kingston Trio, whose folk and folk-style material captured international attention du ...

– founding member of

The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

* Jesse Smith – Olympic

player, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 & 2020 *

William Witney William Nuelsen Witney (May 15, 1915 – March 17, 2002) was an American film director, film and television director. He is best remembered for the action films he made for Republic Pictures, particularly serial film, serials: ''Dick Tracy Return ...

– movie director * David Young – radio producer, director and actor"David Young Given Award for Achievement in Radio"
''Los Angeles Daily News''. June 11, 1949. p. 10-B. Retrieved May 22, 2024.

References

External links

Coronado High School - Home
{{authority control High schools in San Diego County, California Coronado, California International Baccalaureate schools in California Public high schools in California Educational institutions established in 1913 1913 establishments in California es:Coronado High School