Coronado High School (California)

History

Coronado High School was established in 1913. In 1939, the original building was knocked down and rebuilt as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration. 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 operation.

In 2008, the school was named a National Blue Ribbon School. 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 the USNews list of "Best High Schools", out of more than 27,000 public high schools. It was awarded the New American High Schools designation in 1998. It offers Advanced Placement 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 waterpolo team for the 2008 Olympics.

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 during a victory celebration after the championship game. The move, which had previously been condemned by the League of United Latin American Citizens, 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 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 – water polo player, 2004, 2008 & 2012 Olympics
• Lisa Bruce – film producer, The Theory of Everything (2014 film)
• Don Davis – Florida politician
• Ken Huff – former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League.
• Genai Kerr – water polo player, 2004 Olympics
• James Maslow - 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 astronaut
• Nick Reynolds – founding member of The Kingston Trio
• Jesse Smith – Olympic water polo player, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 & 2020
• David Young – radio producer, director and actor

References

References

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2. "Celebrating 25 Years of Educating Emerging Artists {{!}} Coronado School of the Arts".
3. "California Distinguished Schools Awardees 2011 - California Distinguished Schools Program (CA Dept of Education)".
4. "Model Continuation High Schools for 2014 - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)".
5. "Announcing 2018 Model Continuation High Schools - Year 2018 (CA Dept of Education)".
6. "Schools (Coronado)". Navy Life SW, official US Navy site.
7. "Coronado High School History 5/18/20 {{!}} Coronado Historical Association".
8. Nazaryan, Alexander. (2013-08-13). "'Coronado High,' a Tale of the Student Surfer-Smugglers of Southern California".
9. Lipkin, Maureen Cavanaugh, Michael. (May 2017). "The Coronado Surfers Who Created A $100 Million Drug Ring".
10. "National Blue Ribbon Schools Recognized 1982-2018 -- November 27, 2018 (PDF)".
11. "Coronado High School in Coronado, CA - US News Best High Schools".
12. [[New American High Schools]]
13. Williams, Dana. (2023-08-28). "Coronado High School welcomes girls on their football roster".
14. "David A. Blumenthal Sports Complex Coronado High School".
15. McDonald, Nina. (July 3, 2008). "Aquatics Complex Programs Offer Something For Everyone".
16. (2021-07-01). "CIF revokes Coronado High School championship win following tortilla incident".
17. (2021-07-01). "California school stripped of title over tortilla incident".
18. Aere, Alexander Nguyen, Jacob. (30 June 2021). "CIF Vacates Coronado High Regional Championship Over Tortilla-Throwing Incident".
19. (2021-06-22). "Civil rights group calls for employees to be fired after Coronado High tortilla incident".
20. Saunders, Mark. (2021-06-29). "County Human Relations Commission votes on response to Coronado tortilla throwing".
21. Mendoza, Jordan. "California school district apologizes for 'racism, classism' after tortilla-throwing incident".
22. News, A. B. C.. (2021-06-23). "High school basketball coach fired after tortilla-throwing incident".
23. Diaz, Johnny. (2021-06-23). "Basketball Coach Is Fired After Students Toss Tortillas at Rivals". The New York Times.
24. (2021-06-23). "Coronado Resident Admits to Buying and Distributing Tortillas - Answers Questions".
25. KABC. (2021-06-27). "Man who brought tortillas used to taunt Latino high school in SoCal says there was no racial intent".
26. (2018-04-12). "Throwing Tortillas".
27. McGlone, Ashley. (2020-08-18). "'Educate, Not Indoctrinate': Anti-Racism Push in Coronado Schools Fuels Backlash".
28. (2021-07-06). "Coronado Unified Votes to Appeal CIF Ruling in Wake of Postgame Tortilla-Throwing Incident".
29. Page, Eric S.. (2021-06-26). "District Has Seen No Justification to Forfeit Game Following Tortilla-Throwing: Coronado Superintendent".
30. (2012-12-30). "Olympian Layne Beaubien Shares His Story of Perseverance at Gensler Group Symposium Jan. 8th".
31. Selgi-Harrigan, Alessandra. (January 8, 2015). "Lisa Bruce Produces "The Theory Of Everything"".
32. "Don Davis obituary".
33. "Ken Huff obituary".
34. Brian, Bent. (2003-11-03). "1995 Coronado High Grad Genai Kerr Keeps On Pace For The 2004 Olympics".
35. Butler, Sarah. (2019-07-26). "The lowdown on James Maslow".
36. Selgi-Harrigan, Alessandra. (2017-11-13). "Coronado Native Lou Niles Has Big Influence In The Music World".
37. (2015-09-04). "Karlyn Pipes Inducted Into ISHOF Class Of 2015".
38. Roth, Beth Ford. (2 July 2012). "Ex-Astronaut And Coronado Native Alan Poindexer Killed In Jet Ski Accident".
39. Grimes, William. (2008-10-02). "Nick Reynolds, Kingston Trio Harmonizer, Dies at 75". The New York Times.
40. "Jesse Smith - Men's Senior National Team".
41. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-diego-sun/147578488/ "Ends Dramatic Course"]. ''The San Diego Sun''. June 22, 1931. p. 3. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
42. [https://www.newspapers.com/image/689509509/?clipping_id=147609979 "David Young Given Award for Achievement in Radio"]. ''Los Angeles Daily News''. June 11, 1949. p. 10-B. Retrieved May 22, 2024.