Perry High School (Gilbert, Arizona)

History

The school's design was based on the layout of Basha High School, another school in the Chandler Unified School District, with an additional "F" building built exclusively for Career and Technical Education (CTE) classes in the same place as the "H" building in Basha High School. In 2019, an additional "C" building was constructed on the east side of the campus for English and World Languages classes.

Academics

Perry abides by the standards set by the Arizona Department of Education and implements the state's Education and Career Action Plan (ECAP) required for all 9-12 grade students to graduate from a public Arizona high school. CUSD high schools also implements an open enrollment policy, meaning students from outside the intended school boundaries may attend without tuition or other penalties.

Arizona requires that all high school students take 6 credit bearing courses during their freshmen through junior years, and have the option of reducing credits to 4 credit bearing courses if they are track for graduation. However, CUSD requires all students must complete 22 credits whereas the public university system controlled by the Arizona Board of Regents requires only 16 credits in the following areas:

• English - 4 credits
• Mathematics - 4 credits
• Science - 3 credits
• Social Studies. - 3 credits
• Career and Technical Educator/Fine Arts - 1 credit
• Physical Education - 1 credit
• Comprehensive Health - ½ credits
• Elective Courses - 5 ½ credits

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

Perry is an Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) member school offering boys and girls sports complying with Title IX. Student athletes can participate in varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen only teams as well as individual athletics in:

• Badminton
• Baseball
• Basketball (Boys)
• Basketball (Girls)
• Beach Volleyball (Girls)
• Cheer
• Cross Country
• Football
• Flag Football (Girls)
• Golf (Boys)
• Golf (Girls)
• Pomline
• Soccer (Boys)
• Soccer (Girls)
• Softball
• Swim and Dive
• Tennis (Boys)
• Tennis (Girls)
• Track and field
• Volleyball (Boys)
• Volleyball (Girls)
• Wrestling

Fine Arts Department

In the fall of 2014, the Perry High School department was invited to perform their production of The Addams Family at the Arizona Thespians State Conference, where they were also awarded for other achievements. In 2015, their production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee was chosen as Arizona's chapter select at the International Thespian Festival. In 2017, their spring production of Mary Poppins was also awarded Best Overall Production at the ASU Gammage High School Musical Theatre Awards. Additionally, they were named A.I.A. state champions of the Central Region for seven consecutive years until 2019, when the Arizona Thespian Society discontinued its competitive ranking system.

Perry’s marching band has repeatedly earned high scores at competitions around the state.

Perry High also has a choir who in 2011 sang at Carnegie Hall in New York City, as well as an Orchestra who played there in 2015, earning first place at the event.

Campus

Library

When Hamilton High School and Basha High School were built, the city of Chandler incorporated branch libraries into those sites. Perry is within Gilbert town limits, and so the Chandler Unified School District worked to incorporate a Maricopa County Library District branch into the site. The Perry Branch Library opened in June 2007. It was the first public library located in a high school in Gilbert, and the first public library in the nation to not use the Dewey Decimal System, opting instead for a bookstore-like system that places non-fiction books into categories based on subject. This change brought national attention to the library and provoked debate about the effectiveness of the Dewey Decimal System.

The county library is the second to be integrated inside a high school, after the library at Boulder Creek High School in Anthem, which also features a Maricopa County regional library

Notable alumni

• Jordan Howard (2014), professional basketball player
• James Rallison (2014), YouTuber with 20 million subscribers
• Markus Howard (2016 - transferred), NBA player
• Trevor Hauver (2017), baseball player in the Texas Rangers organization
• Cristian Zendejas (2017), former Arizona State Sun Devils kicker
• Brock Purdy (2018), NFL Pro Bowl quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers
• Jalen Williams (2019), NBA All Star forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder
• Chubba Purdy (2020), Nevada Wolf Pack quarterback
• Madison Conner (2021), college basketball player
• Cody Williams (2023), basketball player for the Utah Jazz
• Koa Peat (2025), five-star recruit basketball player

References

References

1. "Perry High School". National Center for Education Statistics.
2. "Perry High School".
3. Campbell, Sarah. "Construction on F-building nearing completion".
4. "ECAP / Overview".
5. "ECAP / Grade Level ECAP Instructions".
6. (2019). "2019 – 2020 Course Description Catalog: Grades 9-12". Chandler Unified School District.
7. "Parent Resources / School Boundaries".
8. Chung, Morgan. "Choirs perform in iconic Carnegie Hall".
9. "Perry Library - Maricopa County Library District".
10. (July 14, 2007). "Dewey? At This Library With a Very Different Outlook, They Don't".
11. (July 20, 2007). "A Library Does Away with Dewey".
12. Whelen, Debra. (September 11, 2007). "Students Not Fazed by Dewey-less Library in Arizona".
13. LaVallee, Andrew. (July 20, 2007). "Discord Over Dewey".
14. "Jordan Howard - 2017-18 - Men's Basketball".
15. "James Rallison: Alumni taking self-made illustrative success to the internet".
16. Obert, Richard. "Perry guard Markus Howard decommits from ASU".
17. "#10 Trevor Hauver". pointstreak.com.
18. "Cristian Zendejas, Arizona State Sun Devils, Kicker".
19. "San Francisco 49ers Draft Tracker".
20. (June 24, 2022). "Former Perry standout Jalen Williams taken by Oklahoma City Thunder with 12th pick in NBA Draft".
21. "Chubba Purdy's Perry High School Career Home".
22. Macke, Johnni. (2024-03-10). "49ers Quarterback Brock Purdy’s Family Guide: His Wife, Parents".
23. "Madison Conner College Stats".
24. "Cody Williams - Men's Basketball".
25. "Koa Peat, Perry , Power Forward".