Hamilton High School (Chandler, Arizona)


Hamilton High School is a public high school in Chandler, Arizona, United States. It is Arizona's largest high school, with more than 4,100 students.

History

Hamilton's campus resides on land originally owned by the Hamilton family. Family patriarch John Augustus Hamilton helped found the city of Chandler serving as sheriff for all of what is now southeast Phoenix Metropolitan Area. According to the Chandler Museum and the Chandler Historical Society, Jerry Loper Field marks the location of the Hamilton family's store. The corner of Arizona Avenue/SR 87 and Ocotillo Boulevard was coined "Hamilton's Corner".
As the Phoenix area became more populated, Chandler High School was unable to handle the increasing educational needs. Voters in 1996 granted Chandler Unified School District a $33 million USD bond to purchase 359,341 ft2 property and awarded Stantec construction contract for the original Hamilton High School campus. Dr. Fred DePrez, Ph.EdD. was appointed principle and began staffing the school becoming operational in 1998 to 1,600 freshmen through junior level students.

Academics

Hamilton abides by the standards set by the Arizona Department of Education and implements the state's Education and Career Action Plan required for all students 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:
At Hamilton and all CUSD high school students may swap three semesters of Spiritline, Beginning through Advance Dance, Drill Team, Color Guard, Marching Band, Winter guard, or AFJROTC essentially waiving the required one Physical Education credit required for graduation.
Students which choose applied sciences in areas such as Applied Biology or Applied Agricultural Sciences gain equivalent Science credits. Likewise, Economics credits can be awarded like Agricultural Business Management, Business, Business Applications, Marketing, Economics Applications, Family and Consumer Sciences, and vocational courses.
Community college credits can be awarded through a partnership with Chandler-Gilbert Community College and cooperative credits for vocational courses are provided by East Valley Institute of Technology. Students must be dually enrolled for the Arizona community college or the Arizona public university system to accept the credits towards a degree. CUSD Transportation Department provides routes between Hamilton, EVIT, and CGCC with after school hours transportation intended for students participating in activities.
Separate from EVIT and CGCC, the University of Arizona implemented a pilot program to get university credits for students pursuing introductory engineering courses starting in 2014.

Accolades

The Arizona Education Foundation awarded its A+ School of Excellence award to Hamilton in 2005, 2009, and 2013. In 2014 it was the 15th highest scoring school on Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards tests and the top non-magnet school participating in the annual public school examination. The Presidential Excellence Award in Mathematics and Science was presented to Deborah Nipar in 2019 for her work as an AP Chemistry and Honors Science Research instructor, one of five recipients from Arizona.
Students have achieved many honors including: National Merit Honors, Western Governors Association's annual Spirit Award, honorable mentions for the Governor's Celebration of Innovation Award, and ASU Gammage High School Musical Theatre Awards.

Statistics

reports in 2019 a 95% graduation rate, 51% reading proficiency, 51% mathematics proficiency, 35% passed an AP examination, and 44% attempting an AP examination with an overall rating is 90.78/100. According to the report Hamilton ranked 15th in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, 23rd in the state of Arizona, and 1,590th nationally. Starting in 2019's Arizona Measurement for Educational Readiness to Inform Teachers, which replaced the Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards testing, indicating students were 88.6% prepared.
The same report says 22% are free lunch program participants, 3% are reduce-price lunch program, and 25% meet the qualifications of being economically disadvantaged.

Other events

Hamilton hosted the Breaking Barriers for Excellence Equity Symposium 2019 for improving student teacher relationships. The non-denominational Phoenix Church of Christ holds events on Wednesday nights and Sunday in the auditorium.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

Hamilton is an Arizona Interscholastic Association 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 sports under the AIA's 6A Conference. Hamilton Athletics consist of these sports:
Hamilton football has been ranked nationally several times peeking at #4 nationally by USA Today's Super25 poll when the state record 53-game win streak was broken in November 2011 by Desert Vista High School. The team has also traveled nationally and internationally playing some of the best teams. Starting in September 2006, Hamilton traveled to Massillon, OH to play Washington High School for the McDonald's Kirk Herbstreit Football Challenge losing 35-26. The 2008 team traveled to Miami, FL playing Booker T. Washington High School, a 37-19 win. Hamilton would host Las Vegas's #11 Bishop Gorman High School at Northern Arizona University's Walkup Skydome in 2014 for a 24-17 win ranked #16 before the game. The first out of state team playing at Hamilton's campus was Santa Fe High School out of Santa Fe Springs, CA during the 2009 season being shutout 52-0.
The 2012 season featured an invitation from the Global Ireland Football Tournament setup by University of Notre Dame and the US Navy Academy. The tournament placed Hamilton against perennial powerhouse Norte Dame High School traveled from Sherman Oaks, CA defeating Hamilton 27-15 at Parnell Park, in Dublin. The following season had Eastlake High School from Chula Vista, CA was hosted in Arizona losing 28-17. Hamilton returned to out of state play in 2018 traveling to Las Vegas's Arbor View High School winning 23-17. Arbor View High School would visited Hamilton the next year losing 41-7.
Hazing case
In 2017 an investigation into alleged hazing by members of the Hamilton football team became public. The investigation alleges several incidences starting in September 2015 that included sexual assault, assault, aggravated assault, molestation, kidnapping, and child abuse. Ultimately three students were charged, two as minors and one as an adult. CUSD reassigned the varsity football coach Steve Belles, the athletic director, and the principal off school campuses to the district offices in September 2017. Chandler Police Department investigators recommended child abuse and failure to report child abuse charges as the case became convoluted with video and audio evidence of witness tampering and victim intimidation. Maricopa County Attorney General Bill Montgomery later announce his office would not be seeking charges against the three administrators. Families of five alleged victims filed civil lawsuits against Chandler Unified School District and Hamilton administrators settling in 2019 for an undisclosed amount. The 2018 hiring of Mike Zbedski varsity head coach relieving interim head coach Dick Baniszewski and Belles resigned from CUSD for Juan Diego Catholic High School in Draper, Utah as a position coach. After 3 years of litigation, the sole student charged as an adult accepted a plea deal for a misdemeanor charge of aggravated assault where the sentence was credited as time served.

Varsity Baseball

The team has amassed 7 Arizona State Championship placing the school third behind St. David and Scottsdale Chaparral since 1985. In 2020, the team climbed from a preseason ranking of #4 to #1 in the nation by MaxPreps' Xcellent 25 prior to the closing of all public schools indefinitely because of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Varsity Boys Soccer

Varsity Softball

The varsity softball team has won back-to-back state titles in 2016 and 2017.

Boys Golf Team

The boys team has won the 2011 and 2019 National Championship at the Antigua National High School Golf Invitational. They have also won 5 consecutive championships for a total of 7 championships in AIA's ' also 7 players win 8 '.

Girls Golf Team

The girls team won the AIA's in 2019 and also had 4 players win the AIA's .

Rivalry

A rivalry developed between Hamilton and Chandler High School which are separated by 8 ½ miles of Arizona Avenue/SR 87. Local media has since daubed the high profile competition as the "Battle of Arizona Avenue". The annual varsity football match up gains the most attention where both teams are powerhouse programs, fan turnout can exceeded 20,000, and has been broadcast nationally by ESPN and the NFHS Network. Starting in 2015, the Chandler Rotary Club began giving the rivalry victor a trophy with a wooden base and a plaque with the year inscribed on it.

Campus

Hamilton was constructed by Stantec on a $33 million USD bond issued to CUSD on a 359,341 ft2 property on the northwest corner of Arizona Avenue/SR 87 and Ocotillo Boulevard. The main building is two stories tall with an administrative wing on the bottom floor next to the main entrance. Students have the option of eating indoors or in a shaded patio and food services with supporting facilities in offer students 6 styles of food.
The traditional classrooms are found in three 2-story wings in a square formation with classrooms on both sides of the hallways and one independent staircase per wing. The main corridor has two staircases and an elevator for disabled or injured students. Within D-wing's ground floor has a child care service called Lil' Express Learning Center open to faculty and students implementing the Arizona Department of Educations Early Childhood Education program. The Learning Center also has a walled off and covered playground on the north end of the campus. Also on the ground floor is the special education classrooms for developmentally challenged students with licensed speech, occupational, and physical therapists adhering to Title I.
All of the performing arts like concert band, orchestra, gymnastics, dance, and art are located on the southeast portion of the main building surrounding the 600 seat auditorium. Also locker rooms and a small wight lifting room surround the gym. In the northern parking lot are double wide mobile classrooms due to the large student population.
CUSD was granted a $192 million USD bond in November 2015 for district wide construction and updates. Hamilton was allocated $4.5 million for a two story building with a 20 classroom and additional administration offices 27,530 ft2 located on what was the original outdoor concrete basketball courts.

Sports facilities

The largest sports facility on the Hamilton property is Jerry Loper Field which host all football, soccer, track and field, and other events. The field's namesake is for the late Chandler High School football coach Jerry Loper who was killed by an impaired driver in 1996. Stands are available on the east and west side of the field with an initial capacity of 6,000 fans, however CUSD has installed temporary stands for high profile events like the "Battle of Arizona Ave". Within Jerry Loper Field are two field houses, the first was built during the construction of the school and the second is a $2.3 million USD 9,585 ft2 weightlifting facility for student athletics completed 2019. Concession stands, restrooms, and ticket facilities are also within the gates.
Dale Hancock Gymnasium inside the school is capable of seating 3,000 fans with collapsible stands on either side of the main basketball court which is sunk a few feet lower. The namesake is for the late CUSD Board of Education member Dale Hancock in 2011. The gymnasium houses several events including basketball, volleyball, badminton, pep-rallies, the Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair, and other events.
CUSD's Transportation Department closed its Hamilton Yard 2005 and placed new asphalt providing a practice area for the Hamilton Marching Band during the fall season and serves as an auxiliary parking for large events. The remaining original sports facilities are 4 baseball diamonds, 3 softball diamonds, and 2 practice football fields with auxiliary facilities like bathrooms and batting cages.

Public facilities

The City of Chandler has attached a branch of the Chandler Public Library system to the school and is open year around except national holidays. Also an aquatic center open during the summer months and hosts Hamilton Swim and Dive team in competitions.

Notable people

Faculty