Coronado High School
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Wow they tore down Coronado High and rebuilt it as a single building high school. I bet it was rebuilt as a single building with the police state in mind i.e.: it is easier to control the students if they are all in one building.
Coronado High School
Coronado’s new buildings debut There was a moment of stunned silence as a group of Coronado High School students walked into their school’s new administrative building Friday. Their next reactions came as they started to look around. “This is crazy!” “It’s too big!” “I think we’re going to get lost,” added junior Megan Blakey. About 15 student council members were the first students to set foot in the new academic and administrative buildings at Scottsdale’s Coronado High School, which is set to open Aug. 21. The Scottsdale Unified School District is spending $47.8 million to completely rebuild the campus, which opened in 1961, said district spokesman Keith Sterling. Construction should be completed by 2008. The students said the renovations were needed but they would miss the old campus, a series of red brick buildings. The new campus still features red brick, but those multiple buildings have been replaced by a single twostory structure that houses all the classrooms. An adjacent building will hold administrative offices. “I never thought Coronado High would have an elevator,” said junior Angelica Hermann. As the shock of seeing the new building wore off, the students seemed impressed by several features. There are floor-to-ceiling windows in the library and some of the corridors, several sills set into walls to house trophies and a grassy outdoor courtyard. The students also appreciated some of the smaller features, which became evident as Hermann examined the sidewalk near the courtyard. “There’s no gum out here, look at this!” Hermann said. While the academic building is finished, construction isn’t done at Coronado, said David Peterson, chief of facilities management for the district. One of the big projects this year will be building a cafeteria — the school will be without dining facilities for a year, and students instead will be served under giant tents in the courtyard. The locker rooms and main gym also are being rebuilt, so students will only have access to the auxiliary gym this year, Peterson said. And the old classrooms and administrative buildings are still being demolished. The new buildings were built on the old baseball and softball fields, and the new ballfield facilities will one day be where the old classrooms were, Peterson said. The district also will turn more of its attention to Arcadia High School this year, Peterson said. That school, which opened in 1959, is undergoing a $43.6 million renovation. Arcadia’s new fine arts and visual arts facility is ready, but construction hasn’t started on the classroom building, Peterson said. Coronado’s new buildings still need finishing touches before school starts. Electricians were working on parts of the building Friday, and the little furniture that had been moved in was mostly stacked against walls. “We’re going to be busy over the weekend,” principal John Beira said. The staff will make it a priority to keep some of the old traditions of Coronado alive, especially student involvement, he said. Some of those traditions have been incorporated into the new building. For instance, Hermann said she liked an outdoor amphitheater that features bricks with inscriptions from teachers and former students. “It kind of keeps some of the oldness here,” she said. While Hermann liked the campus, she said students would still miss the old school. “It was homey,” she said. “It was broken in.” “We’ll have to mess it up,” Blakey said. “In a good way,” she quickly added. Contact Amanda Keim by email, or phone (480) 970-2337
Coronado facilities not ready for practice Coronado coach B.J. Pasquel and his Dons got a nasty surprise when they assembled for their first practice Monday. There was no locker room, no training room or ice available, apparently no water and the field at the school was unplayable. Coronado is being rebuilt and looks more like a construction site than a school. Pasquel figured that meant his team would be in for a few inconveniences. He certainly didn't expect there wouldn't be water available or that the field would be rock hard because it had not been watered much over the summer. "There is no water for these kids, so coaches are buying water, bringing ice," Pasquel said. "I know there are two other high schools (Arcadia and Saguaro) in the Scottsdale school district that are under construction. They don't have these problems. "I'm not one of those guys to cry about stuff. You make the best of your situation, but we're getting shafted." Pasquel enlisted the help of his players' parents to bug the Scottsdale Unified School District about the problems. "Our kids did a very nice job of going home and talking to mom and dad," Pasquel said, "because this is like most districts, the louder the parents are.. . . More often than not our parents don't say two words, but they did and I'm glad they did. They called. They sent e-mails." Apparently, their cries were answered. Pasquel said sprinklers on the field were turned on Thursday morning. Dave Peterson, the chief of facilities and finance for the Scottsdale Unified School District, said the whole fiasco was due to miscommunication. Peterson said the water had to be turned off recently due to demolition but that the field still was watered by truck. As for locker rooms, Peterson said they should be open by next Monday. BASHA Chandler Basha is the only local 5A school playing 11 games this season. The Bears picked up Chandler Hamilton's game with Tucson High enabling Hamilton to play out of state in Ohio in mid-September. Schools playing 11 games must declare prior to their season opener which game won't count toward their 2006 power-point ranking. ‘‘We're still looking it over, debating it,’’ Basha coach Tim McBurney said. Ten games is the maximum that count toward computing power-point rankings. Basha's other opponents are Mesa Dobson, Phoenix North Canyon, Tucson Sunnyside, Yuma Cibola, Gilbert, Phoenix Mountain Pointe, Laveen Cesar Chavez, Tempe Marcos de Niza, Tempe Corona del Sol and Phoenix Desert Vista. Contact Brad Falduto by email, or phone (480) 898-2346. Contact Les Willsey by email, or phone (480) 898-6525. |
