Española Valley High School

Española Valley High School
Address
1111 El Llano Road Española, New Mexico 87532 United States
Coordinates	36°00′27″N 106°02′20″W / 36.0074°N 106.0390°W / 36.0074; -106.0390Coordinates: 36°00′27″N 106°02′20″W / 36.0074°N 106.0390°W / 36.0074; -106.0390
Information
School type	Public, High School
Founded	1920 (1920), 1975 (1975)
Principal	Elizabeth Lucero
Enrollment	1,240 (2012–13)
Color(s)	Crimson and      Gold
Mascot	Sundevil
Newspaper	Sundevil Torch
Yearbook	El Diablo del Sol
Website	EVHS Website

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Española Valley High School.

Española Valley High School (EVHS) is a Title-1 public senior high school of the Española Public Schools District, located in Española, New Mexico.^[1][2] Nearly 3/4ths of the student body is made up of Hispanic students, EVHS is also known for recent academic improvements and i's AAAA boys' basketball program.^[3] The school's once nationally renowned marching band appeared in the 1984 Tournament of Roses Parade.^[4]

The school is located in the city limits in Fairview, a small suburb community in the southern part of Rio Arriba County. EVHS also serves the communities of Alcalde, Velarde as well as the northern part of Santa Fe County, including Chimayo, Santa Cruz, and Sombrillo. EVHS also attracts commuter students from other school districts and neighboring towns such as Dixon, Pojoaque and Santa Fe. For 2012–13, the student enrollment is 1,240 students.

The Mascot of EVHS is a "Sun Devil". However, the school refers to it as one word, Sundevils.^[5]

Espanola Valley High School is scheduled for reconstruction starting in 2017.

History

Main entrance of EVHS

Española was founded with the introduction of the railroads in 1880;^[6] with the railroads came an influx in population, private education existed until 1905, when the county saw a demand for public education. Two high schools opened, Santa Cruz High School just right out outside of Española in 1908, and Española High School opened in downtown in 1920. The schools were located on opposite sides of the Rio Grande.

Although both schools were operated by the same school district, administrators believed merger of schools was cost effective and the best decision for the town. Months later construction of EVHS school began, the location for the new school was on the El Llano mesa, on Española's east side. Doors opened to 10–12th graders in the fall semester of 1975 to over 950 students. The first graduating class was 1976, Merce Villareal was the first principal.^[7]

While the new campus was under construction sporting events remained at the old Española High School due to a of a lack of funds. In 1979 a new sports complex was finally complete at the new high school campus along with the gymnasium, known today as Edward Medina Gymnasium.^[8]

Academics

Lobby and commons area

At Espanola Valley High School, Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered at EVHS in almost every subject.^[9] There are over 27 elective classes offered to students including concurrent enrollment at Northern New Mexico College.^[10]

Students of EVHS are on an individualized four–year otherwise known as the "Next–Step plan" due to standards-based curriculum set up by the district and state. Since 2011, a student is required 24 credit hours to graduate from EVHS, previously only 23 were needed.

Awards

Torch award

EVHS Students who have earned a 3.5 GPA yearly and involved in extracurricular activities (including athletics), can apply and are considered for the award. The Torch award is the most prestigious honorary award of its kind at EVHS. The award was created by former principal Bruce Hopmeier in 2005.^[11]

State testing

NMPED state assessment

The New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) replaced the "No Child Left Behind Act" and AYP testing with a new school grading formula, which took effect for the 2010–11 school year. The grade is calculated using many forms of testing, and includes graduation rates.^[12]

Administration and student body

Principals

Student statistics

The student body at EVHS is mostly made up of mostly middle class and lower class students, there are a few upper middle class students enrolled,^[13] although Rio Arriba County has a median income that is significantly lower than the national average.^[14] Over 15% of students at EVHS are considered economically disadvantaged and receive free or reduced lunches.^[15]

Extracurricular activities

Athletics program

Edward Medina gymnasium; the largest high school basketball facility in the state of New Mexico.^[8]

2010 State Basketball Championship game, #2 Española vs. #1 Roswell, in front of a sold-out crowd at The Pit.

Española Valley High School competes in the New Mexico Activities Association, they are classified as a 5A school in District 2^[16] along with: Bernalillo High School, Capital High School, Del Norte High School and Los Alamos High School.^[17]

Throughout its history, Espanola Valley competed in 4A (until early 2014), capturing three state championships in various sports, and eleven individual state champions. Many graduates have gone to participate in NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III athletics. In 2007, the school set a New Mexico High School record for major NCAA scholarships for 8 graduating seniors.^[18][19] In 1989 and 2002 the school was voted by the NMAA with the "Sportsmanship Award".

Boys basketball

Since 2006, EVHS has competed in the post–season state tournaments. The program has been coached by Richard Martinez since 2004. The team made its first state tournament in the 2006 season, quarterfinals in 2007, semi-finals in 2008, and 2009. In the 2010 season the Sundevils made it to the state finals, losing to Roswell High School (63–60) at University Arena.^[20][21][22] After five years of appearances in the tournament the Sundevils captured the state title in the 2011 season as the #2 seed, defeating Goddard High School (55–52) with the leadership of senior Rodney Coles. Their record was 22–9.^[23]

Rivalries

EVHS has maintained a rivalry with Los Alamos High School^[24] in most competitive sports since opening. Other rivals include: Santa Fe High School.^[25]

Los Alamos Basketball Rivalry
#	Date	Location	Winning team		Losing team		Series
1	2000	Los Alamos	Los Alamos	54	Espanola Valley	48	Los Alamos 0–1
2	2001	Espanola	Espanola Valley	84 OT	Los Alamos	78	Tied 1–1
3	2001	Los Alamos	Los Alamos	78	Espanola Valley	59	Los Alamos 1–2
4	2002	Espanola	Espanola Valley	67	Los Alamos	64	Tied 2–2
5	2002	Los Alamos	Los Alamos	51	Espanola Valley	49	Los Alamos 2–3
6	2003	Espanola	Los Alamos	60	Espanola Valley	50	Los Alamos 2–4
7	2003	Los Alamos	Los Alamos	56	Espanola Valley	32	Los Alamos 2–5
8	2004	Espanola	Los Alamos	60	Espanola Valley	49	Los Alamos 2–6
9	2004	Los Alamos	Los Alamos	53	Espanola Valley	37	Los Alamos 2–7
10	2005	Espanola	Espanola Valley	53	Los Alamos	48	Los Alamos 3–7
11	2005	Los Alamos	Los Alamos	61	Espanola Valley	42	Los Alamos 3–8
12	2006	Espanola	Espanola Valley	67	Los Alamos	60	Los Alamos 4–8
13	2006	Los Alamos	Los Alamos	74	Espanola Valley	69	Los Alamos 4–9
14	2006	Espanola	Los Alamos	91	Espanola Valley	84	Los Alamos 4–10
15	2007	Los Alamos	Espanola Valley	71	Los Alamos	64	Los Alamos 5–10
16	2007	Los Alamos	Los Alamos	62	Espanola Valley	61	Los Alamos 5–11
17	2007	Espanola	Espanola Valley	83	Los Alamos	72	Los Alamos 6–11
18	2008	Los Alamos	Espanola Valley	67	Los Alamos	56	Los Alamos 7–11
19	2008	Espanola	Espanola Valley	77	Los Alamos	54	Los Alamos 8–11
20	2009	Los Alamos	Los Alamos	53	Espanola Valley	59	Los Alamos 7–12
21	2009	Espanola	Espanola Valley	64	Los Alamos	58	Los Alamos 9–12
22	2009	Espanola	Espanola Valley	56	Los Alamos	49	Los Alamos 10–12
23	2009	Los Alamos	Espanola Valley	65	Los Alamos	52	Los Alamos 11–12
24	2010	Espanola	Espanola Valley	74	Los Alamos	71	Tied 12–12
25	2010	Los Alamos	Espanola Valley	75	Los Alamos	57	Espanola Valley 13–12
26	2010	Espanola	Espanola Valley	85	Los Alamos	60	Espanola Valley 14–12
27	2011	Los Alamos	Espanola Valley	49	Los Alamos	35	Espanola Valley 15–12
28	2011	Espanola	Espanola Valley	58	Los Alamos	45	Espanola Valley 16–12
29	2011	Albuquerque	Los Alamos	33	Espanola Valley	37	Espanola Valley 16–13
30	2012	Los Alamos	Espanola Valley	43	Los Alamos	35	Espanola Valley 17–13
31	2012	Espanola	Los Alamos	56	Espanola Valley	45	Espanola Valley 17–14
32	2012	Los Alamos	Los Alamos	42	Espanola Valley	37	Espanola Valley 17–15
33	2012	Los Alamos	Espanola Valley	58	Los Alamos	34	Espanola Valley 18–15
34	2013	Espanola	Espanola Valley	89	Los Alamos	62	Espanola Valley 19–15
35	2014	Espanola	Espanola Valley	47	Los Alamos	43	Espanola Valley 20–15
36	2014	Los Alamos	Espanola Valley	50	Los Alamos	39	Espanola Valley 21–15

State championships

Music program

Band

Wikisource has original text related to this article: EVHS Fight Song: Fight Sundevils, Fight

Española Valley High's Band "Sound of Northern New Mexico", led by Robert Felix, was nationally renowned. Throughout the 1980s the band attended many competitions, including many college bowl games.^[33][34] In 1984, the Band attended the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, the band was sent an invitation from the committee, a first for the parade.^[35] EVHS is only 1 out of 4 schools in New Mexico to attend and march in the Rose Parade.^[4]

Mariachi

In the late 1990s there no longer was a marching band at Española Valley. Music teacher Alfonso Trujillo started a small mariachi band as an elective class. The group was named "Mariachi Sol del Valle" and performed for local events for several years. In 2008 when Presidential candidate Barack Obama stopped in Espanola for a campaign rally the band performed in the event.^[36] Months later the schools band received an invitation from out of 1,400 schools throughout the country to be a participant in the 2009 Presidential inaugural parade in Washington, D.C.^[37][38][39]

Student organizations

There are over 45 clubs, organizations and extracurricular activities at EVHS,^[40] Most notable are the Supercomputing Challenge which has received many awards from state competitions,^[41] M.E.S.A, "The Sundevil Torch", the school's official student run newspaper,^[42] Student School Improvement team, and the Student Council.

Student Council

The EVHS Student Council is a member of the New Mexico Association of Student Councils (NMASC), it attends their state conferences every year.

During the 2013-14 school year, an EVHS student was elected as the State President, becoming the first ever elected state officer from the school. Previously, the student served as State Secretary from 2011–12, thus becoming the first state student council officer to be from EVHS.^[43] In the fall of 2011, the EVHS Student Council was selected to be the host school for the annual conference and hosted the 2014 NMASC State Conference.^[44]

Awards

The EVHS Student Council has recently received distinguished awards from the NMASC:^[45]

• State Conference Host School – 2014
• Gold Level Student Council of the Year – 2013
• Exemplary Student Council of the Year – 2013

Notable alumni

• T. Glenn Ellington – New Mexico Court of Appeals Judge (2002–2010), New Mexico District Court Judge (1997–2001, 2011 – present), Class of 1979^[46][47]
• Cholene Espinoza – Talk Radio News – Military correspondent and Author of Through the Eye of the Storm^[48][49]
• Valerie Espinoza – Current New Mexico Public Regulation Commissioner^[50][51][52]

References

External links

• Official website