Catalina High School
| Catalina Magnet High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
|
3645 East Pima Street, Palo Verde Tucson, Arizona, United States 85716 |
|
| Coordinates | 32°14′40″N 110°54′55″W / 32.244481°N 110.915211°WCoordinates: 32°14′40″N 110°54′55″W / 32.244481°N 110.915211°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public secondary (U.S.) |
| Established | September 1955 |
| Oversight | Tucson Unified School District |
| Principal | Kathryn Shaw |
| Faculty | 82 |
| Grades | 9–12, plus refugee and immigrant students |
| Enrollment | 1,317 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Color(s) | Royal blue and white |
| Mascot | Trojans |
| Website | [1] |
Catalina High School (also known as Catalina Magnet High School) is a public high school, located on the north side of Tucson, Arizona, United States. Catalina is a magnet high school (drawing students from the entire school district) in Tucson Unified School District and serves approximately 1300 students in grades 9-12. The school name originates from the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. The school mascot is the Trojan, and the school colors are royal blue and white.
With only one high school, Tucson High, the TUSD school board began discussion of building a second high school in the district in 1953 to meet the population growth of Tucson. In January 1957, the partially completed campus facilitated a full student body. Additional classrooms, shower and locker facilities and a science wing were added later, with 10-cent levy funds and federal aid under Public Law 815. The school presently has 65 regular classrooms and the 8-classroom science wing. R.T. Gridley was the first principal of Catalina, and the first graduating class was in May 1957. Catalina students voted for its first student council and student officers in September 1955 while still at Tucson High.
It would not be until 1959 that the original plans for the school were completed. In the 1960s Catalina was known as the Disneyland for the higher income students who attended Catalina from central Tucson and the Catalina Foothills. Shortly following the establishment of Catalina, many other high schools opened in the more affluent suburbs of Tucson, including Rincon, and Canyon del Oro.
When Pueblo and Catalina High Schools were on the planning boards in 1953, TUSD School Board member Delbert L. Secrist wanted to name them "Abraham Lincoln" and "George Washington" respectively. His fellow board members didn't go along with the idea. Catalina was named under a new TUSD school board policy of naming high schools after local mountain ranges. Catalina was built as a state-of-the art school, costing $2,496,619, to which were added extra classrooms, locker and shower facilities and a science wing, totaling 73 regular classrooms. The school was initially controversial, with critics dubbing Catalina "Disneyland", as the architecture was viewed as lavishly modern and expensive. Catalina, which had been designed for 1,500 students, opened with an enrollment of 2,000. Prior to the completion of the buildings, students had attended Tucson High on double-sessions, with Catalina students attending the morning session.
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