CoachellaValley High School is a public high school for grades 9-12. It is located in Thermal, California. The District includes grade and middle school sites to accommodate a fast-growing population of the area. The population is 90% Hispanic, and consists mainly of residents from Coachella. Many students also come from areas such as Indio and Thermal.
History
The high school was opened in September 1910 after of desert brush land was donated. Coachella Valley High School is the oldest public school in the Coachella Valley. It was incorporated into the Coachella Valley Unified School District in 1966 to include a high school instead of only elementary schools in nearby Coachella. A second high school, Desert Mirage High School opened in 2003 to ease overcrowding which peaked at 2,500 in the early 2000s. The school's location was decided on because it was the central point of the Coachella Valley. In 2002, social studies teacher Chauncey Veatch was honored as National Teacher of the Year.
The school mascot, "Arabs", was named in the 1930s to honor the once large Arab colony involved in the date palm growing industry. The school took the position that the name was a "gift" to the Arab peoples for their contribution to the economy of the Coachella Valley, not as a foreign racial symbol. In 2002, Coachella Valley High School officials had a meeting to determine whether to rename the mascot out of concern it might produce negative stereotypes against Arabs and Middle Eastern people, after the September 11 terrorist attacks. They decided to keep the mascot name. In November 2013, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee described the mascot as an offensive stereotype, and began an online petition to get the school to change it. In April 2014 the committee was working to keep the Arab Mascot, but to develop an image that represented the fierce warrior history of the mascot, in a way that is not considered an offensive stereotypical caricature. In addition, the students and staff were working to add in an Arab History component. In August 2014, it was reported that the school had decided to drop the "Arabs" mascot. On September 9, 2014, the school board voted unanimously to adopt new logo and mascot, the "Mighty Arab". The decision was made with the approval of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
