Hamilton High School (Chandler, Arizona)

Name

The school was named after the Hamilton family, one of the pioneer families of Chandler. The Hamiltons moved to Chandler from Texas around the start of the 20th century and farmed for generations the land where Hamilton High School now stands. John Augustus Hamilton, one of the Hamilton brothers who farmed the land the school is built on, was a World War I combat veteran and sheriff of the southeast area of Phoenix. The school football stadium now stands on what was known for years as Hamilton's Corner, the corner of Arizona Avenue/Arizona State Route 87 and Ocotillo, where the Hamiltons ran a general store. The front of the store often had horses hitched to the hitching post, and buckboard wagons came into town for supplies.

Academics

Hamilton High received the Chandler Education Foundation 100% Awareness status from 1998–2001, and was the only Arizona A+ school in 2005. 85% of Hamilton's faculty has a master's degree, which is a higher percentage than any other public school in Arizona. Hamilton students score well in academics with ACT scores above state and national averages in all test subject areas. 85% of Hamilton students plan to attend a 2 or 4 year college after graduating.

Athletics

Students have numerous athletic activities available to them, including volleyball, football, cheerleading, soccer, basketball, golf, lacrosse, hockey, softball, wrestling, tennis, badminton, Drill Team, swimming, diving and rugby. Its traditional rival in the Chandler School District is Chandler High School, but competition has increased with the city's second newest high school, Basha High School. The city of Chandler and Chandler Unified School District's rapid growth has contributed to the construction of a fourth high school in the district, Perry High School, which opened in 2007.

Hamilton High School's football teams have been consistently successful. They won Arizona Division 5A State Championship in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012. Hamilton's 53-game winning streak ended at the 5A state championships when they lost to Phoenix Desert Vista on November 26, 2011. Hamilton has enjoyed some national attention through its players such as Christian Westerman, Gerell Robinson, Kerry Taylor,Toronto Argonauts Dontay Moch, current NFL Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs and MLS star Tony Cascio currently playing for the Colorado Rapids.

The baseball team won four state championships in 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2014. Hamilton's coed cheer squad regularly competes and finishes in the top five at the national championships, and has won the state championship almost every year since Hamilton opened. The hockey team won state in 2014 as well.

Hamilton High School Boys Golf Team has enjoyed many successful seasons of competitive golf. Among their 26 major tournament victories and recognition, the team has qualified for the State Championship the last 18 years in a row and won 5 straight State Championships from 2005 to 2009. The team was able to add their most recent State Title, their sixth, in 2014. In addition, Hamilton Huskies golfers won 6 Arizona Individual State Titles since 1998. Hamilton High School Golf Team is also known for winning 6 straight Arizona Stroke Play Championship by a Hamilton Huskies student or a graduate. Many graduates continue to play golf at the collegiate and professional level (PGA Web.com Tour & Asian Tour).

Design

Initially built to hold 2,600 students, as of October 1, 2013, the school holds 3,696 students.

Hamilton is, for the most part, a two story, completely enclosed campus. All main classrooms and main facilities are inside of the same building, with the exception of a few mobile classrooms, in the back part of the school. This keeps students out of the hot Arizona weather during the summer, and it creates a safer environment. Each class is located in one of Hamilton's eight main hallways. Each hallway has its own staircase so students do not have to go traverse a crowded main hallway in order to get to a class upstairs. The main hallways are the only connection to the library, administrations office, cafeteria, gym, and auditorium located on the southern side of the school. Many electives such as P.E., theater, choir, band, and orchestra take place in these areas. The auditorium and cafeteria each seat about 600 students, the gym seats about 1,900, and the football stadium seats 10,000. Hamilton also has a track, a public swimming pool where the swim & dive team practices, 10 tennis courts, two soccer fields, and six fields used for baseball and practice. Construction on a second building began early 2014 and was completed in September 2014. The new building has 12 freshmen and sophomore level classes.

Notable alumni