Sunrise Mountain High School is a public secondary school located in Peoria

Peoria, Arizona

Peoria is a city in Maricopa and Yavapai counties in the U.S. state of Arizona. Located primarily in Maricopa County, it is a major suburb of Phoenix. According to 2010 Census Bureau releases, the population of the city is 154,065. Peoria is currently the sixth largest city in Arizona for land...

, Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The high school is currently a part of the Peoria Unified School District

Peoria Unified School District

Peoria Unified School District #11 provides primary and secondary education for most of Peoria, Arizona, parts of Glendale and Youngtown, Arizona, and a small portion of Surprise, Arizona, and northwestern Maricopa County. With 39 schools, it is the third largest school district in Arizona.-Early...

. The school opened its doors in August 1996, since which it has maintained an Excelling academic status. Currently, approximately 1,500 students are enrolled, and because of this, Sunrise Mountain is a Class 4A Division II school, as rated by the Arizona Interscholastic Association

Arizona Interscholastic Association

The Arizona Interscholastic Association is the major high school sports association in the state of Arizona. It comprises most of the state's public district high schools, various charter and private schools, plus one high school in California San Pasqual High School in Winterhaven, California,...

. Their mascot is the Mustang

Mustang (horse)

A Mustang is a free-roaming horse of the North American west that first descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but there is intense debate over terminology...

. Sunrise Mountain is considered the sixth largest high school in the Peoria Unified School District, by student population. Sunrise Mountain's sports and arts programs are referred to as the “Sunrise Mustangs”. The principal is Jerry Nuñez and vice principals include Clay Carpenter, Donna Short, and Christine Gutierrez.

Overpopulation Problem

Sunrise Mountain dealt with considerable overgrowth in the early and mid-2000s. With 2,440 students by 2005, many freshmen classes were pushed out to "Frosh Island", a former elementary school. Between each period a bus would shuttle students between "Frosh Island," and the main campus so that classes such as physical education, band, advanced science, and choir could be attended by freshmen. The use of this campus was discontinued by Sunrise Mountain following the end of the 2005-2006 school year. The overpopulation problem has been relieved by the creation of Liberty High School

Liberty High School (Peoria, Arizona)

Liberty High School is a public secondary school located in Peoria, Arizona, United States. The high school is currently a part of the Peoria Unified School District. The school opened its doors in August 2006 due to overcrowding at Sunrise Mountain High School and rapid population growth in...

. Liberty is now larger than Sunrise Mountain by some 50 students.

Music

SMHS has a marching band, concert band and jazz band directed by Chris Vail. The Jazz Band competes yearly in the Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University is a public university located in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and has 39 satellite campuses in the state of Arizona. The university offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.As of...

 jazz competition. The strings program is directed by Jacob Boyd, who also plays electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

 in the rock band Covela, and teaches strings to grades 5–8 at Coyote Hills and Desert Harbor (formerly at Apache). Since 2006 Covela has performed annual concerts with the school strings ensemble in the school auditorium

Auditorium

An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...

. Numerous members of local bands have attended SMHS. SMHS also has the choir directed by Tanya Boehme. The Varsity choir performs at many school events and also goes to compete at Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University is a public university located in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and has 39 satellite campuses in the state of Arizona. The university offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.As of...

. Many choir students have also competed in solo ensemble competitions.

Clubs

SMHS offers many clubs for various activities. They include: DECA, FBLA, FCCLA, HOSA, JSA, CCC, Newspaper club, Yearbook club, German club, Spanish Club, Science club, Speech and Debate, NHS, and Skills USA. There have been many recent clubs getting started such as the book club, which was formed in 2007-2008. Also, the first club to be formed in the 2008-2009 school year is the Croquet Club which was started by a couple of sophomores. Another prominent club that has been around since the formation of the class, but was little known, is the Media Club. The Harry Potter Club was also founded during the 2009-2010 school year. In the 2010-2011 school year, the Anime Brigade formed for students who showed an appreciation to Japanese animation, Japanese graphic novels, and video games.

Sports

SMHS has many various types of sports in which people can try out depending on the season. Sunrise Mountain Mustangs have had a long standing rivalry between fellow Peoria District school, Centennial Coyotes

Centennial High School (Peoria, Arizona)

-Academics:Centennial continues to have a tradition of excellence in academics.  As an excelling school in school years 2005–2008, CeHS continuously encourages the students to be the best they can be in all life areas.  One of the greatest assets is the staff that works daily with the...

.
Fall

• Football [Male](Female Football team- Powderpuff)
• Volleyball [Female]
• Cross Country [Male and Female]
• Golf [Male and Female]
• Swim [Male and Female]

Winter

• Basketball [Male and Female]
• Soccer [Male and Female]
• Wrestling [Male and Female]

Spring

• Boy's Baseball [Male]
• Girl's Softball [Female]
• Tennis [Male and Female]
• Track [Male and Female]
• Volleyball [Male]