Paradise High School

Paradise High School (PHS) is a public high school in Paradise, California, United States. It shares a campus with Paradise Intermediate School and is part of the Paradise Unified School District.

This article is about the school in California. For Paradise High School in Texas, see Paradise Independent School District.

Paradise High School
Address
5911 Maxwell Drive

Paradise
,
California
95969

United States
Coordinates39°45′41″N 121°36′49″W
Information
Other namePHS
TypePublic high school
School districtParadise Unified School District
NCES School ID062982004640[1]
PrincipalMichael Ervin
Teaching staff43.36 (on a FTE basis)[1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment995 (2017-2018)[1]
Student to teacher ratio22.95[1]
Color(s)Green, Gold, White    [2]
MascotBobcats[2]
AccreditationWestern Association of Schools and Colleges[3]
Websitephs.pusdk12.org

The school's curriculum is organized into 13 subject area departments, and students can take up to seven classes a day. Senior students can enroll concurrently at Butte Community College. Sports offered by the school are football, basketball, volleyball, cross country, swimming, and cheerleading.[4]

History

Fire and relocation

When the Camp Fire destroyed most of the town of Paradise in November 2018, the school campus was mostly spared, losing only a half dozen temporary classrooms.[5] The wildfire, the worst in California's history,[6] burned down 19,000 structures and killed 85 people.[7] The population of the town of Paradise plummeted from 26,800 to 2,034.[8] The campus was shut down for the remainder of the 2018–2019 school year; students studied in nearby Chico, California or via online courses wherever they were staying. In June 2019, 220 seniors returned to the empty campus for their graduation ceremony on the football field.[9]

When the school reopened its doors in the fall of 2019, an enrollment of 600 was expected, but 900 showed up on the first day of school.[10] Many of the students had lost their homes in the fire, and some were living with friends or driving long distances to attend school each day.[5][11]

The school made national news when its football team, less than a year after the fire, had an undefeated regular season and went to the section championship. Only three members of the varsity team were living in Paradise; the rest were commuting from locations up to 90 minutes away.[5] But the team had vowed to make a championship run, saying they were "playing for the brothers we lost."[12][13] (No Paradise High School students died in the fire.[14]) The entire town and surrounding communities rallied behind the team. One player commented, "You look at the stands, the whole town of Paradise is here... it's really our only event right now, so it means everything".[12] Paradise Mayor Jody Jones said, "The football team has come to represent all of us".[7]

References
  1. "Search for Public Schools - Paradise Senior High (062982004640)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  2. "Paradise Football All-Time Roster". MaxPreps. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  3. "About Us". Paradise Junior and Senior High School. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  4. "Athletics". Paradise Junior and Senior High School. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  5. Westervelt, Eric (November 8, 2019). "Paradise Bobcats Football Team Gives California Town Hope After Fires". NPR. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  6. Ortiz, Jose L. (December 3, 2019). "'Deeply sorry' PG&E takes blame for California's deadliest wildfire, seeks 'technologies' to limit future risks". USA Today. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  7. Beam, Adam (November 30, 2019). "Paradise High School Competes for Football Title 1 Year After Deadly Fire Destroyed California Town". Time. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  8. "Town Of Paradise Has Lost 90% Of Its Population". CBS Sacramento. July 11, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  9. Large, Steve (June 6, 2019). "From Destruction To Diplomas: Paradise High Seniors Graduate". CBS Sacramento. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  10. Keown, Tim (September 10, 2019). "After devastating fires, Paradise football team gives a community hope". ESPN. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  11. "Paradise High Football Loses Championship Game A Year After Camp Fire, But The Town Remains 'Forever Strong'". CBS Sacramento. November 30, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  12. Malcolm, Rob (November 22, 2019). "Paradise High Football Team Stays Undefeated Despite Suspension Of Six Players". CBS Sacramento. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  13. "Dream season continues, Paradise High School football team wins again to remain undefeated". ABC 7 News. November 25, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  14. Brekke, Dan (June 27, 2019). "In Remembrance: The Names of Those Lost in the Camp Fire". KQED. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
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