East High School (Phoenix, Arizona)

East High School was the high school for east Phoenix, Arizona, on 48th Street near Roosevelt Street. It opened in the fall of 1964 and closed in 1982 amidst sharply declining enrollment.

History

While the school was under construction, it was open in the fall of 1964, with double sessions at both Phoenix Union and North high schools. (McClintock High School in the Tempe Union High School District experienced a similar situation.) The building opened on January 25, 1965. East was part of a five-year building campaign to add new high schools to relieve overcrowding in Phoenix; Alhambra High School and Maryvale High School also opened their doors.

An advisory council selected the school colors: their choices were scarlet, purple and white. The students chose the Longhorn mascot — one school board member found it an ill fit to the area. (He backed down, however, when reminded that there were Spartans as the mascot at one school.) The Longhorn mascot was a fit anyway, thanks to its location; it was just north of the old Tovrea Stockyards in an area known for its ranching heritage.

The land on which the school was built was the old farm of R.G. Langmade. Roosevelt Dam water was used to irrigate alfalfa along 48th Street and to maintain citrus groves. In 1956, the 58 3/4 acre property was sold to a J.T. Jackson, whose widow sold it to the district in 1959 at a cost of $4,000 an acre.

Construction began in September 1963. It cost US $3,242,800 ($25.1 million in 2016 dollars^[1]). This was the district's most expensive school until Trevor G. Browne High School was built. The new campus was more modern than others in the district, combining the library and audiovisual department into one instructional materials center. The library featured space for 17,000 books. The auditorium was delayed, opening in April 1965 (after the main buildings were opened). A health building opened in 1974, followed by an occupational education hall in January 1976.

East was built to service 2,500 students (levels it would reach by 1973^[2]). But with a student body of 700 and 33 teachers at the outset, many classrooms were vacant in the school's early years.

An open lunch period debuted in 1971, following the lead of Camelback and Central high schools.

In the 1970s, the mix of students reflected increasingly minority demographics. New student committees and awareness programs were introduced as a result.

East athletics earned several state championships. In 1971, 1973, 1975, 1980, and 1981, boys' basketball teams won championships under coach Royce Youree — during the first year, Youree coached football, basketball, and baseball. East lost the 1974 title in four overtimes to Alhambra High School^[3] — a game that stands to this day as the longest championship in Arizona high school basketball history. Following that loss, the team won 54 straight games in 1975 and 1976 before losing to Chandler High School in the 1976 State Quarterfinals in four overtimes.

Enrollment began to fall precipitously in the Phoenix Union High School District of the 1970s. East High went from 2410 to 1251 students in the period from 1977 to 1982; North lost half its enrollment in the 1970s; Phoenix Union shrunk by two-thirds in the same period; and West was below 2,000 students for the first time since 1950. The district closed East, West, North, and Phoenix Union in the first half of the 1980s. (North reopened in 1984.) The school remained standing until 2002, when the property was redeveloped. Part of the land, including the site of the school's football field, is now right of way for the Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway, opened in 1990. The high school buildings were razed approximately in the year 2002.

Coordinates: 33°27′15.77″N 111°58′38.02″W / 33.4543806°N 111.9772278°W / 33.4543806; -111.9772278

References

• East High 1976 yearbook
• Information provided by Barry Paceley, East High School Alumni Assn.