Staff Reports | Community Updates
Coronado High School will celebrate its 65th anniversary Friday, Sept. 25, with a daylong celebration that honors generations of students, educators, families and community members who have shaped the Scottsdale school since 1961.
The anniversary festivities will be integrated into the school’s annual Homecoming celebration, bringing together current students, alumni and community supporters for a look back at Coronado’s history and traditions.
The day will begin with a community spirit tour involving Coronado’s band, cheerleaders and senior fall sports athletes. Students will travel to schools within the Coronado Learning Community, including Tonalea Middle School, Yavapai Elementary School and Hohokam Elementary School, to share school spirit and connect with younger students.
The visits are designed to highlight the connection between the schools that feed into Coronado High School and to give younger students an opportunity to meet older student leaders, according to a press release.
“For a few hours, the youngest members of the Coronado community will get a glimpse of their future, and the high school students get to return to where their own stories began,” school officials said in materials announcing the event.
Later in the day, the celebration will move to Coronado High School with a schoolwide Homecoming assembly featuring performances by the band, cheer and dance teams, student activities and appearances by special guests, including professional football players.
“This community has a way of taking care of its kids,” said Melinda Splitek, principal of Coronado High School. “You see it everywhere, in the teachers who have known families for generations, the alumni who continue to come back, and the students who cheer on those who will follow in their footsteps. There is a genuine sense of belonging here. We truly are a family, and that is something worth celebrating.”
The evening will culminate under the stadium lights with a Homecoming football doubleheader. Girls flag football is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, followed by the boys tackle football game at 7 p.m.
In addition to the games, the school plans to commemorate key moments from its history. Alumni from the Donettes Pom program representing every decade since the 1960s are expected to return for a special anniversary performance. The celebration will also recognize Coronado’s 1976 state championship football team on the 50th anniversary of its title, honor this year’s Homecoming royalty and feature performances from the school’s band and cheer teams.
School leaders said the anniversary celebration is intended to recognize the generations of students, teachers, alumni and families who have contributed to Coronado’s legacy while also looking ahead to its future. For returning alumni, the event offers an opportunity to revisit memories from their school days. For current students, organizers say, the traditions being celebrated today are becoming the memories they will carry forward for years to come.
