Granite Hills High School (El Cajon, California)

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Granite Hills High School
Address
1719 East Madison Avenue El Cajon , California 92019 United States
Information
Type	Public secondary
Established	1960
School district	Grossmont Union High School District
Principal	Eric Jesperson
Teaching staff	97.98 (FTE)[1]
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	2,398 (2022-2023)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	24.47[1]
Campus	Urban
Color(s)	Navy blue and Columbia blue
Rival	Valhalla High School
Accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
Newspaper	The Clarion
Yearbook	Pageant
Nickname	Eagles
Website	granite.guhsd.net

Granite Hills High School is a California Distinguished School,^[2] public and comprehensive high school located in El Cajon, California and serves students in grades nine through twelve. Opened in 1960, Granite Hills is one of thirteen high schools in the Grossmont Union High School District. GHHS is the home of the Eagles. Granite Hills High School has been an IB World School since July 2001.

Just minutes after lunch ended and fifth period began on March 22, 2001, an 18-year-old former student, Jason Hoffman, arrived on campus with a 12-gauge shotgun (with size 7 or 8 birdshot) and a .22 pistol, opening fire outside the attendance office which also houses the principal and vice principals' offices.^[3] Five people were injured by shrapnel or suffered severe symptoms from the traumatic experience, but few victims incurred bullet wounds. Hoffman was shot in the buttocks and jaw. Hoffman was arrested by police officer Rich Agundez,^[4] who had been on campus during school hours since the shooting two weeks earlier at Santana High School.^[5] Hoffman would later commit suicide by hanging himself from bedsheets in his prison cell in October 2001.^[6]

Recently, Granite Hills has been undergoing some construction to many of its classes. The football field has also been renovated.^{[citation needed]}

It was discovered that Granite's soil contains a large amount of carcinogens. As of January, 2009, studies were in progress and the source of contamination was unknown. Tainted dirt has also been found at other schools in the district.^[7] In January 2009 the long time eagle statue, "Ernie", was ripped off of its base by vandals and destroyed.^[8]

The students in the GHHS Marching Band perform at the Mother Goose Parade, Christmas in the lights, Alpine Parade, and at every home football game especially the Homecoming game. The marching Eagles also go to "Band Night" featuring the SDSU Marching Aztecs and gathering other marching bands from the GUHSD District. Popular tunes such as the "007 Theme" and "Bon Jovi Theme" highlight the "GUHSD Marching Band and Color Guard Field Show Extravaganza" held every year. During second semester they do winter and spring concerts as the "Concert Band". Some are joint concerts with middle schools from Cajon Valley School District.

Granite Hills offers every California Interscholastic Federation sanctioned sport.^{[citation needed]} On December 10, 2022, the Granite Hills Eagles beat San Ramon Valley of Danville for the California State 2-A football title at Saddleback College, scoring in overtime and then holding on. This was the first state football championship in school history.

On November 18, 2023, the Eagles won the San Diego Area Open Division championship, defeating the favored Lincoln Hornets 27-26. The Eagles lost to Mission Viejo in the next round. Mission Viejo went on to win the Div. 1AA state championship.

This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (January 2022)

• Joe Cardona, 2010, NFL, New England Patriots long snapper, Super Bowl LI and Super Bowl LIII Champion
• Brian Giles, 1989, Major League Baseball right fielder for the Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, and San Diego Padres
• Marcus Giles, 1996, Major League Baseball second baseman, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves
• Duncan D. Hunter, 1994, Republican former U.S. Representative of California's 50th congressional district.
• Jimmie Johnson, 1993, NASCAR; 7-time (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2016) NASCAR Cup Series champion (tied for most all-time with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt); 2-time Daytona 500 champion (2006 & 2013); Elected to NASCAR Hall of Fame Class 2024.
• David Lee, 1999, U.S. Olympic Volleyball Team, 2008 and 2012
• John H. Ritter, 1969, award-winning author of young adult novels
• Joe Roth, 1973, former All-American quarterback at the University of California, Berkeley
• Julia Schultz, 1997, model and actress
• Shane Spencer, 1990, Major League Baseball player^[9]
• Travis Taijeron, MLB player for the New York Mets
• Tommy Vardell, 1987, NFL San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions

• List of high schools in California
• List of high schools in San Diego County, California
• List of high schools in Grossmont Union High School District

• Granite Hills High School website
• Western Association of Schools and Colleges Directory of Accredited Schools 2005-2006 (PDF)

32°48′N 116°55′W / 32.800°N 116.917°W / 32.800; -116.917