Granite Hills High School (El Cajon, California)

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Public secondary school in El Cajon, California , United States

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| Christina Wilde
Teaching staff| 85.96 (FTE)[1]
Grades| 9-12
Enrollment| 2,296 (2019-20)[1]
Student to teacher ratio| 26.69[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.

## History[edit]

### Shooting[edit]

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]

### Recent history[edit]

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]

## Granite Hills Marching Band[edit]

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.

## Athletics[edit]

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.

## Notable alumni[edit]

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)

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* 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, San Diego Padres and previously Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates
* 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

## See also[edit]

* California portal
* Schools portal

* 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

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Granite Hills High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
2. ^ "Association of California School Administrators - 2013 California Distinguished Schools announced". Archived from the original on 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
3. ^ writer, Scott Martelle Scott Martelle is a former Times staff; Massacre, member of the editorial board He also is the author of several nonfiction books on such disparate subjects as the Ludlow; war, 1913-14 Colorado coalfield; Detroit, the history of; Walker, William; Nicaragua, the pre-Civil War American adventurer who for a brief time made himself president of (2001-03-23). "5 Hurt in Gunfire at High School Near San Diego; Student Is Held". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-12-28. `{{cite web}}`: `|first2=` has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
4. ^ Ojeda • •, Artie. "Officer Who Stopped Granite Hills High Gunman in 2001 Recounts His Actions 17 Years later". NBC 7 San Diego. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
5. ^ "The San Diego Union-Tribune - San Diego, California & National News".
6. ^ "Photo: Alleged school shooter Jason Hoffman commits suicide -". UPI. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
7. ^ Carcinogen discovered in soil at 5 schools by Leonel Sanchez, San Diego Union-Tribune January 16, 2009
8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2009-10-20.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. ^ https://www.nydailynews.com/1998/10/06/to-tribe-of-shanes-success-no-surprise/

## External links[edit]

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

* v
* t
* e

Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD)

Regular
El Cajon Valley
El Capitan
Granite Hills
Grossmont
Monte Vista
Mount Miguel
Santana
Valhalla
West Hills

Charter
Helix
Steele Canyon

Continuation
Chaparral

Middle college
Grossmont Middle College

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI

Geographic|

* NCES

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