Smoky Hill High School

Public school in Aurora, Colorado, United States

Smoky Hill High School

The Smoky Hill High School logo, is a reproduction of the Buffalo Sabres logo used from 1996 to 2023.

Address

16100 East Smoky Hill Road

Aurora

Colorado

80015

United States

Coordinates| 39°37′40″N 104°47′59″W﻿ / ﻿39.62787°N 104.79960°W﻿ / 39.62787; -104.79960
Information
Type| Public
Motto| Home of the Buffs
Established| 1974 (50 years ago) (1974)
School district| Cherry Creek School District
CEEB code| 060452
Principal| Andre Bala
Grades| 9–12
Enrollment| 2,225 (22-24)[1]
Student to teacher ratio| 11.3:1[1]
Color(s)| Forest green and scarlet

Athletics| 5A
Athletics conference| Centennial League
Mascot| Buffalo
Nickname| Buffs
Website| www.cherrycreekschools.org/smokyhill
[2]

Smoky Hill High School, commonly Smoky or SHHS, is located in Aurora, Colorado, United States. It has an attendance of 2,225. Smoky Hill is part of the Cherry Creek School District and was the second high school built by the district in 1974.

The name originates from the Smoky Hill Trail, a historic trail stretching from Kansas to Denver. The trail is also the namesake of Smoky Hill Road, where the school is located.

## Curriculum[edit]

In 1991, Smoky Hill became the second high school in Colorado to offer the International Baccalaureate Program. Since then, Smoky Hill has consistently been recognized in Newsweek's nationwide list of excellent high schools. Additionally, in 2006, Smoky Hill's AVID program was the sole school in the AVID Western Division to receive recognition as a National Demonstration School with Distinction.[3] Smoky Hill also strongly supports the Advanced Placement program, offering a total of nineteen AP classes.

## Renovations[edit]

In the summer of 2010, the Cherry Creek School District initiated renovations to enhance the overall functionality of the building. These renovations included enlarging the windows, completely reconstructing the pool area, installing new carpet, and modernizing the general aesthetics of the school to align with contemporary design styles. All renovations were finished before the start of the 2010–2011 academic year, with the exception of the pool area, which was completed during the first quarter of the school year.

## Athletics[edit]

Smoky Hill High School is part of the eight-team Centennial League that also includes Cherry Creek, Grandview, Arapahoe, Cherokee Trail, Eaglecrest, Mullen, and Overland high schools.

### Track and field[edit]

In 1992, Smoky Hill won its first state championship in track. Their first State Championship was in football in the 1970's. They also had a three-time state championship run during 2003–2005.[4]

## International Baccalaureate (IB)[edit]

In 1991, Smoky Hill became the second International Baccalaureate Diploma School established in the state of Colorado.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) is an educational programme examined in one of three languages (English, French or Spanish) and is a leading university entrance course.

The programme, administered by the International Baccalaureate Organization, is a recognized pre-university educational programme. Students take six subjects, and must also pass three extra requirements, for example Theory of Knowledge (ToK), a 4000-word Extended Essay (EE), and a requirement of at least a total of 150 hours in CAS (Creative, Action, Service).

Smoky Hill boasts its ability to offer one of the newer tests in the International Baccalaureate Programme, Digital Media Studies. 2009 was the first year that students tested in both the Higher Level and Standard Level of the test.

## Demographics[edit]

* 39.8% – White
* 27.6% – Hispanic
* 17.8% – African American
* 7.4% – Two or more races
* 6.3% – Asian American
* 0.7% – Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
* 0.6% – American Indian/Alaska Native

* 52% – Male
* 48% – Female
* 31% – Free and Reduced Lunch

[5]

## 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. (June 2022)

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* Fear Before, former rock band
* Adam Fisher
* Michael Madruga
* David Marion
* Brandon Proff
* Jenny Cavnar, sports broadcaster[6]
* Lesley Chilcott, documentarian[7]
* Alison Dunlap, Olympic mountain biker[8]
* Maggie Flecknoe, voice actress and news reporter (class of 2001)
* Kelly Hansen, lead singer in Foreigner (class of 1979)
* Mike McDaniel, NFL head coach for the Miami Dolphins (class of 2001)
* Adrian Miller, White House policy advisor (Clinton Administration), American culinary historian, lawyer
* Cory Sandhagen, mixed martial artist[9]
* Dan Soder, stand-up comedian (class of 2001)
* Chase Vaughn, football linebacker
* Bowen Yang, comedian and cast member of Saturday Night Live (class of 2008)

## See also[edit]

* List of high schools in Colorado

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Template:Cite Smoky year book 23-24
2. ^ "Search for Public Schools – School Detail for Smoky Hill High School". ed.gov. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
3. ^ "AVID :: Welcome!". avidonline.org. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
4. ^ "State Team Champions" (PDF). Colorado High School Activities Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-30.
5. ^ "Smoky Hill High School". usnews.com. Retrieved Dec 10, 2023.
6. ^ OAKES, COURTNEY (January 20, 2022). "Aurora Sports Notebook: Smoky Hill grad Jenny Cavnar named Colorado's Sportscaster of the Year". Sentinel Colorado.
7. ^ ""Superman" maker lauds Colorado's school progress". 13 October 2010.
8. ^ Alison Dunlap Archived 2006-10-06 at the Wayback Machine. Colorado College Success Stories. Accessed December 3, 2006.
9. ^ "Welcome to the UFC, Coach Cory!". 29 January 2018.

## External links[edit]

* Smoky Hill High School official web site

* v
* t
* e

Aurora, Colorado

Education|

| Primary and secondary
schools|

* Aurora PS
* Aurora Central HS
* Gateway HS
* William C. Hinkley HS
* Rangeview HS
* Aurora Quest K-8
* Cherry Creek SD
* Cherokee Trail HS
* Grandview HS
* Smoky Hill HS
* DSST Public Schools

|

Colleges and
universities|

* Community College of Aurora
* University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Landmarks|

* Town Center at Aurora
* Southlands
* The Gardens on Havana

Media|

* Aurora Sentinel

History|

* 1993 shooting
* 2012 shooting

Arts|

* Aurora Symphony Orchestra
* Aurora Fox Arts Center

* Category
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

CHSAA Centennial (2022–24)

* Arapahoe Warriors
* Cherokee Trail Cougars
* Cherry Creek Bruins
* Eaglecrest Raptors
* Grandview Wolves
* Mullen Mustangs
* Overland Trailblazers
* Smoky Hill Buffaloes

Authority control databases: Geographic |

* NCES

|

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