Palm Desert High School is a secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 located in Palm Desert, California

Palm Desert, California

Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census, up from 41,155 at the 2000 census...

. The school is a part of the Desert Sands Unified School District

Desert Sands Unified School District

The Desert Sands Unified School District is a public school district located in La Quinta, California. The district was founded in 1964 after the state of California department of education consolidated all of Indio public schools at the time...

.

Palm Desert High School was founded in 1986. For the 2004-2005 year the enrollment was 1902. Many of Palm Desert High School students come from Palm Desert Middle School

Palm Desert Middle School

Palm Desert Charter Middle School is a charter middle school in Palm Desert, California in the Coachella Valley. It is part of the Desert Sands Unified School District and a Charter school with parental involvement in the school's administration. The school had about 1000 students in the years...

 (however some La Quinta Middle School

La Quinta Middle School

La Quinta Charter Middle School is a middle school in La Quinta, California in the Desert Sands Unified School District. The school first opened in the Fall of 1988 in a temporary site North of the current campus. Its present site finished construction in the summer of 1990, in time for its...

, Indio Middle School

Indio Middle School

Indio Middle School is a middle school in Indio, California in the Desert Sands Unified School District. It is also a Charter School as of 1996 and is the second in DSUSD history after George Washington Elementary School in Palm Desert...

, and Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School

Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School

Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School is a middle school in La Quinta, California which was established at the beginning of the 2006-07 school year....

 students have attended PDHS in the past).

Academics

It offers Advanced Placement and Honors courses. In 2009, PDHS reached the standardized testing score of 810.

Sports

Palm Desert's mascot is the Aztec

Aztec

The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...

 (originally in 1985, the "Sun Devil" later was rejected by concerned parents worried it would depict Satanism

Satanism

Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...

 and was inappropriate for public schools). It has notable tennis, track, golf, swimming, baseball, softball, volleyball, basketball, football, wrestling, and water polo teams. Its main rival is La Quinta High School

La Quinta High School (La Quinta, California)

La Quinta High School is one of six public high schools, grades 9-12, in the Desert Sands Unified School District. It is located in the La Quinta, California. The school was a California Distinguished Schools award winner in 1999, 2003 and 2011.-History:...

, which occasionally has to use some of Palm Desert's amenities. Also, a newly formed Aztec Equestrian Team was founded in the school year of 08'-09' and is the first Equestrian Team in the Coachella Valley.

PDHS Clubs

• 21st Century Bike Club
• Academic Decathlon
• Activism Now
• Anime Club
• ASB
• Aztec Couture Fashion Club
• Aztec Film Club
• Aztec Impact
• Best Buddies
• Chamber Singers
• Cheer
• Chess Club
• Choreography Club
• Christian Club
• Class of 2012
• Class of 2013
• Class of 2014
• Class of 2015
• Club Mud
• Color Guard
• Comic Book Club
• Concert Band
• Cool Club
• CSF
• Dance Club
• Dance Team
• Debate Club
• Drama Club
• ENLACE
• Ensemble
• Environmental Science
• Equestrian Club
• FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes)
• Fight Club
• French Club
• Friday Night Live
• GSA (Stonewallers)
• Hip Hop Club
• Indian Cultural Awareness Association
• Interact
• Jazz Ensemble
• Jewish Club
• JSA
• Key Club
• Kids Wish for Kids
• Link Crew
• Marching Aztecs
• Martha's Kitchen Club
• Mock Trial
• Model United Nations
• Mythology
• NHS
• PAWS
• Percussion Ensemble
• Print Media Club
• PTO
• Readers to Leaders
• Robotics Club
• Roller Blading Club
• SAAC (Students Against Animal Cruelty)
• Scribble-Lit Arts Mag
• Slam Club
• Spear
• Spear It Tribe
• Swole Club
• Teenage Republicans
• Ultimate Frisbee
• Vegetarian Club
• Volleyball Club
• Wind Ensemble
• Yearbook
• Younglife
• Youth & Government

PDHS Reconstruction

Palm Desert High School is currently being reconstructed as part of the District's $100 million bond used for PDHS, Lincoln, Kennedy, and Eisenhower schools. The new campus has been built to the north of the old campus using the former sports fields for land. The project is to be completely finished by the beginning of the 2011-12 school year. The new fields will be opened by the following year. The project budget is estimated at $65 million dollars. The new classrooms have state-of-the-art facilities. Classrooms will have a capacity for 10 computers. A new gymnasium has been built to seat more than 500 students.

Notable alumni

• Alison Lohman
  Alison Lohman
  Alison Marion Lohman is an American actress. She has had lead roles in the films White Oleander, Where the Truth Lies, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Flicka and Drag Me to Hell as well as smaller parts in Matchstick Men, Big Fish, Gamer, and Beowulf...
  
   - class of 1997, actress.
• Josh Homme
  Joshua Homme
  Joshua Michael Homme is an American rock musician, and record producer. He was the guitarist and a founding member of the stoner metal band Kyuss, as well as the founding and only continuous member of the hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age , in which he sings, plays guitar, and serves as the...
  
   - class of 1991, Queens of the Stone Age
  Queens of the Stone Age
  Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up has always included founding member Josh Homme , with the current line-up including longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo , alongside Michael Shuman and...
  
  , Eagles of Death Metal
  Eagles of Death Metal
  Eagles of Death Metal is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, formed in 1998 by Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme. Despite their band name, Eagles of Death Metal are not a death metal band. Hughes stated that a friend was introducing Josh Homme to the death metal genre...
  
  , Kyuss
  Kyuss
  Kyuss is a rock band, originally from Palm Desert, California. After forming in the late 1980s and releasing an EP under the name Sons of Kyuss in 1990, the band shortened its name to Kyuss. Over the next five years the band released four full-length albums, and one last split EP in 1997 with...
  
  , and Them Crooked Vultures
  Them Crooked Vultures
  Them Crooked Vultures is a rock supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 2009 by John Paul Jones , Dave Grohl , and Josh Homme . The group also includes guitarist Alain Johannes during live performances...
  
  .
• Jesse Hughes
  Jesse Hughes (musician)
  Jesse "The Devil" Hughes is an American musician from Greenville, South Carolina. Hughes is known for his role as frontman of the California-based rock band, Eagles of Death Metal. He cites Little Richard as his biggest musical influence and inspiration.-Early life:At age 7, Hughes' mother, Jo...
  
  - class of 1990, singer and guitarist of rock band Eagles of Death Metal
  Eagles of Death Metal
  Eagles of Death Metal is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, formed in 1998 by Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme. Despite their band name, Eagles of Death Metal are not a death metal band. Hughes stated that a friend was introducing Josh Homme to the death metal genre...
  
  .
• James Dockery
  James Dockery
  James Dockery is an American football cornerback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. He was signed by the Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He played college football for Oregon State University he also graduated from Palm Desert High School in Palm Desert,...
  
   - class of 2006, was cornerback at Oregon State University
  Oregon State University
  Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
  
  . Currently with the Cleveland Browns
  Cleveland Browns
  The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
  
  of the NFL.

External links

• Palm Desert High School - Home Page