Basha High School

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Basha High School
Home of the Bears
Location
5990 S. Val Vista Dr. Chandler, Arizona
Coordinates	33°13′14″N 111°45′27″W / 33.220596°N 111.757485°W / 33.220596; -111.757485
Information
Type	Public
Established	2002
School district	Chandler Unified School District
Principal	Marques Reischl
Teaching staff	146.93 (FTE)[1]
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	2,892 (2023-2024)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	19.68[1]
Color(s)	Green, Vegas gold, black
Mascot	Bear
Newspaper	Basha Bear News (BBN)
Website	mychandlerschools.org/Domain/457

Basha High School is a public high school located in Chandler, Arizona and was the third high school built by Chandler Unified School District.

Basha High School was named after Eddie Basha Jr., who donated millions of dollars to the Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) and lived in the community until his death in 2013.^[2] The CUSD school board appointed Marques Reischl, former Basha High School Vice Principal and athletic director, as the school's new principal on July 1, 2020.^[3]

Basha abides by the standards set by the Arizona Department of Education and implements the state's Education and Career Action Plan (ECAP),^[4][5] which is required for all students in the 9th-12th grade to graduate from a public high school in Arizona.^[6] CUSD high schools also have an open enrollment policy, meaning students outside the intended school boundaries may attend without tuition or other penalties.^[7]

Arizona requires that all high school students take six credit-bearing courses during their freshmen, sophomore, and junior years, and they can reduce to four credit-bearing courses if they are on track to graduate. The CUSD requires all students to complete 22 credits, while the public university system, controlled by the Arizona Board of Regents, requires 16 credits from the following areas: ^[6]

At all CUSD high schools, students may swap three semesters (½ credits per semester) of Spiritline, Dance, Drill Team, Color Guard, Marching Band, Winter Guard, or AFJROTC for the Physical Education credit required for graduation.^[8]

Students who choose applied sciences in areas such as Applied Biology or Applied Agricultural Sciences gain equivalent Science credits. Likewise, Economics credits can be awarded for courses such as Agricultural Business Management, Business, Business Applications, Marketing, Economics Applications, Family and Consumer Sciences, and vocational courses.^[6]

Students can earn community college credits through a partnership with Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) and cooperative credits for vocational courses offered by East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT). To apply these credits toward a degree, students must be dually enrolled in the Arizona Community College and the Arizona Public University System. The CUSD Transportation Department provides routes between Basha, EVIT, and CGCC. Additionally, they offer after-school transportation for students participating in after-school activities.^[6]

Separate from EVIT and CGCC, the University of Arizona implemented a pilot program in 2014 to give university credits to students pursuing introductory engineering courses.^[9] Basha has an Accelerated Middle School (AMS) Program on campus, which allows AMS students access to high school teachers and equipment.

Basha is an Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) member school offering boys and girls sports complying with Title IX. Student-athletes can participate in varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen-only teams, as well as individual athletics in the following sports:

The Basha girls' softball team has won two state titles in back-to-back years (2008 and 2009), and another in the 2022-2023 season.^[10]

The Basha Boys Basketball team won the Arizona state championship in 2017.^[11]

The Basha Bears won the 2022 State Open Championship, the highest-tiered Arizona high school football title.^[12]

The Basha Bear Regiment won their first state championship in Division II in 2009, and the Indoor Percussion Ensemble won eight consecutive state championships from 2007 through 2014 and again in 2019. The Basha Winter Winds ensemble also won the state championships in 2019.^{[citation needed]}

Its speech and debate team competes in the National Forensic League.^{[citation needed]}

Basha High has a branch of the Chandler Public Library within the school.^[13]

• Allan Bower, artistic gymnast and member of Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics^[14]
• Brennen Davis, baseball player^[15]
• Casey Legumina, pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds
• Jamie Westbrook, member of Team USA Baseball at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
• Demond Williams Jr., college football quarterback for the Washington Huskies^[16]

• Official website
• School report card from the Arizona Department of Education
• Basha High School Band