Tempe High School

Tempe High School is a Public high school located in Tempe, Arizona, approximately one mile south of Arizona State University.HistoryTempe Union High School was established by a vote of the people of Tempe in 1908. It was required, as the Normal School in Tempe (now ASU) no longer would enroll students with 8th-grade diplomas. Classes were held in rented space in downtown Tempe for the 1908-09 school year, as the school's permanent location was built. The first building opened in the fall of 1909 on the southeast corner of Mill and University (today the Tempe Towne Center, the town's first strip mall).Kemper Goodwin, a prominent local architect, would go on to graduate from Tempe High in the mid-1920s, then design its current campus in the 1950s. Games were played at Goodwin Stadium, the home of the ASU Sun Devils until 1957, and in the 1920s, the two teams played against each other on numerous occasions. It was not until 1969 that Tempe High's campus hosted football games.In 1953, the current Tempe High School opened with the administration and library buildings; three classroom units; and the cafeteria. (These are now buildings B through F). The gymnasium and auditorium remained at the former site for two more years until both burned down in 1955, both to clear the land for construction of Tempe Towne Center and to provide practice for the fire department. The "modular site" was fleshed out by the end of the 1960s.Explosion of enrollmentTempe expanded tremendously during the 1950s and 1960s. It grew so overcrowded at Tempe High School that double sessions were featured during the fall of 1964. The evening sessions were titled McClintock High School (they eventually moved to their own campus in January 1965).