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.
Academics
Basha abides by the standards set by the Arizona Department of Education and implements the state's Education and Career Action Plan (ECAP)[3][4] required for all students in the 9th-12th gdade to graduate from a public high school in Arizona.[5] CUSD high schools also have an open enrollment policy, meaning students from outside the intended school boundaries may attend without tuition or other penalties.[6]
Arizona requires that all high school students take 6 credit bearing courses during their freshmen, sophomore and junior years, and have the option of reducing to 4 credit bearing courses if they are on track to graduate. However, the CUSD requires all students must complete 22 credits whereas the public university system controlled by the Arizona Board of Regents requires only 16 credits in the following areas:[5]
English - 4 credits
Mathematics - 4 credits
Science - 3 credits
Social Studies - 3 credits
Career and Technical Education/Fine Arts - 1 credit
Community college credits can be awarded through a partnership with Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC), and cooperative credits for vocational courses are provided by East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT). Students must be dually enrolled in the Arizona Community College or Arizona Public University System to accept the credits towards a degree. CUSD Transportation Department provides routes between Basha, EVIT, and CGCC with after school hours transportation intended for students participating in after-school activities.[5]
Other programs
Separate from EVIT and CGCC, the University of Arizona implemented a pilot program to get university credits for students pursuing introductory engineering courses starting in 2014.[8] Basha has an Accelerated Middle School (AMS) Program on campus. AMS students have access to high school teachers and equipment.
Extracurricular activities
Athletics
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 Boys Basketball team won the Arizona state championship in 2017.[9]
The Basha girls' softball team has won two state titles in back-to-back years (2008 and 2009).[10]
Competitive musical programs
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]
