Outstanding Achievements
We have a long tradition of outstanding students and staff.
Here are the district's previous outstanding achievements.
4-9-24 Outstanding Achievements:
Multiple students from several CFSD schools placed well in the Arizona Regional Science & Engineering Fair (SARSEF); Two CFHS students are 2024 Flinn Scholars; CFSD 2024 Poetry Contest Winners have been announced; CFHS art student was chosen as one of five winners of the Outstanding Emerging High School Artist Award; OGMS student won 1st place in the
Aline Goodman Young Artist Award competition; Our district has been recognized with a Best Communities for Music Education Award; CFHS senior in our Early Childhood Education program received the Gold Medal award in her interview competition at this year's state Family, Career and Community Leaders of America competition
3-12-24 Outstanding Achievements:
Two CFHS Juniors were selected for the 2024 Arizona Girls State; Twenty-four CFHS students were selected for the Arizona Music Educators Association (AMEA) Regional Honor Choir; Sixty-Eight band students were selected for the AMEA Regional Honor Band and Regional Honor Orchestra Winds; Eleven Sunrise Drive students placed in the Chinese Language Teachers Association speech contest; Three CFHS seniors were chosen for the Hispanic Heritage Foundation Youth Awards; Pioneer Robotics won the MOTIVATE Award at state competition; Two CFHS Seniors were named 2024 National Merit Scholarship Finalists; Two CFHS Intermediate Theatre Arts students were selected as finalists to participate in the regional Shakespeare competition at the University of Arizona; Three CFHS Art students were selected by the Arizona Art Education Association for a special exhibit at the Western Spirit Museum; Ten CFHS DECA students competed at State. Five are going on to the International Center Development Conference; Our three CFHS orchestras performed well at the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association's (ABODA) Area Concert Festival; The ECMS band also performed well at an ABODA Festival.
2-13-24 Outstanding Achievements:
Esperero Canyon Middle School Counselor is named Arizona's Counselor of the Year; Two CFHS Seniors are among the recently named 36 Flinn Scholarship Finalists; The 2023 CFHS Falcon Yearbook received a 1st Place Award from the Arizona Scholastic Association; The CFSD Foundation announced its 5 finalists for the 2024 Teacher of the Year award; CFHS Senior has received the prestigious Navy ROTC Scholarship; CFHS DECA students competed at the District 3 conference; CFHS high school choir members performed at the Arizona Tier 1 Solo & Ensemble Festival; CFHS theatre department did very well at the AZ Thespian Regional Festival; CFHS placed first at the Science Olympiad invitational tournament; CFHS VEX Robotics Club participated recently in a VEX Robotics Challenge(VRC); At the 2024 FIRST LEGO League State Championship, CFSD teams had a strong showing; CFHS Graphic Design students participated recently in the Quickfire Design challenge; Two CFHS girls basketball players were named to the Arizona Interscholastic Association's All-Region 1st Team; Five of our students have been admitted to the STARTALK Chinese language program.
1-9-24 Outstanding Achievements:
Esperero Canyon Middle School 8th grade boys’ basketball team are the Northwest League Champions; Orange Grove's Science Olympiad Team, “The Atoms,” on December 12, scored first place overall at the Science Olympiad competition; At the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) AZ Diamondback Tucson Qualifier on December 16, CFHS Pioneer Robotics earned two awards recognizing the team's overall excellence and gracious professionalism.
12-12-23 Outstanding Achievements:
Congratulations to our 8 FIRST Lego League robotics teams with elementary and middle school students who competed in the 2023-24 FLL "Masterpiece" season challenge and competed in the Tucson Regional FLL tournament on Saturday, December 3rd. And good luck to the teams that won awards and are advancing to the state tournament in January.
11-14-23 Outstanding Achievements:
All of CFSD's K-12 schools (elementary, middle, and high) were graded A by the Arizona Department of Education; Concert Chorale, Concert Silver and Change of Pace earned the highest possible rating, Superior with Distinction, at the regional Fall Choral Festival hosted by CFHS; The Sinfonia and Symphonic Strings orchestras performed at the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association Fall Orchestra Festival. Sinfonia earned an Excellent with Recognition and Symphonic Strings earned a Superior with Distinction; The Marching Falcons represented CFHS at the Bands of America Festival in Flagstaff, AZ. The Marching Falcons returned home having earned 8th place overall and 2nd place amongst the bands from Arizona; CFHS Varsity and JV Cheer teams both won first place at the Arizona Crown championships; At the State Championship, Foothills Girls Swim and Dive came in second overall; Advanced Theatre students represented in the tech challenge by two teams, and one won 2nd place in quickest costume change at the Arizona State Thespian Festival; CFHS Boys Golf earned four of the 2023 Southern Arizona Boys Golf All-Star awards from All Sports Tucson; Emaan Iftikhar, CFHS's nominee for the UofA 2023 Young Women of Impact, was recognized for her commitment to and demonstration of six core values of UofA.
10-3-23 Outstanding Achievements:
Congratulations to our National Merit Semifinalists and Commended Students. The semifinalists are Ethan Blakely, Matalyn Hall, and Luke Sadalla. The commended students are Ethan Beckett, Rylee Chung, Jude Fell, Zakary Gruber, Ethan Jeon, Benjamin Upton, and Cyrus Zhang; At the first competition of the 2023 marching season, the Mountain View High School Show, our CFHS Falcon Marching Band swept all of the caption awards (General Effect, Music, Visual, Auxiliary and Percussion!) and scored a 1st Place Win in the 5A division; CFHS senior Henry Bonomolo is part of a select group admitted into Apple Developer Lab to work with experts to test, refine, and enhance his app on multiple platforms. Henry developed an app that enables students with cognitive and/or visual impairments to program the robots in the LEGO Education Spike Prime sets; The Orange Grove Middle School cross country teams ended their successful cross country season at the NW League championships. The girl's team won the championship and the boy's team earned 4th place.
9-12-23 Outstanding Achievements:
Congratulations to the eight Catalina Foothills High School students who have been awarded National Recognition from the College Board. These students earned this academic honor because of their outstanding performance on the PSAT/NMSQT® and/or AP® Exams and a GPA of 3.5 or higher; National Hispanic Recognition Award: Diego Baca, Henry Bonomolo, Ivanna
Viloria Enciso, Lauren Thompson, and Eliza Cabrera Urzen; National African American Recognition Award: Mariah Bime, Quincy Hopkins, and Julian Safo.
6-13-23 Outstanding Achievements:
CFHS sophomore Nina Raju received a Melikian Center Award, which provides scholarships for distinguished applicants to study any language at ASU's Critical Language Center; For their performance in Urinetown, The musical, Vivianna Colson, Lance Jacobson, and Kiera Kuehnle were selected as semi-finalists to compete at the Monte Awards; At the 2023 Arizona High School Open Track & Field Championships on May 13, CFHS senior Brandon Martz finished first in the boys 3200 with a time of 9:16.84, making him the state champion.
5-9-23 Outstanding Achievements:
Three Esperero students ("Brick Bros" team) won first place at the first ever Tucson Mini-Master LEGO Building Competition; At the Division II tennis doubles state championships on May 1, the CFHS team of Jason Jia and Santiago Lietzau won 1st place; The CFHS boys and girls tennis teams won the Division II State Championship. The boys tennis team has set a new Arizona record with nine consecutive state championships; CFHS Kiera Kuehnle, Intermediate Theatre Arts student, participated in the National Shakespeare Competition in New York City; At the All-State Choir Festival, CFHS's Julia Jonas was asked to perform as part of the Tier III honors recital inside Gammage Hall at ASU ; Two CFHS Computer Programming students qualified to go to the National Competition in the Computer Game & Simulation Programming event; Several Orange Grove 8th graders participated in the Arizona Council of Economics Education competition; On April 15, the Orange Grove track teams took 1st place for the girls and 3rd place for the boys at the Kiwanis de Amigos Relays.
4-11-23 Outstanding Achievements:
Eight (8) Esperero choir students participated in the Arizona Music Educators Association Junior High All-State Choir; The high school Sinfonia Orchestra earned a Superior with Distinction at the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association Area Festival; CFHS senior performed in the Arizona Percussive Arts Society festival; CFHS photography student won "Special Recognition" at the Pima County Library Art Invitational; Multiple CFSD students and their projects were winners at the Southern Arizona Research, Science and Engineering Foundation (SARSEF) science fair.
3-14-23 Outstanding Achievements:
The CFSD Foundation announced its Teachers of the Year; CFHS Falcon Pomline won 1st place at the Pink State Championship; Sunrise Drive 5th grader was among the 12 winners at the Tucson Festival of Books of the Aline Goodman Young Artist Award 2023; Two CFHS Theatre Arts students represented CFHS and competed at the English Speaking Union's 36th Annual Shakespeare Competition at the U of A; Four CFHS Graphic Design students competed in the Tucson Area High School Graphic Design Championships; Twelve CFHS athletes signed their letter of intent for athletics at the NCAA Signing Day; CFHS Sophomore was named Arizona Central's Athlete of the Week; Two Catalina Foothills High School teams reached the final four in the 5A state championships; CFHS Change of Pace performed at the 2023 Jazz Madrigal Festival hosted by Northern Arizona University; CFHS singers held 1st chair positions in the Soprano, Alto, and Tenor sections at the Arizona Music Educators High School Regional Festival; CFHS Colorguard took 1st place at the recent Mt. View Winterguard Invitational; At the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Concert Band Festival three CFHS concert bands received the top rating of Superior with Distinction; At the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Concert Band Festival three CFHS concert bands received the top rating of Superior with Distinction; Pioneer 327 won three judged awards at the FIRST Tech Challenge state championship at Northern Arizona University; DECA students attended the State Career Development Conference, the flagship conference of Arizona DECA.
2-14-23 Outstanding Achievements:
Congratulations to 3rd grade Canyon View teacher for earning her National Board Certification and to MZ 1st-2nd multiage and CFSD learning support specialist for renewing their certification; Congratulations to CFHS Assistant Director of Bands who was recognized with the O.M. Hartsell Award for excellence in music education; Congratulations to two CFSD students (CV 2nd grade) and (OG 6th grade) who were named runners-up in Governor's "An Arizona for Everyone" inaugural art contest; Congratulations to CFHS senior who was named one of the 82 Flinn Scholarship Semifinalists; Congratulations to two Esperero students who took 2nd place at the Arizona State Championship Blitz Chess Tournament; Congratulations to three Sunrise Drive 1st grade chess team members who won 1st place in the state chess tournament on January 21; Congratulations to CV 5th grade student who is CFSD's spelling champion for 2023; Congratulations to CFHS senior who was named the 2022-2023 Arizona Boys Cross Country Player of the Year by Gatorade; Congratulations to the CFHS Pioneer Robotics who was named the recipient of the INSPIRE award (overall winner) at the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Diamondback Qualifier; Congratulations to two CFHS student musicians who performed in the Arizona All-State Jazz on February 2nd; Congratulations to the CFHS Colorguard who took 1st place at the Mountain View Winterguard Invitation on February 11.
12-13-22 Outstanding Achievements:
Six CFHS athletes signed their Letters of Intent to continue to pursue both their academic education and athletics in college; Community Schools fielded six FIRST Lego League teams at the regional tournament on December 3rd where team Grocery Gurus became the regional tournament champions.
11-8-22 Outstanding Achievements:
All CFSD schools earned an "A" letter grade by the Arizona Department of Education; Several Esperero Middle School and Canyon View Elementary students were selected by audition to participate in the Arizona Choir Directors Association State Cantaremos Honor Choirs; The high school's Sinfonia Orchestra performed at the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association (ABODA) Fall Orchestra Festival and received a Superior rating; The high school's Concert Chorale, Concert Silver and Change of Pace competed in the Arizona Choral Educators Fall Festival at Palo Verde High School where all three choirs received the highest possible award of "Superior with Distinction; The high school's Falcon Band received a top score in Music, Visual Performance, and General Effect at the U of A Band Day; At the Eye of the Tiger 2022 Cross Country meet hosted by Marana High School, both the CFHS girls and boys teams placed first in their divisions in the 5000 meter run finals; The CFHS boys golf team placed 3rd in the Division II State Tournament and the CFHS girls golf team placed 8th in the state tournament; The CFHS boys and girls XC teams competed in a tournament at Rio Rico. The boys placed 2nd in their region and the girls placed 1st in their region; The CFHS swim & dive teams competed at the Division II state finals last Saturday in Paradise Valley. The girls team placed 3rd overall, and the boys finished 7th.
9-13-22 Outstanding Achievements:
Congratulations to our teachers who completed CFSD's Great Beginnings: Systems for Success induction program in June 2022; CFHS Graduate was the recipient of the Stuart Weber Scholarship for his study of guitar; Congratulations to Director of Finance and the entire business services staff of the district. Once again, the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) awarded to CFSD its Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.
5-10-22 Outstanding Achievements:
CFHS senior was named a Flinn Scholar for the Class of 2022; Two Orange Grove teams of 8th graders tied for 1st place at the State Champion Finals for the Mayor's Challenge for Economic Education; 1st/2nd grade teacher at Manzanita, was honored this month with the Tucson Values Teachers' Teacher Excellence Award; Two CFHS students have been named KEYS research interns; District poetry contest winners for 2022 have been announced.
4-12-22 Outstanding Achievements:
CFHS Blue won the Science Olympiad Arizona Championship held at the ASU Tempe campus. CFHS Silver finished strong as well, placing 5th out of 22 teams; Students from all CFSD schools participated in the SARSEF competition and earned awards; Five CFHS singers were admitted into the Arizona All-State Choir; CFHS graphic design students were recognized in the Graphic Design Regional Championships; The high school's Model United Nations team competed in the annual AZMUN at the University of Arizona; Two CFHS students won the Move Mining competition at the MINEXCHANGE 2022 Annual Conference and Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah; Community Schools' Odyssey of the Mind teams competed at the March 27 State Championships. Two teams placed 1st: Odyssey ReOMvention Div II team took 1st in all categories (state champs); Several CFSD FIRST Lego League teams won awards at the FLL State Championship held on March 5-6 at the ASU Tempe campus; Several CFHS band members made the All-State Band and Orchestra; Music director at Canyon View and band director at Ventana Vista, received a Best Communities for Music Education Award sponsored by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation.
3-8-22 Outstanding Achievements:
CFHS Pomline won state! They won First Place for Division 2 Pom at the Pink State Tournament on February 19; CFHS Link Crew leaders and freshmen did a "Share the Love" community service project around Valentine's Day; CFHS Pioneer 327 robotics team, placed second out of 38 teams at the Arizona FIRST Tech Challenge State Championship on February 19; Five CFHS Falcon wrestlers qualified for State; CFHS Winterguard won the Scholastic Regional A Division at Mountain View High School on February 19; CFHS Junior competed at the Junior Olympics in fencing in Salt Lake City, UT, on February 18-19.
2-8-22 Outstanding Achievements:
The CFSD Foundation has named its two 2022 Teachers of the Year and three Distinguished Educators; Our VVELC program has achieved accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC); The CFHS Pomline is headed to the state competition. The team secured a spot by placing 4th out of 16 teams in Division 2 at the AIA Dance Qualifier in Phoenix; The CFHS FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team, Pioneer 327, captained the winning alliance in the robot matches at the Queen Creek Copper Invitational; CFHS Intermediate Theatre class held an annual English-Speaking Union, in-school competition. Two finalists were selected to represent CFHS at the University of Arizona for the local level of the competition; CFHS art students were regional winners of the 2022 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards; CFHS Yearbook Editors received a First Place from the American Scholastic Press Association and a First Class with 2 marks of distinction from the National Scholastic Press Association; CFHS senior has been named a Regional Finalist for the 2022 class of the Coca-Cola Scholars Program.
12-14-21 Outstanding Achievements:
Two CFHS seniors have been named 2022 Flinn Scholarship Semifinalists; CFHS senior has been named a 2022 Coca-Cola Scholar Semifinalist; CFHS theatre students attended the Arizona Thespian Festival and two students won 1st and 2nd place in the Tech Challenge Light Hanging event; ECMS student has been recognized for Valorous Conduct by the Tucson Police Department's Chief of Police; CFSD FIRST Logo League (FLL) teams competed at the FIRST Lego League regional tournament and brought home 1st place tournament champions as well as several other awards; CFHS advanced graphic design students competed in Inviemo in the Old Pueblo where two students were recognized in the Winterhaven Logo design category; CFHS girls and boys teams placed 4th and 5th respectively at the 2021 Interscholastic Association Cross Country State Championship.
11-09-21 Outstanding Achievements:
The CFHS Girls Golf Team came in 3rd overall at State at Omni Tucson National; All three CFSD Falcon Choir groups received the highest possible rating of "Superior with Distinction" at the Arizona Choral Educators Fall Festival; The Foothills Falcon Band won 1st place at the Ironwood Ridge Marching Band Invitational and won the 4A Division and the Nunamaker Award at the U of A Band Day; The Foothills Falcon Band has been invited to perform in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA, on January 1, 2023; CFHS Director of Bands Renee Shane-Boyd was in Washington D.C. in 2016 when the NAfME received a grant to write a series of primary source lessons in conjunction with the Library of Congress. Renee was asked recently to be a part of the team that will write the final round of lessons for the proficient and advanced levels; The CFHS swim and dive teams competed at the State Championships. The boys team placed 2nd overall and the girls team finished in 5th place; CFHS Falcon varsity football squad was crowned the 4A Gila Region Champion.
10-19-21 Outstanding Achievements:
Eight of our seniors have been identified as semifinalists in this year's National Merit Scholarship Program; The CFHS marching band received 1st place at the Sabino High School Marching Band Invitational.
8-10-21 Outstanding Achievements:
Math League students placed in the U.S. Top 25 in Division 5 at the virtual Math League National Championships on July 19; CFHS student received the Congressional Award Gold Medal at a virtual ceremony on July 30; Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) has awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to CFSD.
6-8-21 Outstanding Achievements:
CFHS tennis players swept the All Sports Tucson All-Stars; Sunrise Drive's Math Team ranked 1st place in Sweepstakes at the state championship; Two CFHS softball players have earned spots on international teams; CFHS Pioneer 327 Robotics Team won the THINK Award and the COMPASS Award, and took 3rd place for the INSPIRE Award, at the first Tech Challenge Arizona State Championship; CFHS senior qualified to compete in the 2021 NSDA National Speech and Debate Tournament; Our senior class had over 280 students - 60% of the senior class - complete the FAFSA prior to April 1 this year. It made CFHS the winner of the 2021 Arizona FAFSA Completion Contest; Three CFHS graduates are among the 12 Tucson seniors who received college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships.
5-11-21 Outstanding Achievements:
CFHS swept both the AIA Division II high school boys and girls tennis state championship; CFHS tennis players captured the state singles titles at the Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale; CFHS student is among 20 Arizona seniors selected for the Flinn Scholars Class of 2021; Three CFHS seniors earned National Merit Corporate Sponsorship Scholarships; Tucson Values Teachers (TVT) honored Manzanita kindergarten teacher with its Teacher Excellence Award; CFHS athletes are continuing their athletic careers at the collegiate level, and participate in the NLI Signing Day; Two CFHS students will represent the high school at the 2021 American Legion Auxiliary Arizona Girls State; CFHS student won a National gold medal in the Scholastic Digital Art Awards ; Canyon View Elementary was named one of the best communities for music education by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation; CFSD 2021 Poetry Contest winners announced; Our FIRST Lego League team, PedEx, is the only team from Arizona invited to compete in the Virtual Open Invitational.
4-13-21 Outstanding Achievements:
CFHS boys basketball team captured the state title in their first season in the 5A division; CFHS Science Olympiad Blue Team won the 2021 Division C State Championship; At the FIRST Lego League (FLL) State Championship, 2 of the 3 Community Schools teams won awards; EC 8th grader received the regional Scholastic Gold Key Award from The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers; EC teacher has partnered with the Arizona K12 Center and the Maricopa County School Superintendent’s Office to develop the Voices for Impact Training Guide and Engagement Toolkit; MZ teacher was accepted into the New-York Historical Society’s National Endowment for the Humanities Institute; Five CFHS bioscience students participated in the Arizona Junior Science and Humanities Symposium; Several CFSD K-12 students won awards at the 2021 Southern Arizona Research, Science and Engineering Foundation; Two CFHS students won awards at the Tucson Area High School Graphic Design Championship; Four EC students were invited to participate in the Governor’s Arts Chamber Youth Singers of Arizona; Three CFHS students made the Arizona Music Educators Association’s All-State Choir; Nine CFHS students were selected by audition to the Arizona All-State Band; CFHS senior was selected to perform in a special jazz video recording project of the song REUNION, composed by Benny Golson; Multiple CFHS athletes won 5A All-Region Awards.
3-9-21 Outstanding Achievements:
CFHS musicians selected for the 2021 AMEA Regional Honor Band. This is the largest number from any high school in the state; CFHS vocalists were selected for the 2021 AMEA Regional Honor Choir; CFHS student was selected as one of two students representing the state of Arizona at the 2021 U.S. Senate Youth Program; Three (3) CFSD Community Schools’ FIRST Lego League (FLL) teams won top awards at a recent Tucson regional tournament; Community Schools Math League enrichment club members earned 1st places in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade groups in the Math League competition, the 6th qualifying round for Arizona; CFHS senior has been nominated as a U.S. Presidential Scholar.
2-9-21 Outstanding Achievements:
CFSD Foundation has named its 2021 Teachers of the Year; CFHS FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team, Pioneer 327, is headed to state competition based on their successful showing at the January Palo Verde Invitational; CFHS senior was named to the Arizona All-State Jazz Band for the 3rd consecutive year; CFHS SciOly Blue and Silver teams placed in the top three for 15 of the 16 events, with 9 first-place finishes; CFHS speech & debate team competed recently in the Wildcat Cup; CFHS senior is among the 35 Arizona high school seniors who have been named finalists for the Flinn Scholarship; CFHS Studio Art students won Gold and Silver at the Southwest Region of the National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.