Cathedral Catholic High School

University High School (known as UHS or Uni) was founded in 1957 as a Catholic college preparatory high school for boys. It was located in the San Diego neighborhood of Linda Vista, on a site overlooking Mission Bay to the west and Mission Valley to the south, across the street from the University of San Diego which had been founded in 1949.[6] The first principal was Reverend Father James Cadden, a scholar of church history. For the first few years of the school's existence the faculty consisted entirely of ordained priests.

Its sister-school Cathedral Girls High School had been founded in 1943 and was located on a downtown campus. In 1970 it merged with UHS to become a co-educational high school.[7] The class of 1971 was the first co-educational graduating class in UHS history. In 1986 the name of the school was changed to University of San Diego High School (USDHS). As of 2005 over 10,000 students had graduated from the school.[6]

Students at Uni were also afforded opportunities to participate in a wide variety of extracurricular activities including fine arts, athletics, clubs, service organizations and leadership roles. The athletic teams were the Dons, and all students and alumni were referred to as Dons, with the motto "once a Don, always a Don".[8][9] In 1998 USDHS was honored by the United States Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon School.[10]

The Linda Vista campus held 1,450 students. In 1999, the Diocese of San Diego proposed a plan to relocate the school to a larger campus. Construction was begun on a brand new campus in a location in Carmel Valley. The new school was to have larger facilities to accommodate up to 2000 students, and host many extracurricular activities and sports such as football, swim/dive, water polo, basketball, sailing, soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, softball and baseball. The majority of these activities had been holding practices and events outside of the Linda Vista campus due to the lack of facilities. Dr. Richard Kelly was the principal from 1991 to 2004, the longest-serving principal of that school. He did not transition to CCHS but facilitated the move.[10]

The new campus was completed in summer of 2005, and USDHS officially shut down after the 2004–2005 school year. The new school opened as Cathedral Catholic High School in August 2005, with all the same faculty, administration, and the remaining three classes of students from USDHS (Classes of 2006, 2007, and 2008). On May 31, 2008, the final class of USDHS students, who had been freshmen at the time of the transition, graduated from CCHS.

Cathedral Catholic continued all of the traditions from USDHS, including the Dons mascot for the athletic teams. The names of the yearbook (Presidio), newspaper (El Cid), and art/literary magazine (El Sol) were also preserved.

The Dons Athletic Hall of Fame was moved to the gymnasium at CCHS. The statues and relics from the old campus, such as the Mary statue from the quad, were all moved to locations around the Cathedral Catholic campus. The dedicated walk of fame from the quad at Uni was originally proposed to be moved and installed on the quad of CCHS around a new memorial fountain. But due to deterioration and costly efforts, the stones were not brought to CCHS. Those who had names there were honored with a memorial display, which was hung in the USDHS Library at CCHS during the 50th Anniversary Celebration. Notable dedications for major Uni/CCHS contributors have been engraved into the stone benches and lamp posts around CCHS' quad as well.

The Linda Vista campus was temporarily occupied by Notre Dame Academy from June 2005 to January 2006, while that school's new campus, also in the Carmel Valley area, was being completed. In 2008 the Linda Vista campus was sold to The Irvine Company for development. The site is now the home of a 500+ unit apartment complex called Carmel Pacific Ridge.[11]

The CCHS campus in Carmel Valley opened in 2005. It is designed to resemble a Tuscan village.[10] The founding principal was Mike Deely, himself a graduate of USDHS; he served as principal until 2015.[12] In 2021 the diocese appointed the school's first female principal, Marlena Conroy.[13]

At approximately 1600[14] students, CCHS is the largest high school in the Diocese of San Diego.[7] The 54-acre campus includes ten major buildings including a chapel, theater, and gymnasium.[15]

CCHS offers Advanced Placement classes in art history, biology, calculus AB & BC, chemistry, English language, English literature, environmental science, Macroeconomics, Physics C, Spanish language, studio art, US history, US government and World history.[16]

Dual-enrollment classes with MiraCosta College and Mesa College are also offered, as well as honors courses.[17]

Visual and performing arts classes at CCHS include drama and advanced drama 1–2, multimedia authoring 1–2, CCTV broadcast and video journalism, journalism, photography, digital imaging, art 1–2, art 3–4, ceramics, 3D design, introduction to guitar, choral music, concert and pep band, AP art history and AP studio art. After-school courses in band, journalism and Yearbook are also available.[18]

• Mike Carey – football referee
• Steve Dunning – baseball player
• Billy Eppler (1993) – baseball executive[26][27]
• Justin Green – football player[28]
• Dave Kellett (1992) – cartoonist
• Gloria Calderon Kellett (1993) – television writer[28]
• Phil Mickelson (1988) – golfer[29]
• Scott Peterson (1990) – convicted murderer[30][31][32]
• Mark Prior (1998) – baseball player[28]
• Carlos Quentin – baseball player[33]
• Chris Richard – baseball player
• Kelly Rulon (2002) – water polo player[34]
• Jerry Trainor (1995) – actor[28]
• Moriah van Norman – water polo player[35]
• Luke Walton (1998) – NBA player and head coach[36]
• Barry Zito – baseball player[37]

• Daniel Camarena, first pitcher since 1898 to hit a grand slam on his first hit
• Brady Aiken, first overall pick of the 2014 MLB Draft[38]
• Megan Faraimo, college softball pitcher
• Tyler Gaffney, NFL running back[39]
• Stephen Gonsalves, MLB pitcher for Minnesota Twins[40]
• Brandon McCoy, professional basketball player
• Casey Toohill, NFL Defensive End[41]