'A New High School in a New City with a New Zip Code' Emerges with the Opening of Combs High School in San Tan Valley

SAN TAN VALLEY - September 21, 2009 - "It's a new high school in a new city with a new zip code."

That's how J.O. Combs Unified School District Spokesperson Debbie Bippen describes the grand opening of Combs High School, which proudly celebrated its dedication during the school's first junior varsity football game on August 27th.

And no, she didn't say "new" too much.

Let's start with the geographical area - technically it isn't a city or town. San Tan Valley is Arizona's newest community. It's so new, in fact, that the Pinal County website still provides its residents with a webpage called, "Where is San Tan Valley?"

According to the handy site (pinalcountyaz.gov), San Tan Valley is already Pinal County's largest community in terms of overall population, and is located immediately south of the town limits of Queen Creek.

So just how new is the community - home of one of Arizona's newest schools? Well, the change in name become official on July 1st, just a month before Combs High School opened its doors.

But the new high school within the new community was the result of plenty of longtime effort, and was the result of a growing need. Voters in November, 2006 approved $48 million for the school district, and construction began on Combs High School one year later.

The J.O. Combs Unified School District and Combs High School couldn't come soon enough, Bippen said.

"All the kids were going over to Apache Junction, Queen Creek and Florence," Bippen said. "As those schools became full the kids were starting to get turned away."

Superintendent Jan Langer said, "The building of Combs High School is a dream come true for the Combs community."

Combs High School, which officially opened to students on August 3, currently has an enrollment of 900 students. The new campus, which will eventually accommodate up to 1,700 students, will serve 8th through 10th graders this school year before adding juniors in 2010-11 and seniors the year after.

Speaking at the Aug.27th dedication, Principal Brenda Mayberry said, "Tonight was about opportunities to say thanks, the feeling of completion and to give the public a glimpse of the future to come. (It was) a night of firsts; the fight song was revealed, the first home football game was played and (it was) the first opportunity to bring the community together with the student body.

"I look forward to many more nights just like this one."