History
THE PRIDE OF THE NORTH VALLEY
Valley is proud of its cultural and ethnic diversity, among our students you will find descendents of Albuquerque’s founding fathers, as well as those who have only recently arrived in America. The very street we sit on, Candelaria, is named for a family that provided us with a recent Student Body President. Neighborhoods within our attendance area, such as Los Duranes, Los Griegos, Los Anayas, and Los Chaves, are named for families who have been settled here for more than 300 years. Streets bearing their names are dotted throughout the North Valley. Their descendents are present at Valley today, filing the role of athlete, dancer, musician, thespian, singer, exceptional student, and student leader.
VALLEY VIKINGS
Our mascot is the Viking, chosen because of his fierce loyalty and fearlessness in battle. Like their Valley namesake, the Vikings have a long and storied history. The history of Valley starts in 1954, when Valley welcomed its first students under the leadership of Warren A. Smart. Principal Smart died shortly after taking the helm at Valley, and our gymnasium, completed in 1955 is named in his honor. Valley became Albuquerque’s third high school, only Albuquerque High and Highland are older. Our motto “Fifty six years of pride, tradition, and academic excellence”.
OUR ALUMNI
Valley has had, through the years many outstanding graduates with the likes of: Former UNM President Chris Garcia, world renown trumpeter Bobby Shew, artist Eduardo Gonzales, Broadway star Patti Coenhour of “Phantom of the Opera”, Kenny McCandless, star running back for Stanford University, and Sid Gutierrez, former astronaut and the first Hispanic to command a NASA space shuttle mission. Valley is also the only high school in APS to produce two Rhodes Scholars, Kip Bobroff and Frank Allen.
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Valley HS Library
