Canyon del Oro High School (CDO) is a comprehensive public high school in Oro Valley, Arizona, located 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Tucson at the base of Pusch Ridge. Established in 1964, CDO is one of three high schools of Amphitheater Public Schools and serves about 1,600 students in grades 9–12. The school name originates from the remote Canyon del Oro (Spanish for Canyon of Gold) in the nearby Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. The school mascot is the Dorado, a mythical Latin American warrior. The school colors are forest green and gold. The Dorado mascot was designed and painted on the gymnasium floor by former art teacher Diane Redhair in the mid-1960s. Her design was based on two different winning submissions by CDO students John Epling and Kenny Harris who had submitted their designs to a school-wide competition. CDO is primarily known for its academic program and the notable number of Major League Baseball players the school has produced in recent decades. CDO is statistically one of the highest achieving schools in Arizona, both academically and athletically. In 2007, 2010, and again in 2011, Newsweek Magazine rated CDO in the top 5% of public schools in the U.S., one of a handful of schools in Arizona included on the list. In 2011, Newsweek ranked CDO No. 408 in its list of top public schools in the U.S. (top 1.5 percent nationally). From 2005 to the present, CDO has consistently been academically classified as Excelling by the Arizona Department of Education (top 10 percent in Arizona). Between 2000 and 2010, CDO has graduated 42 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists. CDO is also home to the 2011 Arizona Academic Decathlon State Champions, with the team finishing 5th in the National Academic Decathlon competition. The team placed as State Champion in 2009, finishing 4th in the National Academic Decathlon, State Runner-Up in 2007, 2008, and 2010, and was State Champion in 2006, finishing 5th in the National Academic Decathlon. CDO is also ranked 2nd in Arizona for the most all-time state championships in 4A & 5A (large school) team sports as of 2006 (Arizona Interscholastic Association). (en)