Robert E. Lee High School (Jacksonville)

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Robert E. Lee High School
Established	1928
Type	Public magnet secondary
Principal	Denise Hall
Students	2,100
Grades	9–12
Location	Jacksonville, Florida USA
District	Duval County Public Schools
Colors	Blue and gray
Mascot	Generals
Yearbook	The blue and gray
Newspaper	The traveler
Website	www.educationcentral.org/lee

Robert E. Lee High School is a high school in Jacksonville, Florida. It was named after Civil War general Robert E. Lee and is one of the two oldest high schools in Jacksonville, the other being Andrew Jackson High School.

Lee’s first principal was Professor E.L. Lounsbury. Lee High School is known for its rivalry with Jackson High School. The controversy between the two high schools is one of the reasons the "westside/eastside beef" was created. Lee is also known for their rapid change, athletics and having the number one drumline in Duval County. Lee turned into a predominately black school after full racial integration was finally implemented in the early 1970s.^[1] Enrollment at Lee rose from 954 the first year to about 2,000 in the 1950s. The current enrollment is around 2,000 and Ms. Denise Hall is the current principal.

On November 24, 1986, Lee was ravaged by a fire that destroyed the library and many classrooms. The fire caused damage that was estimated at $4.5 million. As a result of the fire and the damage it caused, The Robert E. Lee High School Restoration Committee was formed by Lee alumni to help raise money for the restoration of the school.

In 1965, a group of Lee High School students formed the band My Backyard. Later, the band, lead by singer Ronnie Van Zant, renamed the band Lynyrd Skynyrd after their Lee teacher Leonard Skinner.

LeRoy Butler and Edgar Bennett, members of the Super Bowl champion team the Green Bay Packers graduated from Lee as well as professional golfer Mark McCumber. Ander Crenshaw, Representative - 4th district of Florida and Hans Tanzler, former mayor of Jacksonville also graduated from Lee.