Charlotte High School (Punta Gorda, Florida)

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Charlotte High School
Established	1926
Type	Public secondary
Principal	Bernard Duffy
Students	1,930+
Grades	9–12
Location	1250 Cooper Street Punta Gorda, Florida, USA
Colors	Blue and gold
Mascot	Fighting Tarpons

Charlotte High School
(U.S. National Register of Historic Places)
Charlotte High School's main building after hurricane, prior to deconstruction.
Location:	Punta Gorda, Florida United States
Coordinates:	26°55′39.77″N, 82°2′22.02″W
Built/Founded:	1926
Architectural style(s):	Masonry Vernacular with Neo-Classical elements^[1]
Added to NRHP:	December 12, 1990
Reference #:	90001796^[2]
Governing body:	Charlotte County Public Schools

The Charlotte High School (also known as the Punta Gorda High School) is a free historic public high school in Punta Gorda, Florida serving ninth through twelfth graders. It is located at 1250 Cooper Street. On December 12, 1990, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.^[2]

1 History
2 Extracurricular activities
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

Punta Gorda Grammar & High School opens its doors in 1907 with an enrollment of 150 students. Construction of a new school on Taylor Street began in 1911 due to overcrowding issues. However, in 1926 after the construction of the first bridge to cross Charlotte Harbor, bussing increased Punta Gorda enrollment to 1,000 and forced construction of Charlotte High School.^[3]

Hurricane Charley hit the Punta Gorda area on August 13, 2004 as a Category 4 hurricane, causing major damage to the high school and forcing the students to attend Port Charlotte High School during the afternoon shift for the rest of the 2004-2005 school year. Afterwards, the students were moved back on campus to portables. Charlotte High was one of the six schools in the county that were destroyed or heavily damaged.^[4] Despite the severe damage the third story building sustained, it was decided to try to save the historical landmark. It along with the rest of the campus, is set to be fully rebuilt within the next decade.

The History Channel's inaugural Save Our History Grant was awarded in 2005 to the Charlotte County Historical Society, in partnership with high school students from Charlotte High School and Port Charlotte High School. Putting aside academic and athletic rivalry, the students collaborated to preserve their community's experience through oral history.^[5]

[edit] Extracurricular activities

Charlotte High School offers a variety of activities to all of its students at all levels during its three sport seasons. Basketball, baseball/softball, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, track/cross country, volleyball and wrestling are available.

Despite the damage done to the campus, the school continues to maintain a number of successful sports and academic teams. The Model United Nations team has won top honors at many state, regional, and national conferences.^{[citation needed]} The school's United States Academic Decathlon has twice competed at the national level as state champions.^{[citation needed]}

Theatre

The school Thespian Troupe 922 inaugurated the Charlotte County Performing Arts Center black-box theatre with a performance of 12 Angry Men that won critical accolades. Thespian Troupe 922 has, on average, three performances each year.

In January of 2007, Troupe 922 performed at the District Thespian Festival, and won 4 superior awards and 9 excellent awards. In April, many of these students will be performing at the State Thespian Festival in Tampa, Florida.