Darnell-Cookman Middle School

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Darnell-Cookman Middle School, established in 1952, is located in downtown Jacksonville, Florida, USA, across from Shands Hospital. As of 2002, the school had 1,228 students, and had an instructional staff of 57. The school's colors are blue and gold, and the school mascot is a Viking. The school is a dedicated magnet for advanced studies and gifted students. There is also a medical magnet program. Its medical magnet allows students to take a medical science class as an elective. It has many extra curricular activities including at least eleven clubs and sports.

1 Academics
2 Medical Magnet
3 Clubs and Sports
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Academics

Darnell-Cookman has consistently been one of the best middle schools in the state of Florida. It has been rated an A school by the state every year since Florida instituted its grading system, with one exception. The third year of the rating system Darnell was given a C and was in the first five scoring schools in the state (out of over 600 schools) on the FCAT. The C grade resulted from an increase of 3 students (out of 1200) testing in the lowest reading group. Darnell-Cookman students frequently take honors in academic competitions on a local, state and national level. Students have finished in the state finals in the National Geographic Geography Bee, the state science fair, the state history fair, and MathCounts. Students from Darnell-Cookman have represented the region at the national SECME[1] Engineering competition for five straight years beginning in 2002.

[edit] Medical Magnet

Darnell-Cookman hosts a medical magnet program, in addition to its Gifted and Academically Talented Program. The rising demand for this program has resulted in a remake of the school. Darnell-Cookman Middle School is now Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts. (DCSOMA) The Gifted Program and Academically Talented Program will remain, but acceptance will be limited due to the rising number of students to be accepted into the medical magnet program. In addition to its middle school component, the school will be expanded to include a high school program for the medical magnet program. Now, students who are not accepted into Stanton College Preparatory School or Paxon, two top high schools that Darnell feeds into, can now continue to Darnell to receive a medical training similar to that of a 2-year college. DCSOMA's first graduating class will finish in 2012.

[edit] Clubs and Sports

There are many clubs and sports in Darnell Cookman. The popular club is drama, with about a fourth of the school in it. The popular sport is football which captivates almost the entire school for every home game. Overall, the school has a drama club, chess club, boy's football team, boy's soccer team, girl's soccer team, boy's eighth grade basketball team, boy's seventh grade basketball team, girl's eighth grade basketball team, girl's seventh grade basketball team, boy's baseball team, girl's softball team, girl's volleyball team, girl's cheerleading team, and girl's dance team.