Land O' Lakes High School

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Land O' Lakes High School
Motto	Fighting Gators
Established	July 3, 1975
Type	Public high school
Principal	Monica Ilse
Asst. Principal	Richard Batchelor, Fran Helfrich, Steve Page, Cloty Rummell, Caryn McDermott (International Baccalaureate), and Jackie Fishman (Adult Education)
Faculty	Approximately 190
Students	Approximately 1,700
Grades	9-12
Location	20325 Gator Lane, Land O' Lakes, Florida, USA
District	Pasco County
Colors	Blue and Gold
Athletics	Baseball, Basketball Boys, Basketball Girls, Cheerleading, Cross-Country, Football, Golf Boys, Golf Girls, Soccer Boys, Soccer Girls, Softball Varsity, Swimming & Diving Boys, Swimming & Diving Girls, Tennis Boys, Tennis Girls, Track Boys, Track Girls, Volleyball Varsity, Weightlifting Boys, Weightlifting Girls, Wrestling Varsity
Mascot	Gator
Yearbook	Alligate
Newspaper	The Gator Gazette
Website	http://lolhs.pasco.k12.fl.us

Land O' Lakes High School is a four year public high school in Land O' Lakes, Florida^[1]. It is a part of the District School Board of Pasco County. The school mascot is the fighting gators^[2].

1 History
2 Recognitions
3 International Baccalaureate
4 Attendance Policy Controversy
5 Land O' Lakes High School Today
6 External links
7 References

[edit] History

Construction of Land O' Lakes High School began in 1973^[3]. Leroy McClain was named principal and began hiring staff^[4]. Because of critical overcrowding across the county due to a population jump, classes were held in double sessions at nearby Sanders Memorial Elementary School while the school was being built^[5]. When the school finally opened two years later, it welcomed 1,400 students in grades 7 through 12^[6]. Five years later, Pine View Middle School was built to hold grades 6 through 8. From 2003 until 2007, Land O' Lakes was on a 10 period schedule to ease crowding with most 9th graders attending classes from 10:25 AM to 4:45 PM and 10th-12th graders attending from 7:35 AM to 2:00 PM. This was discontinued in 2007, when Sunlake High School opened. ^[7] ^[8]

Land O' Lakes High has had five principals in its history.

Name	Begin	End
Leroy McClain	1975	1985
Al Bashaw	1985	1997
Max Ramos	1997	2003
Ray Bonti	2003	2006
Monica Ilse	2006	Present

[edit] Recognitions

In 2005, the school received an A from the state of Florida for the first time. It was also the first time a high school in Pasco County received the ranking. That same year, the school made a list of the top 1000 high schools in the country in an issue of Newsweek Magazine. The school was listed as 325 out of 1,000 high schools. In 2006 and 2007, the school had kept it's A grade and had remained on Newsweek's annual list of the top high schools.^[9]

[edit] International Baccalaureate

Land O' Lakes High School is one of two high schools in Pasco County to offer the IB Diploma Programme. High school students in Central and East Pasco attend LOLHS for the IB Programme. (IB is also offered at Gulf High School for students in West Pasco.) ^[10]

[edit] Attendance Policy Controversy

In 2007, over 100 juniors and seniors were banned from attending prom due to an attendance policy which states that if students have more than 6 absences in a quarter or 10 absences in a semester, they will lose the privilege of participating in extracurricular activities. This is a district rule enforced by all other schools in Pasco County. Many students affected by this rule said that it was not enforced before, including at homecoming and were able to attend, even with excessive absences. They tried to start a petition and tried to organize their own prom, both to no avail. ^[11] ^[12]

[edit] Land O' Lakes High School Today

John Benedetto, Nancy Browning, Al Claggett, Caryn McDermott, and Paul Russell, all of which were hired when the school opened in 1975, are still at the school. Many alumni have also returned as teachers. After the opening of Sunlake High School in August of 2007, LOLHS now houses approximately 1750 students in grades nine through twelve.^[13]