Miami Springs High School
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| Established | September 1964 |
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| Type | Public secondary |
| Principal | Rafael Villalobos |
| Students | 2,715 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | Miami Springs, Florida, USA |
| District | Miami-Dade County Public Schools |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Colors | Garnet and Gold |
| Mascot | Golden Hawk (Hank the Hawk) |
| School hours | 7:30 AM to 2:30 PM |
| Average class size | 22 |
| Website | miamisprings.dadeschools.net |
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Miami Springs High School is a secondary school located at 751 Dove Avenue in Miami Springs, Florida; its principal is Rafael A. Villalobos. The school is part of Miami-Dade County Public School's nationally-accredited magnet program, specializing in travel and tourism, the oldest of its kind in the state of Florida (established in 1987). Miami Springs serves ninth through twelfth grade students in the city of Miami Springs, the village of Virginia Gardens, the town of Medley, the southern portion of the city of Hialeah (south of 29th Street, and south of 25th Street after Hialeah Park) and a small unincorporated residential neighborhood east of Miami International Airport, the school used to serve the western Miami suburb of Doral, Florida until 2006 when a new high school was built in that area. Beginning in the 2007-2008 school year, the opening of Westland Hialeah High School in the southern portion of Hialeah, will remove the entire portion of southern Hialeah served by the school and located West of Palm Avenue, however, all portions of the boundary located east of Palm Avenue in Hialeah will remained served by the school.
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[edit] School history
Construction at Miami Springs Senior High School began in 1963 with the clearing of a large wooded lot at the site of the current campus. There were no homes built directly on the site which was one of the last area of thick jungle growth in the incorporated Miami Springs. The first day of classes at Springs was delayed due to Hurricane Cleo striking Miami on August 27, 1964. Springs first opened its doors after Labor Day the following week in September 1964 as an overcrowding reliever for nearby Hialeah High School. The first school year of 1964-65 served 9th 10th & 11th grade students, and the second school year of 1965-66 offered classes for 10th, 11th and 12th grades. Therefore, the first graduating class of Miami Springs was the Class of 1966. The school was one of three high schools in the district seriously affected by overcrowding in the early 2000s during the county's largest population growth since 1980. Its student population in the 2001-2002 school year peaked at 4,750 forcing the school to acquire a "split shifts" schedule in which 9th and 10th grade students would attend classes in the afternoons while 11th and 12th grade students attended in the morning. Despite being the third most populated school in the district after G. Holmes Braddock High School and Barbara Goleman Senior High School, Springs was considered most overcrowded as the school's capacity was only 2,500 students, while Braddock and Goleman's capacities surpassed 4,000 apiece. The school resumed a regular schedule for the 2005-2006 school year as overcrowding was relieved upon the opening of Ronald W. Reagan Doral High School, a school in the nearby suburb of Doral that was previously served by Miami Springs. In recent years the school has also implemented a policy to remove students not living within its boundaries. As a result, the school's overcrowding has been significantly alleviated. This policy may have helped improve Miami Springs' test scores, helping raise the school from a D rating in 2003 to a B rating in 2005 and 2006.
Miami Springs' chief athletic rival is Hialeah High School.
[edit] School uniforms
The uniform policy was first implemented in 2003. Miami Springs High School requires school uniforms [1]. Shirts may be collared and may be white, yellow or gold, garnet, or red. Pants must be black or khaki. Denim is also acceptable.
[edit] Publications
- The school's monthly newspaper is called the Zeitgeist, which means "Spirit of the Times" in German.
- The school's yearbook is the Spectre, which celebrated it's 40th edition in 2005.
[edit] Notable Clubs and Extracurricular Activities
- Mu Alpha Theta: Since the mid to late 1990s, the Miami Springs Senior High School Mu Alpha Theta chapter has had the distinction of being first in the county and ranking in the top ten statewide. In the 06-07 season, Springs Mu Alpha Theta team got 5th in the nation, beating powerhouses nationwide.
- Thespian Troupe 1466
- National Honor Society
- Odyssey of the Mind
- Anchor Service Club
- Eco-Hawks Environmental Club
- Medical Hawks
- HOSA
[edit] See also
[edit] Notable Alumni
- Congressman Kendrick B. Meek [2], who represents the Seventeenth Congressional District of Florida. Meek also served as a Captain in the Florida Highway Patrol.
- Margery Hemsing Rankin served as the President of the Dade League of Women Voters and as a Miami-Dade County Public Schools administrator. After her death in 1997 her family created a scholarship in her name for students from her high school alma mater.
- Lomas Brown Jr., former offensive tackle for the National Football League. Graduation class of 1980
- Devin Aromashodu, former high school All-American Wide Receiver from 1998-2001. Went on to play at Auburn. Drafted by the Miami Dolphins during the 7th Round of NFL draft. Currently a member of the Indianapolis Colts.
- Orpheus Roye, Cleveland Browns defensive lineman, who signed with Florida State Seminoles in 1992 and Drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1996 NFL draft. All-conference and all-county selection for Miami Springs High School.
- Willis McGahee, Baltimore Ravens running back, played for Hawks until his junior year then transferred to Miami Central High School. Also played for the University of Miami Hurricanes.
- Roberto Alcalde, Entrepreneur. International project manager for the Harris Corporation, responsible for building cellular networks in South America, Haiti, and South Africa. Current owner of Quad Celeria an international project management company that specializes in building telecom network infrastructure around the world. MBA graduate of St. Thomas University, attended from 1980-1983.
