Pensacola High School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Name Motto |
Pensacola High School |
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| Address |
500 West Maxwell Street |
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| Town |
Pensacola, Florida 32501 |
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| Established |
1901 |
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| Type |
Public secondary |
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| Religion |
Secular |
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| Students |
Coeducational |
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| Grades |
9 to 12 |
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| Accreditation |
Florida State Department of Education |
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| District | ||
| Mascot |
Tigers |
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| Colors |
Maroon and White |
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| Yearbook |
Annona |
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| Newspaper |
The Prowler |
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| Website | ||
Pensacola High School is a secondary school located near downtown Pensacola, Florida, USA.
The school celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2001 and graduated its 100th class of seniors in 2005; however, the school has not always been at its current location. It was moved to Maxwell Street in 1952. In 1969, a fire gutted the previous school building on Lee Square, prompting its demolition. Currently, it is the oldest secondary school in Pensacola.
The school is part of the Escambia County School District. The former principal, Norm Ross, is now the Deputy Superintendent of Schools for the county. Currently, the principal is Sara Lewis.
After Hurricane Ivan, which struck the Pensacola area on September 16, 2004, Pensacola High School was damaged, especially in the gym (one of the four towering walls was completely destroyed). While large renovations were needed, the school remained open and in operation. The gymnasium, which had only recently been remodeled, was demolished in June 2005.
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[edit] International Baccalaureate
Pensacola High School is the only school in the county to have an International Baccalaureate program as well as a Health Occupation Students of America honors program. The International Baccalaureate program was introduced in 1986 as a last-ditch effort to keep the school open; many students had performed poorly, and there were high dropout rates. The school district had given the administration an ultimatum: improve the numbers or be shut down. With the introduction of the IB program, the higher test scores helped bring up the average and kept Pensacola High open.
The IB program at Pensacola High was developed by Donna Dunson. Richard Kuhn served as the coordinator from 1994 until 2002. Under his guidance the program achieved great success, all the more impressive when considering the poor funding provided to the county. Upon his resignation, former teacher and District Social Studies Specialist Colleen Boyett served as coordinator. Under her leadership AP and IB course offerings were expanded, resulting in Pensacola High being named as one of the top ten high school programs in America by Newsweek magazine in May of 2005. Upon her departure to return to graduate school, she was replaced by Dr. K. Joy McMichael. As of July 2007, Dr. McMichael became one of the Assistant Principals, alongside David Williams, and Deanna Gordon, the IB World Literature teacher, replaced her, Mrs. Gordon being replaced by the IB Theory of Knowledge teacher, Margaret (Terry) Benson.
[edit] National Recognition and Prominence
In the newsmagazine Newsweek's published list of America's Top Public High Schools, Pensacola High School ranked as follows:
2003 - #188
2005 - #8
2006 - #38
2007 - #38[1]
In 2007, The Washington Post ranked Pensacola High School number 8.[2]
[edit] Extracurricular programs
PHS features a variety of athletic programs; many of which often do well at the district and occasionally state level. Those are Boys Football, Girls Volleyball, Basketball, Soccer, Baseball/Softball, Cross Country, Track and Field, Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Boys Weightlifting, and Boys Golf.
PHS also currently features two strong academic extracurricular activities which have enjoyed great success on the county level:
- Scholars/Quiz Bowl (Academic Team) which recently had six members place onto the county academic team, making it the first time all members were from the same school, and the first time a freshman has made the team in Escambia County.
- Mu Alpha Theta (Math Team)
There are also Band and Cheerleading programs as well as an active Student Government Association.
[edit] Notable Alumni
Pensacola High School has many notable alumni
- Fred Levin - Famed civil trial lawyer for whom the Law School at the University of Florida is named as well as sometime lawyer and advisor to boxer Roy Jones Jr.
- Michelle Snow - WNBA basketball player and former University of Tennessee Standout
- Neal Boortz - Libertarian talk-show host
- Hunter Scott - History activist
- Reubin O'Donovan Askew - Former Governor of Florida
- Alex Gordon - Current Vanderbilt basketball player
[edit] References
- ^ Berrett, Dan. "The Complete List of the 1,000 Top U.S. Schools", Newsweek. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
- ^ Matthews, Jay. "Jay Matthew's Challenge Index", Washington Post. Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
[edit] External links
- Pensacola High School is at coordinates Coordinates:
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