Stanton College Preparatory School

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Stanton College Preparatory School
Stanton Crest
Motto: "A community of learners in an environment of trust and honor committed to excellence through continuous improvement."
Established: 1868
Type: Public school
Principal: Ms. Debra W. Lynch
Staff: 100
Students: 1,505[1]
Location: Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Campus: Urban, 380 acres/154 ha
Colors: Royal Blue █ and White █
Mascot: Blue Devil
Website: www.stantoncollegeprep.org

Stanton College Preparatory School is an academically renowned high school located in Jacksonville, Florida, whose history dates to the 1860s, when it was begun as an elementary school serving the African-American population under the then-segregated education system. It now serves secondary students within the Duval County school district in grades 9-12. The school offers special curricula which include honors, Advanced Placement, and International Baccalaureate courses. In 2005, the Advanced Placement Report to the Nation[2] officially recognized Stanton College Preparatory School as the best large size high school for Advanced Placement European History and Advanced Placement English Literature & Composition in the world.

From 2000 to 2003, Stanton College Prep was ranked first in Newsweek magazine's list of the top 1,000 public schools in the United States, and is the only school in the nation to have been in the top 5 every year from 2000-2008[3][4][5][6]. US News and World Report ranked Stanton at ninth place on its 2008 list of America's Best High Schools[7]. It has frequently ranked 1st in the United States in the number of International Baccalaureate diplomas awarded. Stanton perennially leads the Jacksonville metropolitan area in the number of National Merit Scholarship recipients, and consistently ranks in the top three in the state.

Stanton has been called "one of the premier IB and AP public schools in the country" by Jay Mathews in his 2005 book "Supertest: How the International Baccalaureate Can Strengthen Our Schools." To many students, Stanton is known for its challenging academics and rigorous standards. Most Stanton graduates attend some form of college after graduation, whether four-year or two-year institutions, local, national, or international. Some of its students gain admission into the most prestigious colleges, including several Ivy League schools.[8]

Contents

[edit] History

Edwin M. Stanton, namesake of the school.
Edwin M. Stanton, namesake of the school.

Shortly after Emancipation, a group of African Americans from Jacksonville organized the Education Society and in 1868, purchased the property on which the Old Stanton school now resides. It was their purpose and intent to erect on the property a school building to be known as the Florida Institute. Financial problems, however, delayed progress on the building until December of that year when the first school was built and incorporated through the aid of the Freedman's Bureau. The school was a wooden structure and was named in honor of General Edwin McMasters Stanton, President Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of War. He was an ardent champion of human rights and an advocate of free formal education for Negro boys and girls. It was the first school of education for black children in Jacksonville and its surrounding counties, and was the first school for black children in the State of Florida.

For a number of years, the Freedman's Bureau conducted the school. Northern white teachers were employed until the county leased the property for the purpose of opening a public school. The first building was destroyed by fire in 1882. Another building constructed the same year was also destroyed by fire on May 3, 1901, a fire that destroyed much of Jacksonville. A new school was constructed in 1902 and remained in operation until 1917. Originally the school mascot had been the Blue Devil. Because the school had burned and been rebuilt twice, the Phoenix rising from ashes would eventually be adopted as a second mascot. Today both mascots are used, with the Blue Devil used as the mascot for sports and other activities, and the Phoenix used as a symbol of the school itself.

On May 23, 1914, the Circuit Court of Duval County appointed nine trustees to manage the school and its property. They included Robert B. Archibald, S. H. Hart, A. L. Lewis, J. W. Floyd, W. L. Girardeau, I. L. Purcell, B. C. Vanderhorst, J. E. Spearing, and W.H. H. Styles. Archibaid and Hart resigned and were replaced by J. M. Baker and L. H. Myers. Upon Girardeau's subsequent death, J. Salem took over as head trustee.

The deteriorating and unsafe condition of the poorly constructed school building prompted the Board of Public Instruction, the Stanton School trustees, and interested citizens of Jacksonville, to jointly agree to replace the wooden structure with a good fire-proof building. In 1917, the building, which stands at Ashley, Broad, Beaver, and Clay Streets, was completed. Stanton became the main focus for the education of black children in Duval County and the surrounding areas.

An equally impressive record of academic expansion has accomplished the physical growth of Stanton. Beginning as an elementary school with six grades under the administration of J. C. Waters as the first principal and D. W. Gulp who followed as principal, Stanton gradually became known throughout the state for the high educational standards which it still maintains today. The eighth grade was added under the principalship of W. M. Artrell. Principal James Weldon Johnson started the move toward a high school department. The addition of the twelfth grade made Stanton an elementary, junior, and senior high school.

Stanton continued as a school for all grades through the administration of I. A. Blocker, G. M. Sampson and J. N. Wilson. In 1938, with F. J. Anderson as principal, Stanton became a senior high school exclusively. J. L. Terry served as the last principal of Stanton Senior High School, #101.

In 1953, the Stanton Senior School name was transferred to a new facility on 13th Street and was re-named New Stanton Senior High School. Charles D. Brooks was the first principal of the "new" school. Under his principalship, Stanton continued to foster the same traditionally high standards which befit its rich heritage and flourished as the oldest and most important high school for blacks in Jacksonville.

Beginning in 1953, the Board and Ashley Street facility became known as "Old" Stanton. The Old Stanton building was used as a junior high school in 1953-1954. In August 1954, it was converted into Stanton Vocational High School and functioned as a vocational training center, adjusting its curriculum to train and graduate students in technical skills of the day. At night, it became a center for the Adult and Veterans Education Program.

From 1969-1971, the focus of New Stanton Senior High School began to change from academic to vocational under the principal-ship of Ben Durham, the former principal of Stanton Vocational High School. In 1971, the Old Stanton High School building was again placed under control of the trustees of Stanton and the student body was transferred to New Stanton Senior High School where the revised curriculum now provided for both the academic and the vocational interests of the students

In 1981, Stanton College Preparatory School became the Duval County School System's first magnet school. Beginning with grades 7-10, and adding one grade level each succeeding year, the first senior class of 54 students graduated in 1984. Stanton College Preparatory School now serves secondary students living within the 841 square miles of the Duval County school district and leads the Duval County Public Schools in academic achievement.[9]

In 2001[10], 2003, 2007[11] and 2008[12], the school's newspaper, the Devil's Advocate, under the advisorship of Larry Knight, won the Florida Times Union award for most outstanding newspaper in Jacksonville. The paper won the overall 2nd place award in 2002[13] & 2004 and the overall 3rd place award in 2005[14]. This paper, which prides itself with a lengthy journalistic tradition dating back to 1981, has most recently established a Devil's Advocate blogsite where readers can post their comments to a variety of articles, specialty features, and photographs.

[edit] Fight Song

Sung to the tune of On Wisconsin

On Blue Devils! On Blue Devils!
Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight!
We will never, never, ever yield unto the foe.
On Blue Devils! On Blue Devils!
Fight for victory!
We will always stand up for the blue and white!

[edit] Alma Mater

Sung to the tune of Annie Lisle

Give your best for dear old Stanton,
For the Blue and White.
Whether games or life's endeavors,
Always bravely fight.
Stanton, Thee, thy loyal sons
To exalt we'll try.
And we'll strive the Blue-White Banner
Ever to hold high.

Stanton days will live forever
In our memories.
To the treasure store of learning
Stanton gives the keys.
Though thy walls we all must leave,
Thee we'll ever love.
Honored school, thy children praise thee
To the skies above.

God preserve our love for Stanton;
God preserve her light.
May our precepts learned in Stanton
Guide us ever right.
Out upon unbeaten pathways
May we travel far,
With the light of Alma Mater
As our guiding star.

[edit] Notable Alumni

[edit] References

  1. ^ Stanton College Preparatory School (at US News and World Report)
  2. ^ Advanced Placement Report to the Nation, 2005
  3. ^ Complete List of the 1,000 Top U.S. Schools (2005) compiled by Newsweek magazine.
  4. ^ Complete List of the 1,000 Top U.S. Schools (2006) compiled by Newsweek magazine
  5. ^ Complete List of the 1,000 Top U.S. Schools (2007) compiled by Newsweek magazine
  6. ^ Complete List of the 1,300 Top U.S. Schools (2008) compiled by Newsweek magazine
  7. ^ US News and World Report Gold Medal Schools
  8. ^ Stanton College Preparatory School profile at cyberguidance.net
  9. ^ Stanton History
  10. ^ Stanton takes T-U journalism honors
  11. ^ Stanton paper scoops trophy for journalism excellence plus $500
  12. ^ Stanton earns Times-Union journalism award
  13. ^ High school journalists honored
  14. ^ Paxon Eagle soars to top spot again

[edit] External links