Paul R. Wharton High School (known as "Wharton") is located on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in New Tampa, Florida . It is one of 24 high schools in the Hillsborough County Public Schools system. The facility was dedicated to Mr. Paul R. Wharton, who served the Hillsborough County school system for 38 years. The school opened on August 21, 1997.
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Wharton's attendance boundaries include several Tampa subdivisions located in the New Tampa area.
Wharton's principals have been the following:
| From | To | Principal |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 2002 | Mitchell Muley |
| 2002 | 2007 | George Gaffney |
| 2007 | 2008 | Scott Fritz |
| 2008 | current | Bradley Woods |
The school's colors are navy blue, white and black, and its mascot is the Wildcat. The school newspaper is called The Predator and its yearbook is Felidae.
Major intermural sports in which Wharton teams participate are football, basketball, soccer, tennis, golf and lacrosse.
In the 2002-2003 season the Wharton football team finished as state runners-up in the 5A class after losing to Pompano Beach Ely by a score of 22-10. During that year, Larry Edwards led the Wharton Wildcats and ended up getting a full scholarship to the University of North Carolina.[1]
Candice Dupree was the first Wildcat basketball player to reach the 1,000-point career milestone. She attended Temple University and was later drafted by the Chicago Sky where she became a WNBA all-star in 2006.
Shawn Vanzant is the only 1,000-point scorer for the boys' basketball team. He earned a full scholarship to Butler University where his team played for an NCAA Championship against Duke in Indianapolis in 2010.
In 2008, the boys' soccer team won Wharton's first state championship in a team sport in the brief history of the school. Wharton defeated St. Thomas Aquinas 2-1 to win the state championship. They entered the state tournament with an 8-5 record and ended State Champions with a remarkable turnaround record of 18-5. Robert Sklaver and Joey Layton each scored a goal in the opening 20 minutes of the final match.
The Wildcats success in tennis include second place in the 2007 Class 3A Florida state championship, and winning that same division in 2008.[2][3] The following year the boy's tennis team won their second straight 3A state championship, sharing the title. They became the first Hillsborough County tennis team to win back to back state championships.[4] Michael Alford also won the individual 1st position state championship in 2009, his junior season.[5]
Currently Wharton High School has a Varsity B team and JV team.
Wharton High School's student-run newspaper publication is called The Predator, which was introduced when the school was opened. The Predator is an All-Florida publication and has received a large number of awards in district and state competitions. The publication can be viewed here.