Gulf Breeze High School

Coordinates: 30°21′28″N 87°10′04″W / 30.357824°N 87.167663°W / 30.357824; -87.167663

Gulf Breeze High School
Location
Gulf Breeze, Florida 32561 United States
Information
Type	Secondary school
Established	1971
School district	Santa Rosa County School District
Principal	Jason Weeks
Faculty	85[1]
Grades	9 to 12[1]
Enrollment	1549[1]
Color(s)	Blue and Gold
Mascot	Dolphin
Rival	Navarre High School
Accreditation	Florida Department of Education
Website	http://www.santarosa.k12.fl.us/gbh/

Gulf Breeze High School is a public secondary school located at 675 Gulf Breeze Parkway in Gulf Breeze, Florida. It is one of six high schools of the Santa Rosa County School District and the only high school in the city of Gulf Breeze.^[2]

Gulf Breeze High School has been consistently named an A+ school by the state of Florida. In 2010, Gulf Breeze High was ranked 50th of the 597 Florida public high schools in FCAT Reading and Math grades.^[3]

On the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), Gulf Breeze High School's scores have beaten state averages by wide margins in all subjects tested (Writing, Reading, Math, Science) in all years on record (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012).^[4] Gulf Breeze High School offers students the opportunity to take Advanced Placement® course work and exams, with a participation rate of 29 percent as of 2014.^[5]

Facility

The school is contained within five structures and encompasses both sides of U.S. Route 98. In addition to a large main entrance building, Gulf Breeze High consists of an Art and Drama Department building, a Foreign Language Department building, an ESE building, and a Band and Music Department building.

Additional adjacent facilities include tennis courts, basketball courts, a baseball complex, three practice fields for soccer and football, and a large stadium. On August 4, 2010, a $1.5 million^[6] field house addition was completed.^[7]

Adjacent to the high school are Gulf Breeze Elementary School and Gulf Breeze Middle School, creating a large educational campus in the heart of the small Gulf Breeze peninsula. The high quality of all three schools and the geographically limited land mass of Gulf Breeze are often credited in combination for bolstering property values on the peninsula.

Student Body

Gulf Breeze High promotes diversity and has an ever expanding ethnicity range of students. As of 2010, 82% are White, non-Hispanic, 3% are Hispanic, 2% are Asian/Pacific Islander, 1% are Native American/Alaskan Native, and less than 1% are Black, non-Hispanic.^[8]

In 2010, only 16% of GBHS students were eligible for free or reduced lunch programs.^[9] Florida, the state itself, had 50% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch programs - a considerable difference when compared to Gulf Breeze High.

Gulf Breeze High had a 23:1 student-teacher ratio in 2010.^[10] That is, there were 23 students for every full-time equivalent teacher.

Sports

• American Football
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Cheerleading
• Cross Country
• Dance
• Lacrosse
• Band

Golf

• 2012 Class 2A State Finalists (Boys)

This is the first time in eight years that the boys golf team will compete in the state tournament.^[11]

• Swim

Soccer

2015 Class 3A Boys Soccer Regional Semifinalists^[12]

• Softball
• Tennis
• Track

Volleyball

• 2012 Class 5A State Quarterfinalists (Girls)
• 2011 Class 5A State Runner-up (Girls)
• 2010 Class 5A State Semifinalists (Girls)

The Gulf Breeze Dolphins competed for the first time in the Class 5A State Volleyball Championship game on November 18, 2011.^[13] This was the first appearance by a Pensacola area volleyball team since 1997.^[13]

• Weightlifting

Wrestling

• 2015 Florida High School Athletic Association Class 2A State Wrestling Tournament Third Place ^[14]

The school's fight song is Hooray for Gulf Breeze played by the Gulf Breeze Soundwave Band.

Scandals

On April 20, 2009, a 61-year-old mother of a student at Gulf Breeze High, Judy Hall, was arrested at the school after police found two guns and a knife in her trench coat.^[15] Hall was trying to prove a point that "anyone could walk in the school with a trench coat on and a gun in their pocket and start killing people." Her arrest fell on the tenth anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre. No one was injured.

On December 24, 2013, the Gulf Breeze High Cross Country coach, Sharon Aydelott, was found slain in her Gulf Breeze home. She had been beaten and stabbed. Her son, Brandon Aydelott 17, was arrested hours later. Brandon Aydelott, a baseball standout at Gulf Breeze High, is being charged as an adult for second-degree murder.^[16]

The same day of Aydelott's death, a senior Gulf Breeze High student, William Goodman 17, was shot and killed by a Pensacola Police Department officer. The student was driving recklessly in a 2009 Corvette at speeds nearing 100 mph. The police officer is currently on paid leave. Earlier that year, Goodman, then 16, struck and killed 66-year-old Gulf Breeze resident, Michael LaBelle, on March 30, and was scheduled for a court appearance that coming January. ^[16]

Extracurricular Activities

The school offers a vast amount of clubs pertaining to a variety of interests. Each year GBHS hosts 'Club Rush' - an event located in the school's media center that allows incoming freshman and sophomore students to learn more about the current clubs available.^[17] In order for a club to be established, it must be sponsored by a member of the Gulf Breeze High faculty.

Certain clubs expect excellence of its members and are invite only. Art Honor Society, French Honor Society, Latin Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Quill & Scroll are a few of the well noted clubs offered at Gulf Breeze High.

Notable alumni

Name	Notable Achievement	Class
Jason McKie	NFL Fullback	1998
Abigail Spencer	Actress	1999
Ashley Brown	Broadway Star	2000
Candace Bailey	Current Co-Host of G4's Attack Of The Show	2001
Keith Savage	MLS Midfielder	2003
Doug Baldwin[18]	Super Bowl XLVIII champion for the Seattle Seahawks	2007

External links

• Gulf Breeze High School website
• Santa Rosa School District
• Gulf Breeze Sound Wave Band

Notes