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Pensacola High School

Revision as of 20:34, 15 June 2009 by 72.216.4.203 (talk) (→‎2008-2009 Changes)

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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. A former principal, Norm Ross, is the Deputy Superintendent of Schools for the county. Currently, the principal is David Williams, who previously served as an Assistant Principal of Facilities and Maintenance.

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.

Origins

The first public school for boys in Pensacola was organized in 1870. A two-story building on Wright Street was erected by the School Board in 1875. It was known as the Pensacola Academy and its principal was John Wilmer. In 1886, a new building was erected on Lee Square, known as Public School No. 1. Its first graduating class consisted of Albert Reed and J. Whiting Hyer.

In 1905, Pensacola Senior High School was organized in the Public School No. 1 building. The school was a four-year high school, and its first principal was J. B. Lockey. PSHS's first graduating class consisted of Dudley Barrow and Nell Richards.

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. Joy McMichael. In July 2007, however, Dr. McMichael became Assistant Principal of Curriculum, and Deanna Gordon (previously the IB World Literature teacher) became the new IB coordinator.

National Recognition and Prominence

In the news magazine Newsweek's published list of America's Top Public High Schools, Pensacola High School ranked as follows:

2003 - #188[2]
2005 - #8[3]
2006 - #38[4]
2007 - #38[5]
2008 - #42[6]
2009 - #53[7]

In 2007, Pensacola High School was ranked #36 by the Washington Post based on data collected in 2006. However, it is to be noted that this formula does not take high performing schools with SAT averages over 1300 math and critical reading and ACT averages over 27 into account.[8]

2008-2009 Changes

At the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year, Pensacola High underwent a long list of changes. A short listing is as follows:

  • School start time changed from 7:15 AM to 2:45 PM to 8:35 AM to 3:35 PM.
  • The bus routes changed, as that was the reason for changing the start and end times.
  • Food prices changed to $1.50 for breakfast and $2.50 for lunch.
  • David Williams became the new principal.
  • Thomas Rollins became the new Assistant Principal of Facilities and Maintenance.
  • Teachers began teaching six periods a day with one planning period instead of five periods a day with two planning periods.
  • Lunch was changed to 4th period instead of 5th period due to the change in school times.
  • Alita Brooks, the Drama and IB Theatre teacher, began teaching an IB Theory of Knowledge class to cover for Mr. Butcher, who was diagnosed with cancer.
  • Terry Benson, the IB English teacher, began teaching the remainder of Mr. Butcher's IB Theory of Knowledge classes.
  • Guy Beard, the Peer Counseling teacher, began teaching AP Psychology in addition to Dr. Jerry Robbins, the established Latin and AP Psychology teacher.
  • Shauna Paedae began teaching AP Calculus AB.
  • Xiuqing Wang Sue Li began teaching Algebra II Honors again, in addition to her IB Pre-Calculus and IB Math Studies classes.
  • Blevins Rose replaced Kent Rettig as teacher of AP U.S. History. He also remained teaching one AP World History class.
  • Lucia Harvilchuck and John C. Murray changed places, Harvilchuck teaching AP English Language and Composition and Murray teaching AP English Literature and Composition and one class of English I - Pre IB.
  • Michael Jones, the AP European History and Student Government Association teacher began teaching AP World History in addition to his other classes.
  • Roy Bullington began teaching three periods of AP European History instead of his usual one, his other three periods filled with his normal class, IB History of the Americas II.
  • Students began going to their Alpha[betical] homerooms occasionally, on days specified in advance.
  • Second period was extended by five minutes to make up for the lack of a normal homeroom.
  • All language classes were moved to Building 5, the gym.

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, weightlifting, and golf and girls' volleyball, basketball, soccer, softball, cross country, track and field, swimming and diving, and tennis.

PHS also currently features two strong academic extracurricular activities which have enjoyed great success on the county/northwest Florida/state level:

  • Scholars/Quiz Bowl (Academic Team) which recently had a senior make it onto Team Florida which placed 2nd by one point in the Panasonic Academic Challenge. In 2007, it swept all six spots in the Escambia County All Star Academic Team making it the first time any one school took all the spots. It was also the first time a freshman made the team.[9]
  • Mu Alpha Theta (Math Team) which attends three regional competitions and the Milton math competition. The Pensacola High School math team consistently has individuals placing in the top ten and teams placing in the top five. It usually also places in the sweepstakes division. In the Milton math competition, Pensacola High School has exerted its dominance over the more local area schools for many years.

There are also band and cheerleading programs as well as an active Student Government Association. Although the school's newspaper, The Prowler, has not been active for several years, it will be up and running as of the 2008-2009 school year.

Notable Alumni

References

External links

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