Pensacola High School

Pensacola High School

Address	500 West Maxwell Street
Town	Pensacola, Florida 32501-1664
Established	1905
Type	Public secondary
Students	Coeducational
Grades	9 to 12
Accreditation	Florida State Department of Education
District	Escambia County School District
Principal	David Williams
Assistant Principal of Curriculum	Dr. Joy McMichael
Assistant Principal of Grounds and Maintenance	Thomas Rollins
Mascot	Tiger
Band	Fighting Tiger Band
Colors	Maroon and White
Yearbook	Annona
Newspaper	The Prowler
Website	Link

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 Assistant Principal of Grounds 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. The auditorium was rebuilt in the spring of 2007, and the gymnasium was rebuilt in time for the 2008-2009 school year.

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 and a law academy. 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 dropout rates higher than they are today. 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 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 English 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
2005 - #8
2006 - #38
2007 - #38
2008 - #42
2009 - #54

2010 - #22

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:

• The academic team (quiz bowl) has had the longest win streak in the Cox Academic Tournament and has in recent years taken most or all of the spots on the county all-star academic team. The team frequently competes on the state and national level, with both the team and individual team members placing highly.
• 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.

PHS Football team has the distinction of being the oldest football program in the state: pro, college or high school. The first game was played in 1905. On December 18, 2009, the PHS Football team defeated Belen Jesuit, (28-7), and won the Class 3A State Championship.

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

Pensacola High School has had a chess team since 2009.

Notable alumni

• Reubin O'Donovan Askew (Class of 1946) - Former Governor of Florida
• Fred Levin (Class of 1954) - Famed civil trial lawyer for whom the Law School at the University of Florida is named as well as sometime lawyer and adviser to boxer Roy Jones Jr.
• Neal Boortz (Class of 1963) - Libertarian talk-show host
• Michelle Snow (Class of 1998) - WNBA basketball player and former University of Tennessee standout
• Mark Whiten - Former Major League Baseball player who is famous for hitting 4 home runs in one game for the St. Louis Cardinals.

External links

• Pensacola High School website
• Escambia School District