- Sarasota High School
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Sarasota High School 
The Sailor is the mascot of SHS Address 1000 South School Avenue
Sarasota, Florida, 34237-8016
United StatesCoordinates 27°19′31″N 82°31′40″W / 27.325186°N 82.527752°WCoordinates: 27°19′31″N 82°31′40″W / 27.325186°N 82.527752°W Information School type Public High School Opened 1913 Status Open School board Sarasota County School Board School district Sarasota County Schools Principal Jeff Hradek Grades 9-12 Enrollment 2531 (2008) Color(s) Black and Orange Mascot Sailors Website www.sarasota.k12.fl.us/shs Sarasota High School
Old Sarasota High building
Coordinates: 27°19′30″N 82°31′46″W / 27.325°N 82.52944°WCoordinates: 27°19′30″N 82°31′46″W / 27.325°N 82.52944°W Area: 1 acre (0.40 ha) Built: 1926 Architect: M. Leo Elliott, T. A. Monk Architectural style: Late Gothic Revival Governing body: Local MPS: Sarasota MRA NRHP Reference#: 84003844[1] Added to NRHP: March 22, 1984 Sarasota High School is a public high school in Sarasota, Florida. The mascot is the Sailor.
Contents
History
Sarasota High School first opened in 1913. A new school was built in 1926 on South Tamiami Trail and the school was relocated. The Sailor Circus held their first performance in 1950 as an extension of the PE class at the high school.
During 1958 and 1959, the school was expanded due to an expanding student body. The addition was designed by notable modernist architect Paul Rudolph. In celebration of the Circus' 20th anniversary in 1969, the Sailor Circus relocated to an arena right outside the school campus. Finally, in 1996, the school expanded to its current size of 85 acres (340,000 m2), and classes begin to move out of the old Sarasota High building.
Current
Sports and Activities
The school offers numerous clubs including: JROTC, drama guild, Mighty Sailor Band, history club, French club, Spanish club, American Sign Language club, National Honor Society, student government, First Priority Christian Club, Lady Sailor Club, Ex Libris Book Club, La Sertoa, Mu Alpha Theta, Rho Kappa, and a nationally qualified Speech & Debate team led by Dr. Terri St. John. Some of the sports the school offers include soccer, cheerleading, swimming, track, wrestling, weight lifting, cross country, basketball, football, softball, golf, sailing, and a nationally ranked baseball team which on May 19, 2007 won its eighth Florida State Baseball Championship with a 1-0 victory over Deland High School in the 6A classification. Baseball State Champions - 1957(2A) 1973(4A) 1987(4A) 1989(4A) 1993(4A)1994(5A) 1996(5A) 2007(6A) Softball State Champion - 1999(5A) Tennis State Champion - 1999(5A) Boys Golf State Champion - 2005(2A)
The world-famous Sarasota High School Sailor Circus began as a mid-game tumbling demonstration during a football game in 1949. It has evolved into a near full-fledged circus of student performers trained and supervised by faculty and parents, some of which are or were professional circus performers. The Sailor Circus appeared on numerous television programs and has traveled throughout the United States, Japan and Peru. In 1952, Warner Brothers made a 30 minute short which was shown in theaters throughout North America. Through an agreement with Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows, Inc. (Ringling having a long association with Sarasota), the Sailor Circus is officially known as "The Greatest Little Show On Earth".
2009 was the mark of the 60th anniversary of Sailor circus, which is no longer affiliated with Sarasota High School. It is now operated by the Police Athletic League (P.A.L) of Sarasota.
Campus
The school currently has over 2,600 students with 139 teachers and faculty. The campus featuring 19 buildings (5 of them being 2 stories) and 10 portible units (each containing one classroom). There are 2 cafeterias, 2 gymnasiums, 2 locker rooms, a professional weight training room, an auditorium with stage and dressing rooms, a circus arena, 8 tennis courts, 2 baseball/softball diamonds, a football stadium with a track surrounding it, and a soccer field, and 4 parking lots. Sarasota High School is large enough to have to spread over streets. During school hours, School Ave. and Championship Dr. are closed to cars so students can cross safely without having to worry about cars.
Sarasota High features a 1 mile walking path around and through the school. It starts outside the attendance office in Bldg 1, then fallows the north side of Bldg 1 where it loops around Bldg 3, and then continues heading east between Bldg 3 and 8. It then goes through a parking lot southeast of the football stadium and along the east side of Bldg 6. It then goes through the portible classrooms and weaves out on to School Ave north of the campus. Then, one must walk down School Ave. to the campus and walk along Hatton St. north of Bldg 13. Then one must continue along Hatton St and turn right on Shade Ave. hugging the tennis courts near the soccer bldg. Then the path continues off the sidewalk on to a path in between the 2 baseball/softball fields. Then the path continues along the south end of Bldg 22 and Bldg 14. Then one crosses School Ave and goes around the east end of Bldg 1. Then the track ends at the same location it begins.
MaST
MaST Research Institute is a magnet program at Sarasota High. This program emphazises in math, science, and engineering. The main focus of the program is to educate students on the scientific research process and then to have its members complete in-depth research projects over the course of their high school careers. Students defend their research in a public forum at the end of their senior year at the program's annual science symposium. Students involved in the MaST Research Institute have won multiple awards for their research, including: multiple entrants and placement at the INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair, placement at the International ISWEEEP competition, multiple placements (including 1st place) and entrants to the statewide Florida Junior Academy of Science Competition; and multiple entrants and placement in the statewide Junior Science Engineering and Humanities Symposium. MaST students have attended some of the top Universities in the nation upon graduation, including (but not limited to): Princeton, Harvard, Duke, Dartmouth, Columbia, Georgetown, and Georgia Tech.
AICE
In the 2011-2012 school year, Sarasota High School started the magnet program AICE, the Advanced Internation Certificate of Education, a program from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. The program is new to Florida, but is common through the rest of the world. One of the main reasons of bringing the AICE program to Sarasota High, was to keep the college bound students districted to Sarasota High from going to the International Baccalaureate magnet program at Riverview High School. The goal of the program is to allow students to choose the amount of college prep classes they want, from 1 to all their core classes. The program has 3 main groups (Languages, Humanities and Arts, and Math and Science) and a student will need to take an AICE exam in 6 AICE classes to get a test in each of the 3 groups, and then the other 3 from any area. Students begin taking AICE classes in 10th grade. They take Pre-AICE classes in 9th and some of 10th grade. Sarasota High has replaced honors classes with Pre-AICE classes. A student can get up to 45 college credits with AICE compared with only 10 credits in IB at Riverview High School. If a student completes 100 hours of community service, a student can also receive 100% of the Bright Futures Scholarship Program.
Foreign Languages
Sarasota High School offers students the chance to learn Spanish, French, or American Sign Language. Latin used to be offered. Although not a requirement of graduation in Florida, 2 years of a foreign language is required for admission in to a state university.
Fine Arts
Sarasota High School has a band, choir, and drama guild. The band performs at all the football games and the drama guild also put on plays.
Block Scheduling
- Sarasota High School was planned to move from standard scheduling to block scheduling in the 2006-2007 school year. However, after much criticism and concern from the parents of many students, school officials decided to delay the implementation of block schedule until the 2007-2008 school year. Block scheduling was used again in the 2008-2009 school year, but due to lack of funding, the school switched back to traditional scheduling for the 2009-2010 school year.As of the 2011-2012 school year, the class period is 47 min, with a 30 min lunch, and 6 min transition time in between classes.
Famous Alumni
- Paul Azinger - 1993 PGA Championship Winner and 2008 Winning Ryder Cup Captain
- Joe Cash - World champion water skier
- Ian Desmond - MLB shortstop for the Washington Nationals
- Ken Forssi - Bassist with Love, graduated 1962
- Herb Haygood - Drafted by the Denver Broncos 2002 graduated 1997
- Casey Kelly - Pitcher in the San Diego Padres organization
- Mark Pauline - Performance Artist, graduated 1970
- Paul Rubenfeld, aka Pee-Wee Herman - Actor, graduated 1970
- Bobby Seay - MLB pitcher for the Detroit Tigers
- Skippy Whitaker - Retired basketball player (Boston Celtics)
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
External links
- Grand Reunion multi-year classmate reunion website
- Broadcasts/Podcasts of Sailor Football, Basketball, Baseball Sailors Sports Broadcasts
Categories:- High schools in Sarasota County, Florida
- Historic Florida architecture 1989 AIA survey listings in Sarasota County
- National Register of Historic Places in Sarasota County, Florida
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