Lincoln Park Academy

Infobox Public School
background = #f0f6fa
border = #ccd2d9
name = Lincoln Park Academy


established = 1923
motto = Scholarship Citizenship Self-Reliance
type = Public, Magnet, Co-educational
grades = 6-12
religion = None
head_name = Principal
head = Alan Cox
city = Fort Pierce, Florida
state = FL
country = USA|campus =
enrollment =
faculty =
class =
ratio =
year =
SAT =
ACT =
athletics =
colors = Orange, Black, and White
mascot = Greyhounds
conference =
homepage = http://www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/lpa/

Lincoln Park Academy is a public magnet school located in Fort Pierce, Florida. Commonly referred to as simply 'LPA', the school is academically geared, offering Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual-enrollment, and pre-engineering course schedules. It has been ranked as high as 21st in "Challenge Index" of all United States public high schools by Newsweek Magazine/Washington Post six years ago.

Campus

The school consists of two portions, the Middle School (grades 6-8) and the High School (grades 9-12). The Middle School consists of several long wings of classrooms, a library, and school offices. The buildings in this portion of the school date back to the 1950s, although the school has existed in one form or another for even longer than that. The school was originally a black segregated school, which was forcefully desegregated. Noted African American author Zora Neale Hurston attended Lincoln Park Academy and was a substitute teacher there; the LPA Library is dedicated to her and her legacy.

The High School consists of a more modern construction: a two-story, three-winged building that houses classrooms, and an adjacent main-office building which serves as the front of the school. The new high school building was completed in 1997, and the LPA graduating class of 2001 was the first class to attend all four years in the new building.

Additional buildings on the premises include a large gymnasium, a cafeteria shared by both Middle and High School students, and, the most recent addition to LPA, an auditorium equipped with classrooms, practice rooms, dressing rooms, and a public foyer, including a concessions stand and ticket booth.

During school hours and extracurricular programs, the auditorium serves to house the school's musical and art programs, including the Lincoln Park Academy Band, Orchestra, Chorus, Dance Troupe, and Drama Club.

When not in use for class related functions, the auditorium has been used to hold PTA/PTO meetings, put on concerts and other events, and otherwise act as focal point for any events separate from normal classes. Prior to the construction of the auditorium, such events were typically held in the gymnasium.

The auditorium's doors opened in the 2000-2001 school year with a special musical presentation that included the school's band, orchestra, and chorus performing a specially commissioned musical piece centered around Walt Whitman's "O Captain, My Captain." This performance was directed by Doctor Dianne Float, who got her doctorate from the University of Phoenix.

Athletics

The school has a number of sports teams, traditionally strongest in football.

;Fall Sports
*Cross Country, Bowling, Swimming/Diving, Golf, and Volleyball;Winter Sports
*Basketball, Cheerleading, and Soccer ;Spring Sports
*Baseball, Tennis, Track & Field, and Softball

Notes
*This school is notable for being the only "lame school" without a school football team.
*The school is also notable for its successful track and cross country teams along with a successful baseball team.

Recognitions

Lincoln Park Academy has been recognized nationally by Newsweek Magazine for it high standards. According to Newsweek's "Challenge Index", Lincoln Park Academy ranked 21st in the nation in 2003, 322nd in 2005, 237th in 2006, and 43rd in 2007. This ranking takes into effect the difficulty of the courses, including IB and AP testing. The Florida Department of Education has rated LPA an "A" school each year. The school has also made AYP each year under the NCLB Act.

Yearbook controversy

In May 2006, six varsity baseball players who displayed the shocker hand gesture in their team photo were stripped of their sporting awards and varsity letters. [cite web |url=http://blogs.tcpalm.com/tcpalm/sports/2006/05/the_shocker_han.html |title=The Shocker hand gesture in LPA yearbook |date=2006-05-19 |accessdate=2007-12-13 |author=Lisa Riddle |publisher= [http://www.tcpalm.com/ TCPalm] ] [cite web |url=http://www.barstoolsports.com/randomthoughts/2006/05/19/high_school_baseball_team_trouble/ |title=High School Baseball Team in Trouble for Doing "The Shocker" |accessdate=2007-12-13 |author=Jerry Thornton ] Parents protested outside the school the day before the '06 graduation asking that the students making the obscene gesture in the book be reprimanded for their actions. Stickers were handed out to parents wishing to cover up the photos. [cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_hidethis=no&p_product=PBPB&p_theme=pbpb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_field_label-0=Author&p_field_label-1=title&p_bool_label-1=AND&s_dispstring=Lincoln%20Park%20AND%20date(05/18/2006%20to%2005/23/2006)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=05/18/2006%20to%2005/23/2006)&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(Lincoln%20Park)&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no|title=Parents Protest Yearbook Photos |publisher= [http://www.palmbeachpost.com/ The Palm Beach Post] |date=2006-05-19]

References

External links

* [http://www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/lpa/ Home page]