Palm Bay High School

Infobox high school


image_caption =
imagesize =
name= Palm Bay Senior High School
native_name=
latin_name=
motto = "To educate and inspire students for the challenges of today and tomorrow."
established = 1958
type = Public
endowment =
Faculty and Staff: 178
Head teacher =
schoolmaster =
principal = John G. Thomas
enrollment = 2604
students = Grades 9-12
city = Melbourne
state = Florida
country = United States
free_label =
free =
colors = Black, Red, Silver
mascot = Pirate
affiliations =
information = [phone]
website = http://palmbay.hs.brevard.k12.fl.us/
footnotes = Data from 2004-05 NCLB School Public Accountability Reports

Palm Bay Senior High School is a public high school located in Melbourne, Florida, several thousand feet north of the boundary of Palm Bay, Florida. It is part of the Brevard County School District.

Campus

The campus consists of a several main buildings that house administration and classrooms, as well as a gymnasium and auditorium. A multi-million dollarFact|date=May 2008 outdoor athletic facility is located on campus. In 2007 the school added a separate law academy. There are a number of "portable" classrooms. Campus buildings have hallways that are open to the outside and lockers are outdoors.

In 2006, the school became one of the first high schools in Florida to have an artificial turf football field. [ [http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080418/SPORTS07/804180354 - "Local turf fields get the lead out"] ]

History

The school originally opened as Southwest Junior High School in the 1950s, in an area near what is now the Florida Institute of Technology and a historically Black neighborhood in the south Melbourne area. At the time, Stone Middle School was serving as a school for Black students in the area, serving multiple grades. As desegregation progressed, the schools were re-purposed in 1976: Stone became a middle school, and Southwest became Palm Bay Senior High. Southwest Junior High was reconstituted within Palm Bay in 1988.

In 2006-7, Palm Bay had the highest reported incidence of problems within the school district's traditional high schools. This could be due to high reporting standards which could vary among schools. [cite book | author = Brennan, Kate |title = Breaking the rules - Compared to state, students in Brevard are well-behaved | publisher = Florida Today | date = December 16, 2007]

Athletics

*Football State Champions in 2000 and 2002
*Girls basketball district champions 2006-07 [cite book | author = Cherry, Mike |title = Scorps earn CCC Trophy - again | publisher = Florida Today | date = May 3, 2007]
*Wrestling district champions 2006-07 [cite book | author = Cherry, Mike |title = Scorps earn CCC Trophy - again | publisher = Florida Today | date = May 3, 2007]

In 2008, the 2007 local papers "Girls Basketball Player of the Year," was arrested and charged with thefts during a game at Viera High School. [ [http://flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080124/BREAKINGNEWS/80124070 Florida Today] accessed January 24, 2008]

Academia

The school has been one of the "A" schools in the county, for several years in a row.Fact|date=March 2008

During the 2004-2005 school year, the school received a private donation which was used to expand the library. The school created more classrooms within the same building for classes in Criminology, law, forensics and other social sciences. The building was renamed to reflect the benefactors and law studies. There are rooms modeled after American courtrooms in which school's law classes perform mock trials.

Robotics

The Palm Bay Senior High School Engineering program, dubbed PiraTech Robotics, has a group of robotics teams that compete in various FIRST Competitions.

In January 2008, the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Team 508 part of PiraTech Robotics stood first at the Florida Regional held in Tampa, Florida. FTC Team 509 as with Piratech Robotics won the "Amaze" award for their Omni Directional Robot.Fact|date=May 2008

FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC) Team 2023 also won the award for best website design at the Orlando regional competition. [ [http://piratechrobotics.com/ PiraTech Robotics] ]

In 2008, a visually impaired student placed third nationally in a robot-building competition for Discovery Channel's "MythBusters" program. [ [http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080712/NEWS01/807120333/1006&referrer=NEWSFRONTCAROUSEL Florida Today] retrieved July 14, 2008]

JROTC

GRT!

Controversy

There was some controversy regarding the school's chosen graduation venue in 2005, which was an auditorium in a local Calvary Chapel facility which featured a large cross shape carved into the wall behind the stage. A suit was filed in court by the families of two Palm Bay Senior High students, in an attempt to block the usage of the religious facility for a secular public school ceremony in favor of a secular venue. The judge presiding over the case ruled that it was too late to change the venue (and thus that the 2005 graduation ceremony of Palm Bay Senior High School, as well as those of several other local high schools, would proceed as planned in the Calvary Chapel facility), but that in following years the Brevard County public schools would have to find a secular venue for graduation ceremonies. [ [http://www.local6.com/education/4501409/detail.html Graduations At Brevard Church To Go On - Education News Story - WKMG Orlando ] ]

Notable Alumni

*Deanne Bell 1997 - an American reality television show host known for PBS's Design Squad and Discovery Channel's Smash Lab.
*Nick Paris 2004 - Senior offensive center, for Florida Atlantic University football team, who won the programs first conference title, and bowl game in 2007 in the seventh season [ [http://fausports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/paris_nick00.html - Nick Paris FAU Football Biography ] ]
*Xavier Carter 2004 - former Louisiana State University football player and Professional Track and Field athlete. [ [http://rivals100.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=16748 - Xavier Carter Rivals.com page ] ]
*Joe Cohen 2003 - Senior defensive tackle, from the 2006 National Champion Florida Gators football team, who was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 2007 [cite book | author = Cherry, Mike |title = Cusimano takes over Scorps powerhouse | publisher = Florida Today | date = May 9, 2007] [ [http://www.gatorzone.com/football/bios.php?year=2006&player_id=17 - Joe Cohen Gatorzone.com Biography ] ]
*Reggie Nelson 2003 - Junior safety, from the 2006 National Champion Florida Gators football team, who was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2007 [cite book | author = Cherry, Mike |title = Cusimano takes over Scorps powerhouse | publisher = Florida Today | date = May 9, 2007] [ [http://www.gatorzone.com/football/bios.php?year=2005&sub=team&bio=nelson_r.html - Reggie Nelson Gatorzone.com Biography ] ]
*Sean Wideberg 2004 - former starting quarterback for the Pirates, current pitcher for the University of South Carolina's baseball team. [ [http://gamecocksonline.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/wideberg_sean00.html - Sean Wideberg USC Baseball Biography ] ]
*Jeff Lett attended for two years (?) (class of 1998?) - Bass Player for Epic Records' Cartel
*James McGriff 1998 - high school All-American running back; drowned at the beach on "Senior Skip Day" just days before Senior Prom [ [http://www.sptimes.com/2002/11/17/Sports/Injuries_hit_Gators__.shtml] cite book | author = English, Antonya |title = Solemn Honor | publisher = St. Petersburg Times | date = November 17, 2002] [ [http://palmbayflorida.org/parks/city_parks/mcgriff.html] cite book | author = Palm Bay Parks & Recreation |title = McGriff Park - Honoring the memory of Palm Bay High School All-American James McGriff | publisher = PalmBayFlorida.org| year = 2008] [ [http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/031606/spc_21367729.shtml] cite book | author = Schneider, Jason|title = Cousin's death haunts McGriff | publisher = The Florida Times-Union Jacksonville| date = March 16, 2006]

Footnotes

External links

* [http://palmbay.hs.brevard.k12.fl.us/ Palm Bay Senior High School]