Land O' Lakes High School

Infobox Secondary school

name = Land O' Lakes High School
native_name =
motto = "Fighting Gators"
established = July 3, 1975
type = Public high school
affiliations =
affiliation =
president =
chairman =
principal = Monica Ilse
asst principal = Richard Batchelor, Fran Helfrich, Steve Page, Cloty Rummell, Holly Rockhill (International Baccalaureate), and Jackie Fishman (Adult Education)
dean =
rector =
founder =
chaplain =
head_label =
head =
faculty = Approximately 190
teaching staff =
enrollment = Approximately 1,700
enrolment =
students =
grades = 9-12
address = 20325 Gator Lane
city = Land O' Lakes
state = Florida
province =
country = USA
district = Pasco County
oversight =
accreditation =
campus =
colors = Blue and Gold
colours =
athletics = Baseball, Basketball Boys, Basketball Girls, Cheerleading, Cross-Country, Football, Golf Boys, Golf Girls, Soccer Boys, Soccer Girls, Softball Varsity, Swimming & Diving Boys, Swimming & Diving Girls, Tennis Boys, Tennis Girls, Track Boys, Track Girls, Volleyball Varsity, Weightlifting Boys, Weightlifting Girls, Wrestling Varsity
mascot = Gator
mascot name =
emblem =
yearbook = Alligate
newspaper = The Gator Gazette
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
testname =
testaverage =
National_ranking =
website = http://lolhs.pasco.k12.fl.us|http://lolhs.pasco.k12.fl.us]
footnotes =
picture =
image_caption =
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image_caption2 =

Land O' Lakes High School is a four year public high school in Land O' Lakes, Florida [http://lolhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/About%20LOLHS/quick.html lolhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/About%20LOLHS/quick.html] ] . It is a part of the District School Board of Pasco County. The school mascot is the fighting gators [ [http://lolhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/About%20LOLHS/mascot.html lolhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/About%20LOLHS/mascot.html] ] .

History

Construction of Land O' Lakes High School began in 1973 [http://lolhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/About%20LOLHS/history.html lolhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/About%20LOLHS/history.html] ] . Leroy McClain was named principal and began hiring staff. Because of critical overcrowding across the county due to a population jump, classes were held in double sessions at nearby Sanders Memorial Elementary School while the school was being built. When the school finally opened two years later, it welcomed 1,400 students in grades 7 through 12. Five years later, Pine View Middle School was built to hold grades 6 through 8. From 2003 until 2007, Land O' Lakes was on a 10 period schedule to ease crowding with most 9th graders attending classes from 10:25 AM to 4:45 PM and 10th-12th graders attending from 7:35 AM to 2:00 PM. This was discontinued in 2007, when Sunlake High School opened. [ [http://fivay.org/lolhs.html History of Land O' Lakes High School] ]

The class of 2008 was the largest graduating class in school history, with nearly 600 graduates.

Land O' Lakes High has had five principals in its history.

Recognitions

In 2005, the school received an A from the state of Florida for the first time. It was also the first time a high school in Pasco County received the ranking. That same year, the school made a list of the top 1000 high schools in the country in an issue of Newsweek Magazine. The school was listed as 325 out of 1,000 high schools. In 2006 and 2007, the school had kept it's A grade and had remained on Newsweek's annual list of the top high schools. In 2008, the school once again remained on the list. [ [http://lolhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/About%20LOLHS/rank.html lolhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/About%20LOLHS/rank.html] ]

International Baccalaureate

Land O' Lakes High School is one of two high schools in Pasco County to offer the IB Diploma Programme. High school students in Central and East Pasco attend LOLHS for the IB Programme.This program draws eclusive demands from teachers and mostly students. (IB is also offered at Gulf High School for students in West Pasco.) [ [http://lolhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/learncom/IB.html Land O' Lakes High School (Florida) Academic Information Overview ] ]

Attendance Policy Controversy

In 2007, over 100 juniors and seniors were banned from attending prom due to an attendance policy which states that if students have more than 6 absences in a quarter or 10 absences in a semester, they will lose the privilege of participating in extracurricular activities. This is a district rule enforced by all other schools in Pasco County. Many students affected by this rule said that it was not enforced before, including at homecoming and were able to attend, even with excessive absences. They tried to start a petition and tried to organize their own prom, both to no avail. [http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=51496] [ [http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=25DAE3E2D360331C4628BD2CD6CF901E?contentId=2744654&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1 MyFox Tampa Bay | Policy says no prom for Pasco seniors ] ]

Notable Alumni

Logan Payne, wide-receiver for the Seattle Seahawks

Land O' Lakes High School Today

John Benedetto, Nancy Browning, Al Claggett, and Paul Russell, all of which were hired when the school opened in 1975, are still at the school. Many alumni have also returned as teachers. After the opening of Sunlake High School in August 2007, LOLHS now houses approximately 1750 students in grades nine through twelve.

External links

* [http://www.pasco.k12.fl.us District School Board of Pasco County]

References