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*Alex Gordon - Current Vanderbilt basketball player
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1901]] [[Category:International Baccalaureate schools]][[Category:Escambia County School District]][[Category:High schools in Escambia County, Florida]]
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|'''Assistant Principal of Curriculum'''||
[[K. Joy McMichael|Dr. Joy McMichael]]
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|'''Assistant Principal of Grounds Facilities and Maintenance'''||[[Mr. Thomas Rollins]]
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|'''Mascot'''||
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 an Assistant Principalof Facilities 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 [[Wikipedia:June 2005|June 2005]].
==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 [[High School No. 1|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]].
Pensacola High School is the only school in the county to have an [[Wikipedia:International Baccalaureate|International Baccalaureate]] program as well as a [[Wikipedia:Health Occupation Students of America|Health Occupation Students of America]] honors program. 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 high dropout rates. 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 of 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 World Literature teacher) became the new IB coordinator. Dr.McMicheal later left the school to become principal at Brown Barge Middle.
==National Recognition and Prominence==
[[2007]] - #38<ref>http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380/?q=2007/rank/1/&s=Pensacola</ref><br>
[[2008]] - #42<ref>http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380/?s=Pensacola</ref><br>
[[2009]] - #53<ref>http://www.newsweek.com/id/201160/?s=Pensacola</ref><br>
In [[2007]], Pensacola High School was ranked #36 by the ''[[Wikipedia:Washington Post|Washington Post]]'' based on data collected in 2006. However, it is to be noted that this formula does not take high performing schools with SAT averages over 1300 math and critical reading and ACT averages over 27 into account.<ref>{{cite news|first=Jay|last=Matthews|url=http://projects.washingtonpost.com/challengeindex/|title=Challenge Index 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=2008-07-30}}</ref>
*[[Fred Levin]] (Class of 1954) - Famed civil trial lawyer for whom the Law School at the [[Wikipedia:University of Florida|University of Florida]] is named, as well as sometime lawyer and adviser to boxer [[Wikipedia:Roy Jones Jr.|Roy Jones Jr.]]
*[[Wikipedia:Neal Boortz|Neal Boortz]] (Class of 1963) - Libertarian talk-show host
*Adam McCloskey - Current Sports Talk Radio host at [[Wikipedia:WTKE-FM|WTKE-FM]] and [[Wikipedia:Deadspin|Deadspin]]recognized blogger
*[[Wikipedia:Eric Wu|Eric Wu]] (Class of 1995) - D-List Internet celebrity, creator of [[Wikipedia:Eric Conveys an Emotion|Eric Conveys an Emotion]]
*[[Wikipedia:Michelle Snow|Michelle Snow]] (Class of 1998) - [[Wikipedia:WNBA|WNBA]] basketball player and former [[Wikipedia:University of Tennessee|University of Tennessee]] standout
*[[Wikipedia:Ensign|Ensign]] [[Hunter Scott]] (Class of 2003) - History activist
*[[Will Hedgecock ]] (Class of 2004) - Singer and electrical engineer*[[Hansol Bae]] (Class of 2007) - Football player, nuclear engineer, and reality TV star*[[Kylie Finkbone]] (Class of 2017) - Soccer player, lacrosse player, and star in Disney TV movie "Invisible Sister" ==See Also==*[[List of Pensacola High School graduating classes]]
==References==
{{Escambia County School District}}
