Sandalwood High School
| Sandalwood High School | |
|---|---|
| File:Sandallwoodhssaintslogo.jpg | |
| Location | |
 | |
| , | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public School |
| Motto | "Good to Great!" |
| Established | 1971 |
| Principal | Victoria Schultz |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Enrollment | 3200+ |
| Color(s) | Blue and Gold |
| Mascot | Mighty Saints |
| Website | http://www.dreamsbeginhere.org/sandalwood/ |
Sandalwood High School is a public high school in the Duval County Public School district of Jacksonville, Florida.
Mission
The mission of Sandalwood High is to educate students within the guidelines established at the national, state, and district levels. The administration, faculty, staff, students, and parents share the responsibility for creating an environment in which learning takes place, while preparing the students to enter the workplace, military, or college with the skills necessary to succeed.
History
Sandalwood High was built in the Sandalwood corridor of the southside of Jacksonville. It is known for being the largest high school in Duval County as well as on the First Coast with over 3,200+ students. It is not a magnet school but is well known school for its AFJROTC unit FL-939, Sandalwood Marching Saint's Band, and many different athletics, particularly football. In 1989, the 9th grade was moved from Junior High Schools to Senior High Schools, county-wide. Sixth grade was moved from Elementary Schools to Junior High Schools, which were renamed, Middle Schools. The school currently has a C grade[1]
Criticism and the Local Media
However, Sandalwood is also widely known across the county for its allegedly violent atmosphere. [2] The principal has made some significant changes in security and enforcement of more strict rules to help alleviate the problem. Many students, parents, and faculty have found the media to only report the negative occurrences rather than the positive on multiple accounts. Many students of Sandalwood have noticed this trend and have reported it to the local newspaper. The Florida Times Union did a story on it by interviewing the opinions of real students.[3]
Electives
Sandalwood High offers an array of extracurriculars and electives. Baseball, swimming, Saint's Band, Lacrosse, Field and Track, Home Economics, AFJROTC, Woodshop, Computer Science, Football, and Soccer are only some of the elective courses that are open to the students.
Improvement
Sandalwood was one of 11 schools nation-wide selected by the College Board for inclusion in the EXCELerator School Improvement Model program beginning the 2006-2007 school year. The project was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Notable Awards/Recognition
Sandalwood's AFJROTC FL-939 Silver Eagle Drill Team has won the titles of Air Force National Drill Champions twice,(2005-2006 and 2006-2007) State Champions three years in a row, (2004-2005, 2005-2006, and 2006-2007)and just recently the Southeast Regional Champions of Florida (2006-2007). Also in 2005 Sandalwood's award winning marching band won Grand Champion at both the Kingdom of the Sun Festival and the Ancient City Presentation of the Bands and placed during Semi-Finals at State Competition. Sandalwood also won the Superintendent's Academic Challenge, also known as Brain Brawl, in 2003, defeating Stanton College Preparatory School in the Final round.
References
- ^ "School Demographic, Assessment, and Accountability Data". Duval County Public Schools. April 25, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Florida Times-Union: Aug 7, 2006-Tested by trials, rewarded with hope
- ^ Florida Times-Union: Feb 26, 2006-Violence must stop at Sandalwood High School