Miami Palmetto Senior High School facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Miami Palmetto Senior High School |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Address | |
|
7431 SW 120th Street
, 33156
United States
|
|
| Coordinates | 25°39′45″N 80°18′57″W / 25.66250°N 80.31583°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public secondary |
| Motto | Latin: Vis Per Scientiam (Strength through knowledge) |
| Established | September 1958 |
| School district | Miami-Dade County Public Schools |
| Principal | Victoria Dobbs |
| Teaching staff | 105.00 (FTE) (2022–23) |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Enrollment | 2,671 (2022–23) |
| Student to teacher ratio | 25.44 (2022–23) |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Columbia Blue White |
| Song | Neath Palmetto High! |
| Mascot | Panther |
| Newspaper | The Panther |
| Yearbook | Palm Echo |
| School hours | 7:20–2:20 |
 The front gate of the school as of April 13, 2022 |
|
Miami Palmetto Senior High School is a public high school in Pinecrest, Florida. It's located at 7431 S.W. 120th Street. The school covers about 23 acres in southwest Miami-Dade County. It is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools district. Miami Palmetto is known as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. Its principal is Victoria Dobbs.
The school serves students from several nearby areas. These include Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, and parts of Kendall, West Perrine, and Palmetto Estates.
Contents
School History
Miami Palmetto Senior High School was built in 1958. It cost about $1.65 million at the time. The school was designed to have around 1,500 students.
The school welcomes students from many different backgrounds. It is the main high school for families living in Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, West Perrine, and Palmetto Estates. Local governments in Pinecrest and Palmetto Bay strongly support the school. They provide money and other help. For example, Pinecrest gives $10,000 to the school each year. A very active Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) also helps a lot with funding and volunteers.
For many years, Palmetto was a three-year high school. But after an expansion in 1997, it became a four-year high school. Miami Palmetto is also part of a special program called AP Capstone. This program helps students develop research, writing, and presentation skills.
In 2017, Miami-Dade Public Schools started a big renovation project at the school. This project was planned in three stages and cost about $44 million. The remodel added 120,900 square feet of new buildings. This included a new three-story building for offices, student services, and special labs. These labs are for subjects like Web Design, drafting, health science, and business technology. The project also added a new art wing, a photo studio, a gymnastics area, a dance room, a music room, and a black box theater. A new cafeteria building with indoor and outdoor dining was also built. The first phase of this new building opened in January 2020.
Academics and Achievements
Miami Palmetto offers many challenging courses. Students can choose from twenty-eight AP courses. Students at Palmetto have the highest pass rate for AP exams in Miami-Dade County. In 2015, their pass rate for AP Chemistry was the best in all of Florida.
More than half of the students take at least one AP class. Also, over 50% of students have a GPA higher than 4.0. Graduates from Miami Palmetto are accepted into many top colleges and universities across the country. Students at Miami Palmetto also score higher on state and national tests compared to other public schools in Miami-Dade County. The school also supports all students, including those with special needs. Its Special Olympics athletes win at state-level competitions every year.
Newsweek magazine has recognized Miami Palmetto as one of the top schools in the U.S. In 2001, it was ranked 251st in the nation and 23rd in Florida. By 2007, it moved up to 72nd in the nation. These rankings consider things like:
- How many students graduate on time (91%)
- How many graduates go straight to college (95%)
- Scores on different standardized tests (45%)
- The number of AP/IB/AICE courses offered per graduate (5%)
School Media
Miami Palmetto Senior High School has three student-run publications:
- The school newspaper, called The Panther.
- The morning announcements and television production, known as Panther TVP.
- The yearbook, named Palm Echo.
All of these are created and managed by student teams.
Athletics
Miami Palmetto has a strong athletics program. Its sailing teams have won several important championships:
International Sailing Championships
- Coed sailing – British Schools Dinghy Racing Association Team Racing Champion (by invitation) – 1994
National Sailing Championships
- Coed sailing – National High School Dinghy Championship (Mallory Trophy) – champion 1994; runner-up 1997
- Coed sailing – national high school team racing champion (Baker Trophy) – 1994
- Single-handed sailing – national interscholastic sailing association champion (Cressy Trophy) – 1989
Notable Alumni
Many successful people have graduated from Miami Palmetto Senior High School. Here are a few examples:
- Jeff Bezos – He founded Amazon.com and Blue Origin.
- Ketanji Brown Jackson – She is a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice.
- Camila Cabello – A Grammy-nominated singer and former member of Fifth Harmony.
- Erik Compton – A professional golfer.
- Derek Connolly – A screenwriter for movies like Jurassic World.
- Nikki Fried – A politician who served as Florida Commissioner of Agriculture.
- Dominic L. Pudwill Gorie – An astronaut.
- Tim Hardaway Jr. – A basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks.
- Sylvia Hitchcock – She was Miss USA and Miss Universe in 1967.
- Jonathan James – A teen hacker who got into NASA and DOD computer systems.
- Ron Magill – A wildlife expert and communications director at Zoo Miami.
- Jo Mersa Marley - A musician and grandson of Bob Marley.
- Rohan Marley – Owner of Marley Coffee and son of Bob Marley.
- Vivek Murthy – The Surgeon General of the United States.
- Jennifer Rodriguez – A speed skater and Olympic bronze medalist.
- Kimbo Slice – A bareknuckle boxer and mixed martial artist.
See also
