Coral Glades High School
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2007) |
| Coral Glades High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
2700 Sportsplex Drive Coral Springs, FL | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 2004 |
| School district | Broward County Public Schools |
| Principal | David K. Jones |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 2,396 |
| Color(s) | Teal, black, and white |
| Mascot | Jaguar |
| Information | (754) 322-1250 |
| Website | www.coralgladeshigh.com |
Coral Glades High School is a public high school located in Coral Springs, Florida, built in 2004. It is situated in the far west part of the Broward School District. The school's principal is David K. Jones. Its mascot is the jaguar, and the school colors are teal, black, and white. There are students in grades 9 through 12. The school newspaper,'The Prowl', is published once a month.
Academics, clubs, and events
The school offers a large array of academic courses. The core academics include math, social studies, science, and English. There are many extra clubs and activities at the school, including (but not limited to) Drama Club, a wide variety of sports, a marching band, jazz band, concert band, drumline, indoor percussion, color guard, chamber orchestra, full orchestra, Debate Team, chorus, arts, cooking, step team, cheerleading, foreign language clubs, journalism club, flag football, multicultural society, Mu Alpha Theta, DECA, Key Club, National Honor Society (NHS) and JROTC. Advanced Placement classes are offered for all grades, although freshmen (9th graders) usually don't sign up for them since they are only allowed to take AP Human Geography. However, sophmores have more choices.
Coral Glades participates in many sports games and at other schools. Clubs and music groups go on field trips and attend competitions, usually at another Florida location, but sometimes out of state. There are some interesting and fun days announced, such as 'Spirit Day', 'Multicultural Festival', 'Mismatch Day' and 'Color Wars'. In addition, there is a Homecoming Dance, pep rallies, and Prom and Grad Night for seniors.
The school uses a program called Pinnacle Internet Viewer, by Excelsior Software, which allows students to check their grades from any computer connected to the internet. All a teacher has to do is update the grades after entering them, and then students can log in (using their student ID and password) and check them. Other information, such as absences and missing assignments, can also be viewed.
Enrollment
The current enrollment is about 2,500. The first graduating class was in 2006, because in the 2004-2005 school year, the school had no seniors (12th graders). Many students who started in their freshmen year came from Sawgrass Springs Middle School or Coral Springs Middle School, both located near Coral Glades. Most students newly entering the school in their sophomore, junior, and senior years were originally scheduled to attend J.P. Taravella High School or Stoneman Douglas High School.
Student Schedule
Coral Glades has a rotator schedule (as opposed to block scheduling at other schools) for students, in which a different class is skipped every day. The school hours are from 7:40 to 2:40. Students must take seven classes, but only six of these classes are attended in a day. Each class period is one hour, except for 4th, which is two hours, due to the two separate lunches (however, the actual 4th period class is still one hour). There are five minutes in between each bell and class, and an additional bell is rung when there are two minutes left to get to the next class.
There are two half-hour lunch periods, A and B, both of which are included in 4th period of the day. Students with A lunch attend their lunch before their 4th period class. Students with B lunch attend their 4th period class first, then lunch. A lunch is known to be alot more crowded, with longer lunch lines, resulting in many unexcused tardies and lunch detentions.
Each day is called a 'No # period' day, where the # sign indicates the period skipped. In the first day of the schedule, period 7 is skipped (No 7 day), and students go (in order) to periods 1, 2, 3, 4/lunch, 5, and 6. In each following day, the next class in order is skipped. So, on a No 1 day, which occurs after a No 7 day, students attend (in order) periods 2, 3, 4, 5/lunch, 6, and 7. On a No 2 day, the schedule is 1, 3, 4, 5/lunch, 6, and 7. On a No 3 day, it is 1, 2, 4, 5/lunch, 6, and 7, and so on. Lunch is always in the 4th period of the day, regardless of the skipped class. Most are glad when it is a No 6, so they can skip their math class.
Gang Activity
The recent largescale immigration of 10th grade students from Tanzania has caused the tensions to rise between rival ESOL and Special Eduacation students. As of May 10th, 196 handicapped students have been hospitalized. The police have been called in to regulate the traffic during class change and four officers have been permanantly assigned to guard the inmates at all times.
Navigating the school
The school has three main buildings. In the east building, which is two stories high, there are three sections: the northern section ('blue' hallway); the center section (media center, library, office, and guidance on the first floor, and science and computer labs on the second); and the southern section ('yellow' hallway). In the west building ('black' and 'white' hallways), there is a gym, mini gym, band room, chorus room, music computer lab, cafeteria, kitchen, art labs, dance room, technology lab, locker rooms (for gym and athletic activities only), storage room, detention room, and a few classrooms.
In the 2005-2006 year, a new building was built south of the yellow section due to the increase in future enrollment that was predicted. It has three floors, and is called the or 'south wing', but commonly referred to as the 'freshmen building' by students. This is because most of the freshmen classes are located there. However, it is not only for freshmen classes. The upperclassmen prefer not to have their classes there since it "smells like teen spirit".
Construction
The school's architecture was designed by Zyscovich Inc. of Miami, in a $27-million contract with James B. Pirtle Construction Co. of Davie, Florida. It was built using tilt up construction with precast concrete walls. It occupies 20 acres of Coral Springs's Sportsplex, owned by the city. Athletic fields and a track were made to the north of the school, and are sometimes used by other groups outside of the school.
In 2005, two companies bid on the construction of an auditorium for the school. It was scheduled to begin later that year. However, due to Hurricane Wilma's arrival on 24 October, 2005, the construction was delayed. After that, the company with the losing bid sued the winning one and further delayed the project. Construction has not started as of February 9, 2008.[citation needed]. Construction will start on May 15, 2008.
Stoneman Douglas Controversy
One of the most widely debated topics around the school revolves around the Baseball team from Coral Glades High School and Stoneman Douglas High School. The presiding theory is that the former vandalized the rival school but there are contrasting veiwpoints when it comes to the color of the "alleged" spray paint. Some swear it was indigo blue but others are certain it was periwinkle. The Coral Springs Police Department ruled inconclusive.
Classrooms
Standard classrooms are approximately 550 square feet and are 8 feet tall, with tile floors. Some doorways had to be extended to accommidate the school's rapidly growing overweight population. Most rooms have one exterior side and contain three windows. All of them have two whiteboards (one in front and one in back), bulletin boards, an LCD projector, DVD player, speakers, a clock, PA system, and overhead projector. Some rooms have desktop computers in them, but usually, only the classrooms that require their use (such as business or technology classes) have them. This is justified by that fact that each teacher has a personal laptop computer. Approximately 40 students can fit in a single room, but the comfortable level is around 30, and classes are usually much larger than that. There is cable TV connection, primarily used for the school's announcement broadcasts (WJAG). As of now, 98% of them don't work.
Demographics
Coral Glades has a very diverse student population. It is about 43% White), 23% Black & 23% Hispanic, 17% Tanzanian, 4% Asian or Pacific Islander, 3% Multiracial, and less than 1% American Indian or Alaskan, according to the Broward County School Board website.[1]
WJAG Television
Coral Glades High also is home to a television station dubbed WJAG. Currently in charge is Dan Alonso, formerly with NBC and CBS for appx. 10 years, began teaching at Glades in 2005. Examples of the equipment used are, but not limited to: Sony's Digital Video Cameras, Apple's G5 Mac computers, and a well equipped single layer studio. Its crew creates, on a weekly basis, a "recap" of the week: The WJAG Recap, which airs Friday during both lunch periods and on local channel 25, city TV, in Coral Springs, Florida And a daily morning show: The Break Up.
Choral Program
Coral Glades has a choral program with a variety of groups such as ensemble, show choir, quartet, men's ensemble, mixed and woman's chorus.
Ice Hockey
Coral Glades ice hockey team has won the 2007-2008 FSHL District Championship defeated Cardinal Gibbons in a 3 games series. Matt Faigman, top scorer in the league, has secured the win for the Coral Glades Jaguars. The team is chronically depressed because nobody shows up for the games.