John A. Ferguson Senior High School
| John A. Ferguson Senior High School | |
|---|---|
| File:Miami-Dade logo.png | |
| Location | |
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| Information | |
| Type | Public secondary |
| Motto | "No Goals too High, Where Falcons Fly!" |
| Established | August 2003 |
| School district | Miami-Dade County Public Schools |
| President | Erik Garcell |
| Principal | Jane Garraux |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Enrollment | 3,584 |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Silver and Black |
| Mascot | Falcon |
| School hours | 7:25 AM to 2:30 PM |
| Average class size | 32 |
| Website | ferguson.dadeschools.net |
John A. Ferguson Senior High School is a secondary school located at 15900 S.W. 56th St. in Miami, Florida. The school mainly serves the outer portion of Miami's Kendall suburb; its principal is Ms. Jane Garraux.
John A. Ferguson Senior High School was built to alleviate overcrowding at G. Holmes Braddock High School, and Felix Varela High School, which had reached staggering populations of over 5,000. The school opened in the 2003-2004 school year with its first class attending G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School during more than half of the school year; Ferguson students were stationed in the back portables of the school. Students moved into the newly opened campus during the second half of the second semester as scheduled, although the school was not yet entirely completed.
Its school newspaper is The Talon, which is part of the High School National Ad Network.
The school is named after a local reverend who was instrumental in assisting the board in its efforts at desegregation. Several roads and streets have been renamed as a result of the school. SW 162nd Avenue has been renamed Falcon Boulevard. The bus drop-off has been named after the founding principal, Dr. Donald A. Hoecherl who left after the 2006-2007 school year.
Magnet Program
The school is an Academy Based school, in which all students are entered into an academy of their choosing during their ninth grade year. Leadership classes are required by freshmen to make informed decisions into an academy. The exception to this rule is the International Baccalaureate Program which applicants apply for in their 8th grade year and begin Pre-IB classes their Freshman year.
Academies offered at Ferguson:
- International Baccalaureate (Application Only)
- Biomedical and Medical Skills
- ITT
- International Business and Finance
- Design and Architecture
- Tourism and Hospitality
Each academy offers a variety of post secondary opportunities including scholarships, internships, and college credit.
Overcrowding
The school has faced the issue of overcrowding prior to the school's opening. Florida Law prohibits the construction of any school with a population capacity of 2,800, regardless of how many students attend. The school board had intended to build Ferguson to hold 2,800 students. In 2001, the Class Size Reduction Act was passed and lowered Ferguson's capacity to 2,400. Realizing that it was too late to amend the architectural plans, the district set up a plan for future expansion. The school opened up in the 2003-2004 school year with approx. 500 students. The students were stationed in G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School until March 1, 2004 when the students moved onto the new campus. The campus still was not fully operational, with the Auditorium, Cafeteria, and Gym areas still being finished.
During the 2004-2005 school year, the school population balooned to 1,500, still under capacity but realizing that the population would continue to expand. The following school year the population reached 2,500 students, already above the allowed capacity of the school. The relief was already on the way the first Modular Building was constructed. This addition still was not enough to alleviate the overcrowding completely, the school had a 600 student deficit during the 2006-2007 school year.
Currently the school is expecting another expansion of students with a population reaching about 3,800+. The school has started taken action to keep the student class size in compliance with Florida Law, by opening several teacher planning rooms, science stockrooms, and several partitions in the Auditorium as temporary classrooms. The second of the Modular construction projects is scheduled to break ground in November 2007 in the present faculty parking lot. A new parking lot will be constructed around the existing Modular building.
School uniform
Ferguson High School has a school uniform policy [1]. Shirts may be tennis shirts or oxford shirts and may be black, white, or gray. Trousers may be black, khaki, or gray. Students may also be allowed to wear special shirts such as Class shirts or certain clubs they may belong to. Students are also allowed to wear Jeans on specified "Jeans day", as approved by the Principal.
Athletic rivalries
Ferguson's athletic rival is G. Holmes Braddock High School.
Notable student