Cocoa High School

Coordinates: 28°22′57.28″N 80°46′7.97″W / 28.3825778°N 80.7688806°W / 28.3825778; -80.7688806

Cocoa High School is located in Cocoa, Florida and is part of the Brevard Public Schools District. The principal is Rachad Wilson.^[2]

History

In the 19th century, school started in October/November and ended in April/May.

Cocoa High was constructed in 1927. It was a two-story reinforced concrete building on Willard Street next to Forrest Park Complex. It contained grades 7-12. After 7 years, in 1925, a new three-story building was built on Forrest Avenue.

In September 2, 1952, Cocoa High School opened its new school building for grades 7-12 on Rockledge Avenue, the present site of Rockledge High. The building on Forrest Avenue became the Junior High for grades 7-8th grades. In 1959 grades 7-8 were moved to a middle school. The Forrest Avenue building was used by the then-new Brevard Jr. College, founded in 1959, for two years.

In 1966 the school hired its "first" Black Staff Member Dr. Joe Lee Smith as Assistant Principal.

In 1970 a school was built at the present site on Rosetine Street (Tiger Trail). There were 18 separate buildings housing grades 9-12. The part of Rosetine Street bordering the Cocoa High campus, was renamed "Tiger Trail" in honor of the school's mascot. Renaming streets after bordering high school's mascots is traditional in Brevard County.

In the 1974-75 school year, the School Board appointed its first woman to a high school principalship: Ruth Anderson to Cocoa High. In the 1978-79 School Year the School Board appointed its first Black to a Principalship: Richard "Dick" Blake to Cocoa High.

In 2010, the football team played three out-of-state games in an effort to be nationally ranked.^[3] In September 2010, the school was ranked 12th in the nation.^[4] It also set a county record for number of consecutive football victories, 31.^[5]

In October 2008, the football team lost a game to another Brevard County team. It was another 9 years before Rockledge High School beat Cocoa in the local BBQ Bowl District Champions football game in October 2017.

Campus

The school campus contains 18 single-story buildings located on Tiger Trail, in Cocoa, Florida. ^{[6] [7]} A 1,000 seat auditorium was built in 2010.^[8]

Sports

Cocoa High was the "first" High School in the County to win an FHSAA State Championship in any Sport winning the Class "A" State Boys Basketball Championship in 1960. Jim Jenkins was the Head Coach and the team finished #1 in the State and had a 29-1 record. The school was also the County's "first" High School to win a Girl's FHSAA State Championship in any Sport winning the Class "AAA" Girls State Basketball Championship in 1978. The Coach was Rebecca "Rebbi" Benoit. Coach James Rowe's 2009 Boys Basketball Team won the school's second Basketball Championship winning the Class "AAA" Championship in 2009.

Coach John Wilkinson's 2008 Football Team won the Class "AAA" Championship. They repeated as Class "AA" State Champions in 2009 and again in 2010. They were the County's "first" Football Team to win three Championships in a row and in 2016 won a fourth Championship by winning the Class "AA" Championship. No other county school has won four State Championships in Football.

Bobby Barnes was the County and School's first high school All-American in baseball in 1951. In 1956, Bob Anderson was the County and School's first high school All-American in football. Two time first team All-American at West Point. Twice was a candidate for the Heisman trophy. Trophy candidate.

Apryl Bigham {Class of 1972} was the County and School's first female to make All-American in any Sport {Swimming}.

Steve Vaughn {Class of 1961} renowned Sports editor for Orlando sentinel.

Activities

The school offers students the following activities:

Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) problems

At the end of the 2005-2006 school year, Brevard Public School District conducted an internal investigation of Cocoa High which resulted in the removal of four of the school's principals. The administration at the school inaccurately reported its FCAT information. The District found that the school's principal, and three assistant principals, were involved in the scandal. All four administrators were removed from their positions.^[9]

In 2007, the school scored a "D" based on the standardized testing for the year, the lowest score in the district.^[10] This was raised to an "A", using different criteria in 2010, after state officials decided the old standards were too high. It is one of five high schools in Brevard to have this grade.^[11]

Notable alumni

• Emory L. Bennett (Class of 1948), Korean War Medal of Honor recipient.^[12]
• James Folston (Class of 1989), professional American football player.^[13]
• Ronald Patrick (Class of 2009), professional American football player.
• Jesse Lee Kercheval (Class of 1974, graduated 1973), author, poet, and professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.^[14]
• Rodney Chester, (Class of 1983), actor, dancer, choreographer
• Scott Thompson alias Carrot Top (Class of 1983), comedian.^[15]
• Vassar Carlton (1932) 18 varsity letters for football, basketball, baseball; U-Fla. letterman in football, baseball. Retired as Chief Justice Florida Supreme Court.
• Bob Anderson (1956) All-State football, basketball, baseball, track; school, county first All-American in football. Two-time All-American at West Point; Heisman Trophy finalist twice. Professional football New York Giants.^[16]

Footnotes