First Coast High School

First Coast High School is a 9–12 comprehensive high school located in the Oceanway neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida. It was opened in 1990, at the same time as its sister school, Mandarin High School, opened in the southern part of the city.

The school's design is unique for Jacksonville schools (other than Mandarin, which started with an identical layout). The school is built around a large paved courtyard, reminiscent of Spanish architecture from the colonial period of Latin America. In 2006, an additional wing was added to the school, to accommodate the explosive growth in North Jacksonville.

Improvement

First Coast was one of 16 schools nationwide selected by the College Board for inclusion in the EXCELerator School Improvement Model program beginning the 2007–08 school year. The project was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Competition

The team mascot is the Buccaneers. Along with many accredited sports teams and being famously known for their football team, FCHS is home to one of the best theatre programs in the district. The theatre department at first coast high school was created by previous theatre director, Desiree Stant(2012-2017), and is now being run by Dave Thomas(2017-present). The theatre program at first coast has attended the state thespian competition for 2 years now, and has attended districts for the same amount receiving superiors each time. The high school’s first superior-ranked students in acting since the school opened were in 2016, Margaret Bailey and Olivia Harlin. This program is still thriving today with the director planning new shows for the community each semester, with one show in Fall and one in Spring. Besides the theatre program, First Coast High School is home to the "Singing Bucs". The chorus is composed of five separate groups: treble chorus (beginning level), advanced women's chorus, men's chorale, concert choir, and chamber singers (advanced). Each chorus has performed at various venues around the city of Jacksonville and throughout the nation, including St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, St. Andrews Cathedral in New Orleans, Times Square in New York City, and the University of North Florida's annual feast of carols. The chorus program at First Coast has also performed in Walt Disney World's Candlelight processional at Epcot for many years.

References

Coordinates: 30°28′57″N 81°36′28″W / 30.482560°N 81.607680°W / 30.482560; -81.607680