Fort Pierce Central High School
Address
4101 S 25th Street

Fort Pierce
,
Florida
34981

United States
Coordinates27°23′28″N 80°21′04″W / 27.3911°N 80.3510°W / 27.3911; -80.3510
Information
TypePublic
MottoPride Makes the Difference
Established1970 (1970)
School districtSt. Lucie Public Schools
PrincipalEldrique Gardner
Staff110[1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment2,733 [1]
Student to teacher ratio25:1[1]
Color(s)  Purple
  Gold
MascotCobras
YearbookThe Hamadryad
Websitehttps://schools.stlucie.k12.fl.us/fpc

Fort Pierce Central High School is a public high school located in Fort Pierce, Florida, United States. It is part of the St. Lucie Public Schools district.

History

Fort Pierce Central High School opened its doors in 1970 as the first comprehensive high school to serve all students in St. Lucie County.[2] Prior to 1970, high schools in St. Lucie County were segregated, with white students attending Dan McCarty High School and black students attending Lincoln Park Academy.[3] Students were initially unhappy with the forced integration, and the first years of Fort Pierce Central's existence were marred by race riots that occasionally required police intervention.[4]

Campus

The front of campus as viewed from 25th Street
The interior courtyard of the school

The school's original campus was located at 1101 Edwards Road, approximately 1.5 miles northeast of its present located on South 25th Street. The original campus was in use from the school's founding in 1970 until 2008, when the new campus was moved into. The new campus was built in order to both increase student capacity and regain facilities lost during the 2004 hurricanes[5]

The new campus is modeled after that of Treasure Coast High School, and consists of a large central courtyard entirely surrounded by four buildings.[6] There are four main areas containing classrooms in buildings one, two, and four. Classrooms within these areas were created in a modular "pod" format, with classrooms separated by retractable partitions so that areas can be combined if necessary. Building three is the largest of the four and contains the auditorium, cafeteria, gymnasium, automotive shop, and other elective classrooms.[7][8]

Academics

The school provides multiple career academies to its students:[9]

  • Engineering and Technology
    • Aerospace Institute
    • Automotive
    • Information Technology
  • Media and Arts
    • Art
    • Drama
    • Photography
  • Band
  • Army JROTC
  • Dual enrollment[10]

Students have the opportunity to enroll in free traditional college courses through Indian River State College, as well as engineering-focused college courses through the on-campus Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Gaetz Aerospace Institute.[11] Students in the aerospace program are enrolled as Embry-Riddle students and their coursework will appear on an official college transcript.[12]

Athletics

Athletes from Fort Pierce Central compete as the Cobras and their colors are purple and gold. The school fields teams in 11 boys sports and 11 girls sports including Football, Basketball, Baseball, Cross Country, and Volleyball.[13]

The Cobras play their football games at Lawnwood Stadium approximately 2.5 miles from campus.

Rivalry with Westwood

Each year, the Cobras football team competes against their crosstown rival Fort Pierce Westwood Academy Panthers in a game known as the Showdown, first competed in 1978.[14] The most recent edition of the rivalry was Showdown 42, in which the Cobras defeated the Panthers 29-28 on October 11, 2021.[15] As of the 2021 season, the Cobras lead the rivalry 22-20.[16]

State championships

  • Football: 1971[17]
  • Boys' Track and Field[18]
    • 220 Yard Dash Class 4A: 1978
    • Shot Put Class 4A: 1977
    • Discus Class 4A: 1977
    • Adaptive 200 Meter Dash Class 3A: 2011
    • Adaptive 800 Meter Run Class 3A: 2011
    • Adaptive Shot Put Class 3A: 2011
  • Boys' Wrestling (Individual)[19][20]
    • Pre-Class: 1973 (155)
    • Class 3A: 1994 (135), 1994 (275), 2018 (132), 2021 (220), 2022 (285)
    • Class 5A: 1996 (152)
    • Class 6A: 1995 (140), 1995 (275)
  • Girls' Basketball Class 3A: 1987[21]

Activities

The school offers students the following clubs:[22]

Notable alumni

Athletes

Michael Brantley
Ed Hearn
  • Baseball[24]
    • Michael Brantley, current professional baseball player for the Houston Astros
    • Lawrence Chapman, former professional baseball player
    • Ed Hearn, former professional baseball player
    • Jeff Schwarz, former professional baseball player
    • Collin Sullivan, current professional baseball player in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization
    • Donald Yarborough, former professional baseball player

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Fort Pierce Central High School".
  2. ↑ "About Us". schools.stlucie.k12.fl.us. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  3. ↑ "'The future is extremely bright' at Fort Pierce Central High". tcpalm.com. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  4. ↑ "'The future is extremely bright' at Fort Pierce Central High". tcpalm.com. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  5. ↑ "School in Fort Pierce closes after 38 years". tcpalm.com. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  6. ↑ "FPCHS Floor Plan". schools.stlucie.k12.fl.us. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  7. ↑ "School in Fort Pierce closes after 38 years". tcpalm.com. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  8. ↑ "FPCHS Floor Plan". schools.stlucie.k12.fl.us. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Academies". schools.stlucie.k12.fl.us. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Academies". St. Lucie Public Schools. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Embry-Riddle Aerospace Academy". schools.stlucie.k12.fl.us. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Embry-Riddle Aerospace Academy". schools.stlucie.k12.fl.us. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Central High School". www.maxpreps.com. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Showdown 39: Seven things you didn't know about Fort Pierce's city football rivalry". tcpalm.com. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Central ekes out one-point overtime win over Westwood in the Battle for Fort Pierce". tcpalm.com. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Central Football Schedule". www.maxpreps.com. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Fort Pierce Central set to honor 1971 state championship football team". tcpalm.com. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Boys Track and Field Championship Records" (PDF). fhsaa.com. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Wrestling Champion Result Archives" (PDF). fhsaa.com. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Fort Pierce Central's Gabriel Jacas repeats as state wrestling champ". tcpalm.com. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  21. ↑ "Fort Pierce Central's Gabriel Jacas repeats as state wrestling champ" (PDF). fhsaa.com. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Clubs". schools.stlucie.k12.fl.us. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Fort Pierce Central HS Football Players". Football Reference. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Fort Pierce Central HS Baseball Players". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
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