Bay High School (Florida)

Bay High School is a public secondary school in downtown Panama City, Florida, U.S. As one of the oldest continuously accredited public high schools in Florida, the school serves around 1,500 students in grades 9 to 12 in the Bay District Schools.

Bay High School
Location
1200 Harrison Avenue
Panama City, Florida 32401

United States
Information
TypePublic
Established1924
School districtBay County School District
PrincipalBlythe Carpenter
Faculty52.84[1]
Grades9 to 12
Enrollment1,059 (2019-20)[2]
Student to teacher ratio20.04[1]
Color(s)Red, White and Black      
MascotFighting Tornado
YearbookThe Pelican
Websitehttps://bayhightornadoes.com/

Bay High School has a faculty of 80.

Bay High School draws the majority of students that live in the Panama City area as well as neighboring communities such as St. Andrews, Glenwood, The Cove, Millville, Pretty Bayou, and Kings Point.

History

Bay High School was established in 1924 in Panama City, Florida. It opened doors on September 13, 1926 as Bay County High School.[3] Its building contained one office, twelve classrooms, and an auditorium during its opening.[3] The school's yearbook theme has been The Pelican since its inception.[3]

In 1945, they established the Tommy Oliver Memorial Stadium, in honor of the namesake of a football player.[3] The original stadium was demolished in 2016 and the school constructed the new Joe and Jeanette Chapman Field at Tommy Oliver Stadium, named after the namesake of the philanthropists.[4] The new stadium began construction at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year and was completed in the Spring of 2018. All major sporting events, graduations etc. we’re temporarily held at Mike Gavlak Stadium at J.R. Arnold High School in neighboring Panama City Beach until construction of the new stadium was completed.

In 1976, demolition was underway on the original Bay High building, allowing for more updated facilities while being able to accommodate more students. By 1977, a new building (now called Building 1) housed the school's offices, as well as two hallways of classrooms.

More additions occurred in 2000, with the construction of a new library building and cafeteria. After the new cafeteria was opened to students in 2001, the original building was used for storage, and on occasion, wrestling practice, until its demolition in early 2018. Additional buildings deemed outdated that had had plans drawn up for their replacement were also razed in early 2018.

In 2016, the Washington Post named Bay High School as among of the challenging high schools in the United States.[5][3]

As the 2022-2023 school year began longtime principal Billy May had stepped down as principal and transitioned to neighboring Jinks Middle School. Blythe Carpenter was appointed as the new principal of Bay High School. Carpenter is the first female principal to ever to hold this position.

Hurricane Michael

Bay High School suffered extensive damage from the landfall of Category 5 Hurricane Michael on October 10, 2018. Since then more than 60% students and faculty were housed in temporary modular classrooms. The school conducted the name for them as “Tornado Park”. Renovations were being made to the school in 2019, which will feature a brand new library, a state of the art STEM facility, and a new Fine Arts center. As the 2019-2020 school year began the first renovations were made to the Cafeteria with being new flooring installed. The next phase included reopening of the Media Center and the Band and Choir room which also were renovated and back in use shortly after in early 2020 all classrooms on campus with the exception of the Fine Arts classes are back in use. During the 2020-2021 school year as the STEM building nears completion the entire STEM department are being housed in the temporary modular classrooms still from Hurricane Michael as demolition of Buildings 2-5 took place to make way for construction of the new state of art Barbara W. Nelson Fine Arts Center facing Harrison Ave.

While temporarily residing in their neighboring Jinks Middle School, whose building was also severely damaged, they partnered with the middle school to host a Thanksgiving community feast, which was featured in ABC's Good Morning America on November 21, 2018.[6]

In April 2019, the school's students participated at a rally at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee to demand the legislative for relief funding of the school and its district.[7]

The school received criticism in September 2019 when a video circulated on Facebook, depicting unflushed toilets, stalls with no toilet papers and broken sinks.[8]

School uniforms

Students at the school used to be required to wear school uniforms prior to hurricane Michael. They would have worn solid red, white, or black shirts or a school approved spirit T-shirt, as well as closed-toe shoes and a belt. They were allowed to wear blue jeans, khakis, and skirts. Exceptions were made on fundraiser days.[9] After Hurricane Michael, however, the remainder of the 2018–19 school year continued without a dress code policy. as of now there is currently a relaxed dress code at the school, which disallows students from wearing revealing clothing.

Million Dollar Band

In November 2018, after Hurricane Michael struck Panama City, the Million Dollar Band received a hurricane relief fund from Bands of 30A with a check worth US$10,000 to compensate their losses of instruments[10]

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Bay High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  2. "BAY HIGH SCHOOL". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  3. GARMAN, VALERIE. "Celebrate Community: Bay High School". Panama City News Herald.
  4. Hale, Jamie. "Local leaders unveil the newly-renovated Tommy Oliver Stadium". www.wjhg.com.
  5. "Bay - The Washington Post". apps.washingtonpost.com.
  6. "How a hurricane-devastated community is coming together for Thanksgiving". ABC News.
  7. Dailey, Ryan (17 April 2019). "Panama City, Panhandle Residents Rally At Capitol To Press Legislature For Relief Funding". news.wjct.org.
  8. Breaux, Collin. "School district addresses video of disgusting Bay High restroom (VIDEO)". Panama City News Herald.
  9. http://www.bay.k12.fl.us/departments/Portals/24/Revised%20uniform%20policy%205-8-07.doc%5B%5D
  10. Kaye, Emily. "Bay High "Million Dollar Band" receives a check for hurricane relief". www.wjhg.com.
  • Glenda A. Walters (2008). Panama City. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 55–. ISBN 978-0-7385-5352-8.

30.169901°N 85.660061°W / 30.169901; -85.660061

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