Vero Beach High School

Vero Beach High School (VBHS) is a 9–12 public high school in Vero Beach, Florida, United States that was established in 1925. The school is operated by the Indian River County School District.

Vero Beach High School
Address
1707 16th Street

Vero Beach
,
Florida
32960-3626

United States
Coordinates27°37′46″N 80°24′14″W
Information
TypePublic high school
MottoVBHS... Together We Achieve Success
Established
  • 1905 (1905) (unofficially)
  • 1925 (1925) (officially)
  • 1963 (1963) (Main Campus Location)
School districtIndian River County School District
PrincipalShawn O'Keefe
Teaching staff133.60 (FTE) (2020–21)[1]
Grades9–12
GenderCo-educational
Enrollment2,961 (2020–21)[1]
Student to teacher ratio22.16:1 (2020–21)[1]
CampusesFLC/Main Campus
Campus size77 acres (310,000 m2)
Color(s)Red, White, Black    
SloganIt's Great to be a Fighting Indian
Athletics conferenceFHSAA Class 8A District 8
MascotFighting Indians
RivalSebastian River High School
Websitevbhs.indianriverschools.org

The campus of VBHS encompasses approximately 77 acres (310,000 m2), which includes the Freshman Learning Center and main campus areas. The combination of school enrollment and the size of the physical plant makes VBHS the largest high school in Indian River County. The Freshman Learning Center serves about 750 9th grade students.

History
A statue of the Fighting Indians mascot.

Vero Beach High School can trace its timeline back to the class of 1905, where students learned in a one-room schoolhouse. In 1925, the first official Vero Beach High School opened. It was located about a half-mile north of the current location, where Vero Beach High School's Freshman Learning Center stands today.

After Vero Beach High School moved to its present-day location in 1963, the old high school became Vero Beach Junior High School, and VBHS took on a new official name, Vero Beach Senior High School.

In 1977, the junior high school was becoming insufficient for housing all of the county's junior high schoolers, and was torn down to make way for a new, smaller school, Indian River Middle 8 - the present-day home of the Freshman Learning Center, and soon to become a middle school again, once all the renovations at Vero Beach High School are complete. Prior to the completion of Sebastian River High School in 1994, Vero Beach High School was the only public high school in Indian River County.

Vero Beach High School completed a three-year, $51 million remodeling project in 2009.[2]

Shawn O'Keefe took over for the 2012–2013 school year.

Academics

Vero Beach High School has an AP Program, a Dual Enrollment program with Indian River State College, an Honors program, and regular level classes.

The Dual Enrollment Program is offered with Indian River State College to give students the opportunity to take college-level classes at the college, online, or during the summer. The school also offers career and technical classes.

Athletics

On January 1, 2019, the Vero Beach High School Fighting Indians Band performed in the 2019 London New Year's Day Parade in London. This was the first time the band, in its 90 years existence as of June 2019, had gone overseas to Europe and Internationally traveled. This had also brought some attention to the high school and the city of Vero Beach due to the number of viewers at the parade and on TV.[3] In October 2022, The football team was featured on NBC's Today show.[4]

Lacrosse Championships

Spanning the period of 2006-2015, the VBHS Girls Lacrosse team won the statewide Lacrosse Championship every consecutive season.[5] This nine year dynasty was unprecedented in the sport and extremely rare when compared across all Floridian high school teams in any sport.[6] The city honored this dynasty by erecting two signs noting the achievement.

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Search for Public Schools - Vero Beach High School (120093001052)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  2. "2008-2009 = Florida School Improvement Plan (Print-View)". Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
  3. "Vero Beach High School marching band at London New Year's Day Parade". www.tcpalm.com. Archived from the original on January 24, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  4. Cooney, Bryan (October 7, 2022). "'Nice to be recognized': NBC's 'Today' show spotlights Vero Beach High School football team". TC Palm. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  5. Thomas, Milt. "There IS a 'secret sauce' to the success of Vero Beach High School Girls' Lacrosse!". The Indian River Guardian. The Indian River Guardian/Inside Vero. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  6. Jacob, Dennis. "Vero Beach girls lacrosse dynasty is one of Florida's greatest". TCPalm. TCPalm. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  7. Nam, Sooji (February 13, 2023). "'We're proud of her': Grammy-winning R&B artist Muni Long from Vero Beach". WPBF. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
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