The American Senior High School, or The American High School, is a
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
located in
Country Club
A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offer ...
,
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to:
* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality
* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization
* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. Its principal is Stephen E. Papp. It has been named a
Blue Ribbon School of Excellence
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...
.
Overview
American was opened in 1976 (the year of America's bicentennial); its name, sports teams (Patriots) and colors (red, white, and blue) were chosen to reflect this.
The school uses a
Hialeah
Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Hialeah is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in the Mi ...
address but mainly serves northern
Miami Lakes
Miami Lakes is a suburb of Miami, an incorporated town and former census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. US Census, 31,628 people live in Miami Lakes.
History
The development was constructed by Sengra (now the ...
, including Palm Springs North and The Country Club of Miami.
American's main athletic rival is
Barbara Goleman High School
Barbara Goleman Senior High School is a secondary school located at 14100 NW 89th Ave in Miami Lakes, Florida; its principal is Manuel Sanchez. Goleman is part of Miami-Dade County Public Schools Region I, and is school number 7751.
The school ...
. Other rivals include
Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School
, motto_translation = ''Work Conquers All''
, streetaddress = 7977 West 12th Avenue
, city = Hialeah
, state = Florida
, zipcode = 33014
, country = United States
, coordinates =
, type = P ...
,
Miami Carol City High School
Miami Carol City Senior High School (MCCSH) is a public high school located at 3301 Miami Gardens Drive
in Miami Gardens, Florida, United States. It was established in 1963. The school is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system. The ...
,
Hialeah High School
Hialeah Senior High School is a public high school located at 251 E 47th Street in Hialeah, Florida, United States.
History
Hialeah Senior High School opened in September 1954.
In April 2012, Alberto M. Carvalho, the superintendent of Miami-Dad ...
and
Miramar High School
Miramar High School is a public high school located in Miramar, Florida. The school opened in 1970 and serves students residing in southwest Broward County; however, magnet students may hail from elsewhere in the county.
Miramar High School serv ...
.
American is composed of three buildings: the main building which houses most of the classrooms, and the buildings which house the freshman class in order for there to be enough room for the rest of the student body in the main building.
History
At the time the school was built, cow pastures were in the area. It opened with grades 9-11 with 12th added the next year. Its projected initial enrollment was 1,800. Glenda Graham Harris, then one of two women to be principal of a Dade County senior high school, was the initial principal. In December 1976 the school had 1,846 students, with about 33% each Hispanic/Latino, African-American, and non-Hispanic white. Clipping of first an of second page at
Newspapers.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018, ...
.
Robert Bork of ''
The Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami. Clipping from
Newspapers.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018, ...
. Parents who were non-Latino white organized a boycott in December to show frustration at the violence situation. Clipping from
Newspapers.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018, ...
On Monday December 6, 1976, 791 students, or 42% of the student body, boycotted school. The next day 36% boycotted. By Thursday December 9 the percentage was down to 28%, or about 500 students. The school board assigned two employees to defuse the situation.
Demographics
American High's student population is 67% Hispanic, 28% Black, 1% Caucasian, and 1% Asian. About 81% of the students receive free or reduced-priced lunch, compared to a district average of 43%. The gender breakdown is 50% male, 50% female.
American feeder pattern
Middle schools that feed into American include:
* Bob Graham Education Center
* Country Club Middle School
* Lake Stevens Middle School
* Lawton Chiles Middle School
* Mater Gardens Academy Middle
* Miami Lakes Middle School
Elementary schools that feed into American include:
* Charles D. Wyche Elementary
* Joella C. Good Elementary
* Lake Stevens Elementary
* Mater Gardens Academy Elementary
* Palm Springs North Elementary
* Spanish Lake Elementary
Notable alumni
*
Tyrese Cooper
Tyrese Cooper (born March 21, 2000) is a former American track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events, specializing in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 400 metres. He attended Miami Norland Senior High School in Miami Gardens, Flori ...
– track athlete
* James Jones – former professional basketball player and 3x champion for the
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...
and
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
currently the vice president of basketball operations for the
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...
. Played collegiately at the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
*
Dascha Polanco
Dascha Yolaine Polanco (born December 3, 1982) is a Dominican-American actress. She is known for portraying the role of Dayanara "Daya" Diaz on the Netflix series ''Orange Is the New Black'', and for the role of Cuca in the 2021 movie ''In the He ...
- American Dominican actress
*
Darnell Sweeney
Darnell Thomas Sweeney (born February 1, 1991) is an American professional baseball utility player who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies.
Early life and am ...
- professional baseball player
*
Olivier Vernon
Olivier Alexander Vernon (born October 7, 1990) is an American football defensive end and outside linebacker who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft and has also played for the New Yor ...
– professional football player,
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
, played collegiately at the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
defensive back
In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...
,
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...
(1992–1995, 2000–2001),
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
(1996–1998), played collegiately at the University of Miami
*
Smokepurpp
Omar Jeffery Pineiro (born May 15, 1997), known professionally as Smokepurpp, is an American rapper. Originally a record producer, Pineiro later found success on the audio distribution platform SoundCloud in 2017 from his surge in popularity due ...