Atlantic Coast High School (ACHS) is a public high school in the

Duval County Public Schools Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) is the public school district that serves the families and children residing in the urban, suburban, and rural areas of the City of Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida. As of 2015, the district had an enroll ...

district, located in southeast

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, United States.Sanders, Topher
"Duval school admins cheer for the new Atlantic Coast High School"
Florida Times-Union, August 4, 2010 Its boundary includes the Duval County portion of the Nocatee development (which is not in the Nocatee

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

Overview

Construction of the 302,000 square-meters building was completed during the spring of 2010 at a cost of nearly $78 million. The school was constructed to prevent overcrowding at Sandalwood High School, Englewood High School,

Wolfson High School Samuel W. Wolfson High School (or simply Wolfson) is a magnet high school located in the Duval County Public School district. As an academic magnet and college preparatory school, Wolfson specializes in Advanced Placement and International Bacc ...

and

Mandarin High School Mandarin High School (MHS) is a public high school in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It was established in 1990 and is part of the Duval County Public Schools district. As of 2010, it is the second-largest high school in Duval County fol ...

. Sandalwood is the largest high school in Duval County, followed by Mandarin High School. The main feeder schools are Kernan Middle School and Twin Lakes Academy. The school graduated their first senior class in 2013. Atlantic Coast High School has a capacity of 2,300 students. The two-story school complex has an open courtyard between wings. The complex is divided into buildings, then further organized into 'pods', which holds the classrooms. The gymnasium seats 1,621.5 and the auditorium's capacity is 840. There are tables and chairs for 450 inside the café, but another 100 can sit in the outdoor courtyard. The media center (library) has a television studio."Atlantic Coast High School Opens for School Year"
WTLV-TV, August 5, 2010 The school mascot is the

stingray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ( ...

, and their colors are black and burnt orange. The school is currently zoned for the communities of Deerwood, Baymeadows, and neighborhoods along Southside and Butler Boulevards."Atlantic Coast High School Opens"
WJXT-TV, August 4, 2010

Academics

In addition to the standard high school curriculum and exceptional student education, the advanced scholars program gives students the option to participate in the rigorous programs of

advanced placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

, dual enrollment and honors courses, but not the

Advanced International Certificate of Education {{Third-party, date=November 2021 The Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) is an internationally used English language curriculum offered to students in the higher levels of secondary school intended to prepare them for an honour ...

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

, which are available at several other Jacksonville schools such as,

Jean Ribault High School Jean Ribault High School is a public high school located in North Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of Duval County Public Schools. Improvement Ribault was one of 16 schools nationwide selected by the College Board for inclusion in the EXCELerat ...

Stanton College Preparatory School Stanton College Preparatory School is a preparatory high school in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Stanton College Preparatory School is a highly selective school that offers both the Advanced Placement and the International Baccalaureate ...

, or

Paxon School for Advanced Studies Paxon School for Advanced Studies (PSAS) is one of four International Baccalaureate senior high schools (the others being Stanton College Preparatory School, Wolfson High School, and Terry Parker High School) in Duval County, Florida. Accordi ...

. It is currently an "A" school.

Academies

Their curriculum offers an AP Honors academy program as well as an AP Capstone program. They also have a Career Academy program in the area of

Information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

with concentration in ''Web Design, Commercial Arts and Television Production''."Academics at ACHS"
School website

Designation

The school is designated as a ''Hurricane Evacuation center'' and a backup generator can provide electricity during power outages for individuals with "special needs".

Notable faculty

Joel Davis Joel Clark Davis (born January 30, 1965) is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He played professionally for the Chicago White Sox from 1985 to 1988. Career Davis was born in Jacksonville, Florida and graduated from Sandalwood High School i ...

, former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher, played professionally for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

, coach at Atlantic Coast High School

References

External links

*
Duval County Public Schools website

Atlantic Coast High School Sports website
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 2010 High schools in Jacksonville, Florida Duval County Public Schools Public high schools in Florida 2010 establishments in Florida