Cocoa High School is high school located in
Cocoa, Florida
Cocoa is a city in Brevard County, Florida, Brevard County, Florida. The population was 19,041 at the 2020 United States Census. It is part of the Palm Bay, Florida, Palm Bay–Melbourne, Florida, Melbourne–Titusville, Florida, Titusvil ...
, and is part of the
Brevard Public Schools
Brevard Public Schools is a school district serving Brevard County, Florida, and based in Viera, Florida.
In 2015, the district had about 74,000 students. 24% attend a school other than the one to which they are assigned. In 2009, the school board ...
District. The principal is Ms. Stewart .
History
Cocoa High was constructed in 1917. It was a two-story reinforced concrete building on Willard Street, next to Forrest Park Complex. It contained grades 7-12. Seven years later, in 1925, a new three-story building was built on Forrest Avenue.
On September 2, 1952, Cocoa High School opened its new school building for grades 7-12 on Rockledge Avenue, the present site of Rockledge High. The building on Forrest Avenue became the Junior High for grades 7-8th grades. In 1959 grades 7-8 were moved to a middle school. The Forrest Avenue building was used by the then-new Brevard Jr. College, founded in 1959, for two years. In 1966 the school hired its first Black staff member Dr. Joe Lee Smith as Assistant Principal.
In 1970 a school was built at the present site on Rosetine Street (Tiger Trail). There were 18 separate buildings housing grades 9-12. The part of Rosetine Street bordering the Cocoa High campus was renamed "Tiger Trail" in honor of the school's mascot. In the 1974-75 school year, the School Board appointed its first woman to a high school principalship: Ruth Anderson to Cocoa High. In the 1978-79 school year the School Board appointed its first Black person to a Principalship: Richard "Dick" Blake to Cocoa High.
In 2010, the football team played three out-of-state games in an effort to be nationally ranked. In September 2010, the school was ranked 12th in the nation. It also set a county record for number of consecutive football victories: 31.
In October 2008, the football team lost a game to another Brevard County team. It would be another nine years before Rockledge High School beat Cocoa in the local BBQ Bowl District Champions football game in October 2017.
Campus
The school campus contains 25 single-story buildings located on Tiger Trail, in Cocoa, Florida.
A 1,000-seat auditorium was built in 2010.
Sports
Cocoa High was the first High School in the County to win an FHSAA State Championship in any sport, winning the Class "A" State Boys Basketball Championship in 1960. The team finished #1 in the State and had a 29-1 record. The school was also the County's first High School to win a Girl's FHSAA State Championship in any sport winning the Class "AAA" Girls State Basketball Championship in 1978. Coach James Rowe's 2009 Boys Basketball Team won the school's second Basketball Championship winning the Class "AAA" Championship in 2009.
Its primary athletic rival is
Rockledge High School.
Activities
The school offers students the following activities:
*Student Government Association
*Robotics
*
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...
*Drama Club
*
Mu Alpha Theta
Mu Alpha Theta () is the United States mathematics honor society for high school and two-year college students. In June 2015, it served over 108,000 student members in over 2,200 chapters in the United States and in 20 foreign countries. Its main ...
*Guitar Club
*J. Kyle Braid Leadership Club
*Yearbook
*
Key Club
Key Club International, also called Key Club, is an international service organization for high school students. As a student-led organization, Key Club's goal is to encourage leadership through serving others. Key Club International is the hig ...
*
Best Buddies International
Best Buddies International is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. It consists of volunteers that create opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The program's main purpose is to allow volunteers ...
*
National Beta Club
The National Beta Club (often called "Beta Club" or simply "Beta") is an organization for 4th through 12th grade students in the United States. Its purpose is "to promote the ideals of academic achievement, character, leadership and service among ...
*
Fellowship of Christian Athletes
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is an international non-profit Christian sports ministry founded in 1954 and based in Kansas City, Missouri. It has staff offices located throughout the United States and abroad.
History
FCA was found ...
*Academic Team
*Spanish Club
*
Future Business Leaders of America
The Future Business Leaders of America, or FBLA, is an American career and technical student organization headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Established in 1940, FBLA is a non-profit organization of high school ("FBLA"), Middle Level ("FBLA ...
*Literary Magazine
*Science Engineering Communications
*Mathematics Enrichment
*Music Organizations
**Marching Band
**Orchestra
**Chorus
**Gospel Choir
*Science Research
*
JROTC
The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC -- commonly pronounced "JAY-rotsee") is a federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools across the United States and at US military ...
Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) controversy
At the end of the 2005-2006 school year, Brevard Public School District conducted an internal investigation of Cocoa High which resulted in the removal of four of the school's principals. The administration at the school inaccurately reported its FCAT information. The District found that the school's principal, and three assistant principals, were involved in the scandal. All four administrators were removed from their positions.
In 2007, the school scored a "D" based on the standardized testing for the year, the lowest score in the district. This was raised to an "A", using different criteria in 2010, after state officials decided the old standards were too high. It is one of five high schools in Brevard to have this grade.
Notable alumni
*
Bob Anderson (1956), All-State football, basketball, baseball, track; school, county first All-American in football. Two-time All-American at West Point; Heisman Trophy finalist twice. Professional football New York Giants.
*
Emory L. Bennett
Emory Lawrence Bennett (December 20, 1929 – June 24, 1951) was a United States Army soldier in the Korean War who posthumously received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.
Biography
Bennett was born in New Smyrna Beach, F ...
(Class of 1948),
Korean War Medal of Honor recipient.
*
Vassar Carlton (1932), 18 varsity letters for football, basketball, baseball; U-Fla. letterman in football, baseball. Retired as Chief Justice Florida Supreme Court.
*
Rodney Chester (Class of 1983), actor, dancer, choreographer
*
Jamel Dean
Jamel Dean (born October 15, 1996) is an American football cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Auburn.
College career
After spending a semester at Ohio State while medical ...
, Tampa Bay professional football player
*
James Folston (Class of 1989), professional
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
player. Was named to four All American teams as a College Senior. Associated Press, Football Gazette, NFL Draft Report and the Walter Camp Foundation. 1994-2nd Round Draft Pick of the Los Angeles Raiders.
*
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, professional football player,
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
[
* ]Javian Hawkins
Javian Hawkins (born November 3, 1999) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals. He opted out of the remainder of the season in November 2020 and entered the 2021 NFL Draft ...
, University of Louisville
The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...
and NFL running back
* Jesse Lee Kercheval
Jesse Lee Kercheval (born 1956) is a poet, memoirist, translator and fiction writer. She is an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is the author of numerous books, notably ''Building Fiction, The Museum of Happiness, ...
(Class of 1974, graduated 1973), author, poet, and professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
.
*Scott Thompson alias Carrot Top
Scott Thompson (born February 25, 1965), known professionally as Carrot Top, is an American actor and stand-up comedian.
Early life
Thompson was born in Rockledge, Florida, and grew up in Cocoa. He is the youngest son of a NASA engineer. He ...
(Class of 1983), comedian.
* Ronald Patrick
Ronald Patrick Jr. (born November 1, 1991) is a former American football center. He played college football at the University of South Carolina.
Early years
Patrick attended Cocoa High School. He accepted a football scholarship from the Uni ...
(Class of 2009), professional American football player
* Chip Skowron
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, hedge fund portfolio manager convicted of insider trading
* Jawaan Taylor '2016, professional football player for Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...
.
Footnotes
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Brevard Public Schools
Cocoa, Florida
Educational institutions established in 1917
High schools in Brevard County, Florida
Public high schools in Florida
1917 establishments in Florida