Gadsden County School District (GCPS), or Gadsden County Schools (GCS), or Gadsden County Public Schools (GCPS), is a school district headquartered in the Max D. Walker School Administration Building in Quincy, Florida. It serves
Gadsden County
Gadsden County is a county located in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,826. Its county seat is Quincy. Gadsden County is included in the Tallahassee, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area. Ga ...
as its sole school district.
History
Several area private schools served county students before the formation of the school district, which occurred during a meeting in the county sheriff's office on September 18, 1869. The district initially enrolled about 2,500 students. Throughout much of its history it relied on Rosenwald schools. Many of its contemporary school buildings opened in the 1960s.A BRIEF HISTORY OF PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN GADSDEN COUNTY " Gadsden County School District. December 22, 2003. Retrieved on April 8, 2017.
Prior to 1970 the school district had autonomous community schools and racial segregation; at that time all schools were integrated and the district was unified, with centrally located schools. After 1970 the white student population declined, with some students going to the
Robert F. Munroe Day School
Robert F. Munroe Day School is a K-12 private school in Gadsden County, Florida, which was opened as a segregation academy in 1970.
History
As in many public school districts in the Southern United States, Gadsden County officials delayed their c ...
and the Tallavanna Christian School.White, p. 84 (PDF p. 92). According to Headley J. White, author of the 2006 PhD thesis "Effects of Desegregation on Gadsden County, Florida Public Schools 1968-1972," in post-desegregation Gadsden County, white students attending most Gadsden County public schools experienced stigma.White, p. 74 (PDF p. 82) Many black students no longer worked on tobacco fields, causing the tobacco industry in the county to suffer and therefore damaging its economy and causing Gadsden County's population to decline.
By 1999 the majority of white students were in private schools. In 1999 a '' Florida Trend'' article written by Cynthia Barnett described the county public schools as representing "everything wrong with the state's public schools: High rates of illiteracy, delinquency, drop-outs and teen pregnancy."
Circa 2002 the school district had almost 10,000 students. In 2017 the school district had 5,400 students.
Schools
High schools:
* Gadsden County High School (formerly East Gadsden High School) - ''Unincorporated area''
** Note: In fall 2017 grades 9-12 from East Gadsden High School and West Gadsden High School consolidated to East Gadsden High and West Gadsden High became a 5-8 middle school
PK-8 schools:
* Gadsden Elementary Magnet School - Quincy
* Havana Magnet School -
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
Middle schools:
* James A. Shanks Middle School - Quincy
* West Gadsden Middle School - ''Unincorporated area''
Elementary schools:
* Chattahoochee Elementary School -
Chattahoochee
The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the con ...
** It will become a Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten early learning center in 2018.
* Greensboro Elementary School - Greensboro
** Previously it served grades PK-5. In fall 2017 it became a PK-3 elementary school.
* George W. Munroe Elementary School - Quincy
** It will become a PreK-3 school
* Stewart Street Elementary School - Quincy
Alternative:
* Carter-Parramore Academy (K-12) - Quincy
* Crossroad Academy Charter School (K-12) - Quincy
* Gadsden Central Academy (high school) - Quincy
* Hope Academy (high school) - Quincy
Former schools
High schools:Schools " Gadsden County School District. April 6, 2001. Retrieved on April 6, 2017.
*
Chattahoochee High School
Chattahoochee High School (colloquially referred to as "Hooch") is a public high school in Johns Creek, Georgia, United States, within the Fulton County School System. It is located next to its only feeder school, Taylor Road Middle School.
...
- Also known as Chattahoochee Magnet High School
*
Greensboro High School
Greensboro High School was a public high school in Greensboro, Florida. It was a part of Gadsden County Public Schools. West Gadsden High School, established in 2004, absorbed students who formerly attended Chattahoochee High School and Greensbo ...
*
Havana Northside High School
Havana Northside High School was a senior high school in Havana, Florida, and a part of the Gadsden County School District. The school mascot was the gladiator and the school colors were brown and gold.James A. Shanks High School
Middle schools:
* Carter Parramore Middle School - Quincy
* Havana Middle School
Elementary schools:
* Gretna Elementary School - Gretna
** It was scheduled to close in 2018. - It ultimately closed in July 2017
* Havana Elementary School
* St. John Elementary School - ''Unincorporated area''
** It closed in July 2017
Early childhood:
* Midway Magnet School
Gallery
File:Gadsden County Head Start (Old Quincy High School).jpg, Gadsden County Head Start (formerly Quincy High School)
File:East Gadsden High School entrance.jpg,
East Gadsden High School
Gadsden County High School, known as East Gadsden High School (EGHS) until 2016, was a public high school in unincorporated Gadsden County, Florida, operated by Gadsden County School District. It is between Havana and Quincy, and it has a "Havana ...
File:James A. Shanks Middle School, Quincy.jpg, James A. Shanks Middle School
File:Gadsden Elementary Magnet School.jpg, Gadsden Magnet Elementary School (former Quincy High School)
File:Gretna Elementary School.jpg, Gretna Elementary School
File:George W. Munroe Elementary School.jpg, George W. Munroe Elementary School