George W. Jenkins High School serves

Lakeland Highlands, Florida Lakeland Highlands is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was 11,056 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

, and

Medulla, Florida Medulla is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in western Polk County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. Medulla is an affluent residential community l ...

, the two southernmost unincorporated communities of

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal ci ...

, a city with a population of 112,641 and a surrounding community of more than 700,000. The school, more commonly known as "George Jenkins" or “GJ”, is part of the Polk County Public Schools system. It was founded in 1993 and named after George W. Jenkins, founder of

Publix Publix Super Markets, Inc., commonly known as Publix, is an employee-owned American supermarket chain headquartered in Lakeland, Florida. Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins, Publix is a private corporation that is wholly owned by present and ...

, the Lakeland-based supermarket chain. The school was opened to relieve overcrowding at Lakeland High School,

Kathleen High School Kathleen Senior High School is the second oldest of four high schools in Lakeland, Florida, United States. It was originally housed north of its present location, at the site of the current Kathleen Middle School.Bartow High School. The $25 million campus sits on ninety-five acres in the southeast corner of Lakeland. The school's mascot is Louie the Eagle and its colors are green and gold.

Students/faculty

George W. Jenkins High School has 2,291 students and 123 teachers. The school has produced twenty-two

National Merit The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded, not-for-profit organizati ...

Scholar finalists since its second operating year, 1994. The school year is divided into two, eighteen-week semesters. Each student attends four classes each Wednesday and Thursday, And seven classes Monday, Tuesday and Friday.

National test scores

SAT Scores (218 Students, 2006–2007) ACT Scores (153 Students, 2006–2007)

Athletics

George Jenkins offers students more than 18 sports during Fall, Spring and Winter. Some of the school's sports offerings include football, baseball/softball, basketball, tennis, golf, cross country/track, soccer, swimming, volleyball, weightlifting, girls' flag football, and boys' wrestling. George Jenkins has won two state titles in its school history, one in 1998 by the Boys Tennis team and the other one by the Girls Soccer team on February 13, 2008. The soccer team defeated Satellite High School to capture the Class 5A State Championship. George Jenkins is represented by its Dream Maker band at all large sporting activities. Also, George Jenkins is represented by the ensemble Golden Harmony, who sings the National Anthem at most sporting activities.

Notable alumni

Lance Niekro Lance William Niekro ( ; born January 29, 1979) is a baseball coach and former first baseman, who is the current head baseball coach of the Florida Southern Moccasins. He played college baseball at Florida Southern for coach Chuck Anderson from 1 ...

, 1997 GJHS graduate.

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), ...

player with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

. Son of MLB 221 games winning knuckleballer pitcher

Joe Niekro Joseph Franklin Niekro ( ; November 7, 1944 – October 27, 2006) was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He was the younger brother of pitcher Phil Niekro, and the father of former Major League first baseman Lance Niekro. Niekr ...

. *

Chris Fontaine Christopher Fontaine (born December 1, 1981) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He has competed in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, driving in 59 races, most notably for Glenden Enterprises. He is known for ...

, 2000 graduate,

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

driver.

Administration

The school's principal is Tom Patton, a former administrator at the school. George Jenkins' administrative staff also consists of two assistant principals and five deans (of academics, athletics, attendance, and two of students). Lake Region High School, in Winter Haven, FL, is modeled after George Jenkins. 2006 State of Florida Academic FCAT Performance Grade: B 2006 State of Florida Academic "Adequate Yearly Progress": Yes

References

{{authority control Schools in Lakeland, Florida High schools in Polk County, Florida Public high schools in Florida 1993 establishments in Florida Educational institutions established in 1993