Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSDH or MSD) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

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 ...

Parkland, Florida Parkland is a suburban city, 42 miles northwest of Miami, in northern Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Parkland was 34,670. Parkland is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,166 ...

, United States. It was established in 1990 and is part of the Broward County Public Schools district. It is named after the writer Marjory Stoneman Douglas and is the only public high school in Parkland, serving almost all of the limits of that city as well as a section of

Coral Springs Coral Springs, officially the City of Coral Springs, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is located approximately northwest of Fort Lauderdale. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 134,394. It is a ...

.Zoning Map
" City of Parkland. Retrieved on September 22, 2018. On February 14, 2018, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School became the scene of a deadly mass shooting perpetrated by a 19-year-old former student of the school.

History

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was named after the

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical climate, tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orland ...

environmentalist, Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Despite its namesake, it is located just under two miles from the Everglades National Park, on part of the historical Everglades which Marjory Stoneman Douglas advocated for. The school opened in 1990, the year of her centennial, with students in grades 9 through 11, most of whom transferred from nearby schools

Coral Springs High School Coral Springs High School is a public high school located in Coral Springs, Florida, United States. It is a part of the Broward County Public Schools district. Demographics As of the 2021–22 school year, the total student enrollment was 2,495 ...

and

J. P. Taravella High School J. P. Taravella High School is a secondary school located in Coral Springs, Florida which teaches grades 9–12. The school is a part of the Broward County Public Schools district. The school was named after Joseph Phillip Taravella (1919–1978), ...

. The first senior class graduated in 1992.

Shooting

On February 14, 2018, a mass shooting at the campus left 17 dead and 17 more wounded. The gunman, who was a 19-year-old former student of the school, was apprehended hours later. Authorities charged the gunman with first-degree murder in response to the shooting, and the case went to trial in September 2021 along with the case of an attack against a jail officer. On October 20, 2021, The gunman pleaded guilty to all charges, including murder and attempted murder. On November 2, 2022, The gunman was sentenced to 34 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, one life sentence for each of the victims murdered and wounded by the gunman. Students from Stoneman Douglas were instrumental, by helping to organize nationwide student protests following the shooting, in spurring the revision of Florida law, on March 4, 2018, to raise the legal rifle-owner age from 18 to 21, with a three-day wait.

Athletics

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas Athletics Department operates programs in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, swimming, cross country, and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. The cheerleading squad at the school received international attention in 2012 when its coach was fired in response to complaints from parents. Parents complained about being charged thousands of dollars for their children to participate in the program, and alleged that the coach mishandled the team's finances and encouraged bullying.

Academics

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

s 2009 national ranking of high schools rated Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as No. 208 in the U.S., and No. 38 in Florida, which was the highest ranking of any school in Broward County. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School had a Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test ( FCAT) school grade of "A" for the 2011–2012 academic school year.

Extracurricular activities

There are numerous clubs at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School including DECA, speech and debate,

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 ...

, and cultural clubs including ISA (Indian Student Associations), Black Student Union Club, French Club, and Spanish club.

Drama Club

Several students in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Drama Club wrote "Shine", a song memorializing the victims of the school shooting in 2018 and others who have experienced gun violence. It has been performed at various venues, including a nationally-broadcast

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

town hall, and at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C. on March 24, 2018. It has also been performed by other musical groups, such as the Badiene Magaziner Vocal Studio at the March for Our Lives rally in New York City on the same day. The drama club performed at the

2018 Tony Awards The 72nd Annual Tony Awards were held on June 10, 2018, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2017–18 season. The ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and was broadcast live by CBS. Sara Bareilles an ...

Newspaper

The ''Eagle Eye'' is the student-run news publication of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. They made international press for their reporting of the 2018 shooting and its aftermath. Two issues of the student newspaper were submitted for the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

for their work covering student obituaries.

Winterguard

The Stoneman Douglas World Guard has made finals at WGI World Championships 9 times.

Demographics

As of the 2017–2018 school year, the total student enrollment was 3,330. The ethnic makeup of the school was 57%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 11%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

, 22%

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

, 7%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

and 3% multiracial. 27% of the students were eligible for free or reduced cost lunch.

Notable alumni

Dave Aizer David Ross Aizer (born November 24, 1974) is an American television host, writer and producer. Currently he is the channel host for WSFL-TV The CW in South Florida. He hosts the weekly talk show ''Inside South Florida'', as well as the morning new ...

, television host, writer and producer *

Nick Bilton Nick Bilton is a British-American journalist, author, and filmmaker. He is currently a special correspondent at ''Vanity Fair''. Life and career Bilton was born in Darlington, UK, and grew up in Leeds. He attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas Hi ...

, journalist and author *

Vail Bloom Vail Bloom is an American actress and producer. She portrayed the character Heather Stevens on ''The Young and the Restless,'' for which she received a Daytime Emmy nomination. Bloom has also appeared in television guest roles, independent films, ...

, actress * Karamo Brown, television host, reality television personality, author, and activist * Alfonso Calderon, anti gun violence activist, March for Our Lives co-founder, school shooting survivor * Mike Caruso, MLB player * Jaclyn Corin, anti gun violence activist, March for Our Lives co-founder, school shooting survivor *

Matt Deitsch Matthew Bryan Deitsch (born October 4, 1997) is an American writer, gun violence prevention advocate and political advisor. Before entering politics, he worked in broadcast media and was a freelance photographer, film director and music producer. ...

, writer, film director, political advisor and freelance photographer *

Ryan Deitsch Ryan Deitsch (born November 30, 1999) is an American student activist against gun violence, and a survivor of the Parkland massacre. He is a founding member of the Never Again MSD movement. Early life and education Ryan Deitsch was born on No ...

, anti gun violence activist, March for Our Lives co-founder, school shooting survivor * Aalayah Eastmond, activist * Matt Fox, MLB player *

X González X González (born Emma González; November 11, 1999) is an American activist and advocate for gun control. In 2018, they survived the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history, and, in response, ...

, anti gun violence activist, March for Our Lives co-founder, school shooting survivor *

Shayne Gostisbehere Shayne Gostisbehere ( ; born April 20, 1993) is an American professional ice hockey defenceman for the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Between 2014 and 2021, he played in the NHL for the Philadelphia Flyers. Gostisbehere is ...

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

player *

Ian Grushka Ian Ryan Grushka (born September 4, 1977) is an American musician and songwriter. He is a founding member and the bassist of Florida rock band New Found Glory. He was also the bassist in the band's now defunct side-project, the International Su ...

, musician and songwriter *

David Hogg David Miles Hogg (born April 12, 2000) is an American gun control activist. He rose to prominence during the 2018 United States gun violence protests as a student survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, helping lead several hig ...

, anti gun violence activist, March for Our Lives co-founder, school shooting survivor *

Lauren Hogg Lauren Hogg (born June 10, 2003) is an American author and activist against gun violence. She survived the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018 and after became a co-founder of March for Our Lives and advocates against gun violence. She ...

, anti gun violence activist, March for Our Lives co-founder, school shooting survivor * Kyle Kashuv, conservative activist, school shooting survivor *

Cameron Kasky Cameron Marley Kasky (born November 11, 2000) is an American activist and advocate against gun violence who co-founded the student-led gun violence prevention advocacy group Never Again MSD. He is notable for helping to organize the March for ...

, anti gun violence activist, March for Our Lives co-founder, school shooting survivor * Steve Klein, musician *

Jesús Luzardo Jesús Guillermo Luzardo (born September 30, 1997) is a Venezuelan-Peruvian professional baseball pitcher for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Oakland Athletics. He plays for the Venezuela national ba ...

, MLB Player *

Jared Moskowitz Jared Evan Moskowitz (born December 18, 1980) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Florida's 23rd congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United State ...

, Director of the

Florida Division of Emergency Management The Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM) is charged with maintaining a comprehensive statewide program of emergency management. The division ensures that Florida is prepared to respond to emergencies, recover from them, and mitigate the ...

* Jordan Pundik, musician and songwriter * Anthony Rizzo, MLB player * Jackie Sandler, actress * Cassie Scerbo, actress, singer and dancer * Nicholas Thompson, professional golfer *

Alex Wind Alexander Blake Wind (born January 30, 2001) is an American student activist against gun violence. A survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and a founding member of the Never Again MSD movement, he is a critic of politicians who ar ...

, anti gun violence activist, March for Our Lives co-founder, school shooting survivor * Mark Zupan, Wheelchair Rugby player

References

External links

* * *
Student newspaper
{{Authority control Broward County Public Schools High schools in Broward County, Florida Public high schools in Florida Stoneman Douglas High School shooting Educational institutions established in 1990 1990 establishments in Florida