Charlotte County Public Schools (CCPS) operates all public K-12 schools in

Charlotte County, Florida Charlotte County is a U.S. county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 186,847. Its county seat is Punta Gorda. Charlotte County comprises the Punta Gorda, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is ...

. It covers Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, Englewood, Rotonda West,

Babcock Ranch Babcock Ranch is a planned community located in southeastern Charlotte County and northeastern Lee County, Florida consisting of approximately . The planned community was approved as part of a public-private partnership with the State of Flor ...

, and surrounding areas. It operates ten

elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

, four

middle schools A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

, three

high schools 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 ...

, and six specialty education centers.

History

The roots of the district are traced back to 1888 when the first school building in the area was built on the corner of Marion Street and Harvey Street in Punta Gorda. At the time,

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s in Charlotte County were not allowed to attend a white school. The first black school was built in 1893; black students were not introduced into the white schools in Charlotte County until 1964. Accelerated growth in the community beginning in 1950 resulted in the rapid expansion of the school district. New, larger schools started popping up all over the county much more rapidly than before.

Notable staff members

Port Charlotte High School

Doug Dunakey Doug Dunakey (born July 7, 1963) is an American former professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. He is known for shooting a 59 in the 1998 Nike Miami Valley Open, becoming only the fourth player to shoot a 59 on a m ...

, former professional golfer in

PGA PGA is an acronym or initialism that may stand for: Aviation * IATA code for Page Municipal Airport, Coconino County, Arizona * ICAO designator for Portugália, regional airline based in Lisbon, Portugal * Abbreviation for Prince George Airport ...

; became golf coach after retirement * Mark Ivey, college football coach; previously coached for PCHS

County-wide

* Sallie Jones, first superintendent of any school system in Florida.

Notable alumni

Charlotte High School

Burton Lawless Richard Burton Lawless (born November 1, 1953) is an American former football offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions. He played college football at the University of Florida, and earned ...

(class of 1970), professional football player in

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

Jeff Corsaletti Jeffrey Arthur Corsaletti is a former American professional baseball outfielder. Early life Corsaletti grew up in Port Charlotte, Florida and attended Charlotte High School where he was a standout in baseball and football. College Corsaletti a ...

(class of 2001), professional baseball player in MiLB *

Matthew LaPorta Matthew Vincent LaPorta (born January 8, 1985) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and left fielder who played for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2009 to 2012. LaPorta played college baseball for t ...

(class of 2003), professional baseball player in

MLB 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), ...

; 2008 Summer Olympian * Tommy Murphy, professional baseball player in

Port Charlotte High School Port Charlotte High School (PCHS) is a four-year, comprehensive, U.S. public high school located in Port Charlotte, Florida. The school opened in 1981, graduated its first class in 1984, its mascot is the pirate, and the school motto is "Yes, I a ...

Chris Demakes Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxoph ...

and

Vinnie Fiorello Vincent "Vinnie" Fiorello (born June 24, 1974) is an American rock musician and businessman. He co-founded the ska punk band Less Than Jake in 1992, and was the band's drummer and lyricist until 2018. He also founded the record labels Fueled by ...

, professional

musicians A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

with

Less Than Jake Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxoph ...

, a

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hardc ...

band. *

John Hall John Hall may refer to: Academics * John Hall (NYU President) (fl. c. 1890), American academic * John A. Hall (born 1949), sociology professor at McGill University, Montreal * John F. Hall (born 1951), professor of classics at Brigham Young Unive ...

(class of 1992), professional football player in

Anthony Hargrove Anthony La'Ron Tony Hargrove (born July 20, 1983) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Georgia Tech. Hargrove also played for t ...

(class of 2001), professional football player in

Asher Levine Asher Levine (born March 12, 1988) is an American fashion designer. He is the designer for his eponymous progressive label, Asher Levine, known for its mad-scientist-meets-luxe aesthetic and pioneering fabrication techniques. Early life and edu ...

(class of 2006), fashion designer *

David Holmberg David A. Holmberg (born July 19, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago White Sox. Career Chicago White Sox ...

(class of 2009), professional baseball pitcher in

Lemon Bay High School Lemon Bay High School (LBHS) is a public high school located in Englewood, Florida, USA. It serves grades nine to twelve and is operated by Charlotte County Public Schools. Lemon Bay High School takes students from Charlotte County, Lee Coun ...

J. D. Barker J.D. Barker, or Jonathan Dylan Barker, (born 1971) is a ''New York Times'' and international bestselling American author of thriller (genre), suspense thrillers, often incorporating elements of horror, crime, mystery, science fiction, and the supe ...

(class of 1989), author * Denise Amber Lee (class of 2004), kidnapping and murder victim

List of schools

Elementary schools

*Deep Creek

Elementary School A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

is a K-5 school located in Port Charlotte with 720 students. Their principal is James Vernon. Their mascot is the

Bear Cub ''Bear Cub'' ( es, Cachorro) is a 2004 Spanish comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Miguel Albaladejo. The plot follows a bearish gay man who ends up looking after his nephew while his sister goes away to India and in turn makes him ...

. Their school colors are

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

. It is classified as an "A" school. *East Elementary School is K-5 school located in Punta Gorda with 500 students. Their principal is Dr. Lori Carr. Their mascot is the

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

. Their school colors are

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

and

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 ...

. It has earned an "A" rating and has been considered an AYP school for three years. *Kingsway Elementary School is a K-5 school located in Port Charlotte with 780 students. Their principal is Lori Davis. Their mascot is the

Cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

. Their school colors are

and

. It is classified as an "A" school. *Liberty Elementary School is a K-5 school located in Port Charlotte with 780 students. Their principal is Thomas Gifford. Their mascot is the

Patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution * Patriot m ...

. Their colors are

, and

. It is classified as an "A" school. *Meadow Park Elementary School is a K-5 school located in Port Charlotte with 764 students. Their principal is Asena Mott. Their mascot is the

Alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...

. Their colors are

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

and

. It has been considered an "A" school for five years. It has earned the "You Make a Difference" award. *Myakka River Elementary School is a K-5 school located in Port Charlotte with 660 students. Their principal is Grace Shepard. Their mascot is the

Manatee Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living species ...

. It is classified as an "A" school. It was one of 99 schools nationwide recognized by Richard W. Riley as a Title 1 school for offering outstanding programs for disadvantaged students. *Neil Armstrong Elementary School is a K-5 school located in Port Charlotte with 557 students. Their principal is Angie Taillon. Their mascot is the Astro. Their colors are

and

. It enforces a school uniform policy. It is classified as an "A" school. It is a distinguished school classified as AYP. *Peace River Elementary School is a K-5 school located in Port Charlotte with 475 students. Their principal is Bertie Alvarez. Their mascot is the

Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. ***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...

. It enforces a school uniform policy. It is classified as an "A" school. *Sallie Jones Elementary School is a K-5 school located in Punta Gorda with 700 students. Their principal is Carmel Kisiday. Their mascot is the

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

. Their colors are

hunter green Varieties of the color green may differ in hue, chroma (also called saturation or intensity) or lightness (or value, tone, or brightness), or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and shades, a tint be ...

navy blue Navy blue is a very dark shade of the color blue. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue (contrasted with naval white) worn by officers in the Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world. When this color n ...

and

khaki The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan with a slight yellowish tinge. Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage relative to sandy ...

. It enforces a school uniform policy. It is classified as an "A" school. *Vineland Elementary School is a K-5 school located in Rotonda with 900 students. Their principal is Laura C. Blunier. Their mascot is the

Great Blue Heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos ...

. Their colors are

and

. It is classified as an "A" school.

Middle schools

*L.A. Ainger Middle School is a school located in Rotonda West with 1115 students. Their principal is Jeffrey Harvey. Their mascot is the

. It's been classified as an "A" school for seven years. *Murdock Middle School is a

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

located in Port Charlotte with 950 students. It was beginning to be constructed in 1986 and open for its first official school year in 1988. Their principal is Lyman Welton. Their mascot is the Mariner. The school has earned the status of a Red Carpet School and a Blue Ribbon School. It is also classified as an "A" school. *Port Charlotte Middle School is a

located in Port Charlotte with 1030 students. Their principal is Demetrius Revelas. Their mascot is the

Terrier Terrier (from Latin ''terra'', 'earth') is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. Terrier breeds vary ...

. It is classified as an "A" school. *Punta Gorda Middle School is a

located in Punta Gorda with 1050 students. Their principal is Justina Dionisio. Their mascot is the

. Their colors are

and

High schools

Port Charlotte High School Port Charlotte High School (PCHS) is a four-year, comprehensive, U.S. public high school located in Port Charlotte, Florida. The school opened in 1981, graduated its first class in 1984, its mascot is the pirate, and the school motto is "Yes, I a ...

is a

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 ...

located in Port Charlotte with 2,250 students. Their mascot is the

Pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

. Their colors are

, and

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 ...

. *

Lemon Bay High School Lemon Bay High School (LBHS) is a public high school located in Englewood, Florida, USA. It serves grades nine to twelve and is operated by Charlotte County Public Schools. Lemon Bay High School takes students from Charlotte County, Lee Coun ...

is a

located in Englewood with 1,560 students. Their mascot is the

Manta Ray Manta rays are large rays belonging to the genus ''Mobula'' (formerly its own genus ''Manta''). The larger species, '' M. birostris'', reaches in width, while the smaller, '' M. alfredi'', reaches . Both have triangular Pectoral fin#AnchPect ...

. Their colors are

and

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

. * Charlotte High School is a

located in Punta Gorda with 2,006 students. Their mascot is the

Tarpon Tarpons are fish of the genus ''Megalops''. They are the only members of the family Megalopidae. Of the two species, one (''M. atlanticus'') is native to the Atlantic, and the other (''M. cyprinoides'') to the Indo-Pacific Oceans. Species an ...

. Their colors are

and

. *

Florida SouthWestern Collegiate High School Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

References

External links

*
Florida Department of Education
* {{coord missing, Florida School districts in Florida Educational institutions established in 1888

Public Schools Public school may refer to: *State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England and ...

1888 establishments in Florida