Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts

Darnell-Cookman Middle/High School of the Medical Arts, is a school within the Duval County Public Schools system in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, USA. It is a

National Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

as recognized by the

US Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

. It is also an "A" school in the State of Florida school grading system. The school is located across 8th Street from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

Shands Hospital UF Health Shands Hospital is a teaching hospital of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. It is one of seven hospitals in the University of Florida Health system, and one of two campuses for UF's Health Science Center, the other bei ...

. Darnell-Cookman Middle/High School of the Medical Arts is a dedicated

magnet school In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school ...

. It serves students in grades 6 through 12. The first graduating class received its diplomas in the spring of 2012. Admission to the school is through a magnet lottery system administered by the Duval County Public Schools.

History

The Reverend S.B. Darnell was a Methodist minister who moved to Jacksonville to serve as pastor of Ebenezer Methodist-Episcopal Church. In the late 1800s, he founded the Cookman Institute which was located at Beaver and Hogan Streets. It was the first institution of

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...

for

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s in the state of

Florida 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 ...

specializing in the religious and academic preparation of teachers. Under the leadership of Reverend Darnell, the school served thousands of young black men and women until it was destroyed in the Great Jacksonville Fire of 1901. The school relocated when rebuilt in order to move from the center of town. The Reverend Alfred Cookman, a friend of Reverend Darnell's, helped raise money to rebuild the school. After rebuilding, the enrollment was about two hundred and fifty. The Cookman Institute for Boys had classes in all the elementary grades and in the four high school grades. There were special courses in normal training, music, domestic science, public speaking, printing, business, and agriculture. In 1923 the Cookman Institute merged with the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute forming what would later become Bethune-Cookman College. The Cookman Institute facility was later purchased by the Duval County School System. Eartha White, a well known Jacksonville activist, suggested naming the Jacksonville school to honor both Reverend S. B. Darnell and Reverend Alfred Cookman. In the succeeding years, the school served as a neighborhood middle school, an alternative school, and as a school for young women. Today the school has an enrollment of approximately 1,100 students in grades 6–12 with an instructional staff of over 65. The school's colors are navy blue and gold and the school mascot is a

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

. Darnell-Cookman Middle/High School is an "A" school in the State of Florida's school grading system and a National Blue Ribbon School as designated by the USDOE.

Academics

The academic curriculum for Darnell-Cookman Middle/High School of the Medical Arts offers only advanced, gifted, honors, accelerated, and Advanced Placement courses. The middle grades (6-8) curriculum is an accelerated math and science program. Students in the middle grades may complete math through Geometry and Science through Biology; both are high school-level courses meeting the graduation requirement. All courses in the middle grades are either advanced, accelerated, or gifted. The upper grades (9-12) curriculum is an Advanced Placement Honors/Scholars program. Students take an intensive and rigorous course load each year with extra emphasis on the sciences, math, and humanities. They will take a minimum of 8 Advanced Placement (College Board) courses and may take up to 12.

External links

Darnell-Cookman Middle/High School of the Medical Arts official website

— Darnell-Cookman Middle/High School of the Medical Arts official website

Awards

Darnell-Cookman Middle/High School of the Medical Arts was recently named one of "America's Most Challenging Schools" by the Washington Post. Ranked 34th in the nation and third in Duval County.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darnell-Cookman Middle/High School Of The Medical Arts High schools in Jacksonville, Florida Duval County Public Schools Public high schools in Florida Public middle schools in Florida Magnet schools in Florida