Palm Beach Gardens Community High School is a public

magnet high 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 ...

for grades 9–12 in

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County in the U.S. state of Florida, 77 miles north of downtown Miami. , the population was 59,182. Palm Beach Gardens is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6 ...

. The school mascot is the Gator. It was built in 1968 as a public

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 ...

. The original school was demolished and a new school opened in August 2009 – 2010. In March 2019 principal Larry Clawson was offered a job at the district which he accepted. Former Howell L. Watkins Middle School Principal Dr. Don Hoffman became the high school’s principal.

Academics

Palm Beach Gardens' academic program is based on local

School District of Palm Beach County The School District of Palm Beach County (SDPBC) is the tenth-largest public school district in the United States, and the fifth largest school district in Florida. The district encompasses all of Palm Beach County. For the beginning of the 201 ...

policy, standards of the State of Florida. In addition, students are given the opportunity to join magnet programs such as global business and entrepreneurship, pre-med, sports management, tourism, TV and film production, and Culinary arts. The magnet programs are supplemented by two career-building organizations: Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and

Health Occupations Students of America HOSA – Future Health Professionals, formerly known as Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), is an international career and technical student organization (CTSO) endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education and the Health Science Tech ...

Athletics

In 1973, the Gator football team went 10–0 during the regular season, its first and only undefeated season beating

Fort Pierce Central High School Fort Pierce Central High School is a public high school located in Fort Pierce, Florida, Fort Pierce, Florida, United States. It is part of the St. Lucie Public Schools district. History Fort Pierce Central High School opened its doors in 1970 a ...

Cobras. Due to a tie-breaking rule, the team could not participate in the state football championship, even though they were ranked the No. 1 team in the state. In 2005, the Gators won the Florida class 6A state championship in football. In April 2019, the school hired Tyrone Higgins II, a former linebacker, as its head football coach. The softball team won states in 1985-1986, 1988-1991, 2005, 2006 and most recently in 2010 and 2011. In 2012 the softball team ranked No. 1 in the ESPN National Softball Fab50 ranking. They have also been states runners up in 1983, 2001 and 2008. The boys' basketball team won states in 1984. The baseball team have won the district title 19 times, most recently in 2021 and 2022. The baseball team has won the regional championship five times, most recently in 2022 when they finished state runners up. The Gator lacrosse team won the 2008 1A Florida State championship, finishing their season 20–0. The girls' varsity golf team won the State title four consecutive years, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974, then won it back in 1989. The boys' varsity golf team won district champs in 2020 and in regionals they took 3rd place During the 2008 season, the girls' varsity golf team became the County's Conference Champion, District Champions, and Regional Champions. They were again district champions in 2021. The girls' volleyball team were states runners up in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Girls' swimming and diving won districts in 18'-20' and have been states runners up in 1970, 1971 and 1973. The bowling team was states runners up in 1985.

School specifics

Academic statistics

*Students per teacher: 25+ *Enrollment: 2,500 + *Schoolwide reading proficiency: 31.5% *Schoolwide math proficiency: 60.7% *Graduation rate: 94.3%schoolmatters.com
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School demographics

*African American/ Black: 50.7% *White: 20.5% *Hispanic: 21% *Asian: 3.7% * several more races: 3.3% *Other race: .7%

Controversies

In February 2009, during a routine check of school spending by the

Palm Beach County School District The School District of Palm Beach County (SDPBC) is the tenth-largest public school district in the United States, and the fifth largest school district in Florida. The district encompasses all of Palm Beach County. For the beginning of the 201 ...

it was found that Principal Jonathan Prince was improperly spending school funds. Some of these charges include gas for a personal vehicle, room service at a convention, restaurant bills for his family, a tuxedo rental, flowers for school secretaries and an end-of-year dinner for the assistant principals and guidance counselors. In response, Prince was forced to pay back thousands of dollars, serve 20 hours of community service, and was demoted to Assistant Principal to avoid criminal charges.

Notable alumni

* Bob Baumhower, 1972 graduate,

National Football League 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 ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

* Emanuel Cook, 2006 graduate,

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

Joe Grahe Joseph Milton Grahe (born August 14, 1967) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the California Angels, Colorado Rockies, and Philadelphia Phillies. His best seasons we ...

, 1985 graduate, member of the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

Sports Hall of Fame, played Major League Baseball, 1990–1996 *

Eric Kresser Eric Joel Kresser (born February 6, 1973) is an American former college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL) for five seasons during the 1990s and ear ...

, 1992 graduate,

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

Zach Miner Zachary Charles Miner (born March 12, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies and in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) for ...

, 2000 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), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

, 2006-2009. *

Taylor Motter Taylor Davis Motter (born September 18, 1989) is an American professional baseball utility player who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, Colorado ...

, 2008 graduate,

Utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

, 2016- *

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

* Darren Studstill, 1988 graduate,

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

and

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

Chris Volstad Christopher Kenneth Volstad (born September 23, 1986) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He is a 2005 graduate of Palm Beach Gardens High School. He has played in MLB for the Florida Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Pit ...

, 2005 graduate,

for the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

and the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Keron Williams Keron Donavan Williams (1984) is a retired NFL / CFL defensive tackle. He was originally signed by the Calgary Stampeders in 2006 CFL season, 2006. Williams played college football for the UMass Minutemen football, UMass Minutemen. He also continu ...

, 2002 graduate,

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

player for the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

Willie Young (defensive end) Willie James Young Jr. (born September 19, 1985) is a former American football defensive end and outside linebacker. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at NC State. Ear ...

, 2004 graduate,

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

* J.J. Schwarz, 2014 graduate, NCAA All American catcher- University of Florida, Oakland Athletics organization *

Nick Rickles Nicholas Jay Rickles (born February 2, 1990) is an American-Israeli coach for the Milwaukee Brewers organization, and a former professional minor league and current Team Israel baseball catcher.Palm Beach Gardens High School official website
{{authority control High schools in Palm Beach County, Florida Public high schools in Florida Magnet schools in Florida Educational institutions established in 1969 1969 establishments in Florida