Thomas Jefferson High School is a public high school located in the heart of the Westshore Business District of

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough ...

, United States. It is an Area 1 school under the Hillsborough County Public School system.

History

In 1939, due to the increasing high school population in the Tampa area, Thomas Jefferson High School was founded in the Old Hillsborough County High School building at 2704 N. Highland Avenue in the city's Tampa Heights neighborhood. Named after the third president of the United States,

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

, its first principal was D.W. Waters and its first class graduated in 1942. By 1967, the school board decided that its location no longer met modern educational requirements and the first Jefferson High School was closed. Upon closure of the school, students were sent to neighboring schools to complete their education. The original Thomas Jefferson High School building still exists today as the D.W. Waters Career Center. On August 27, 1973 the new Jefferson High School building was opened at its current location on West Cypress Street.

Demographics

Jefferson HS is 53% Hispanic, 34% Black, 9% White, and 4% other

Magnet Program

In 2001 Thomas Jefferson High instituted a magnet program with courses focusing on international studies. *International Business & Global Finance Honors *International Culinary Arts Honors *International Law & Criminal Justice Honors *Maritime academy The courses have since changed names and have slowly moved on from focusing on international studies to being college preparatory leadership academies for students. Thomas Jefferson High School offers the following College Preparatory Leadership Academies to magnet students who apply: *Business and Finance Leadership Academy *Law and Criminal Justice Leadership Academy *Culinary Arts Leadership Academy *Maritime and Marine Environmental Science Leadership Academy

Athletics

Football

In 2010, the Dragons won the Class 3A State Championship. They finished the year 15-0 and ranked #8 nationally

Music

The Music programs offered at Jefferson High School are: *Marching Band *Winter Guard *Jazz Band *Symphonic Band *Percussion Ensemble *Orchestra

Extracurricular activities

Jefferson High students participate in clubs, groups, and organizations. * Honors clubs

Beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labiod ...

Mu Alpha Theta Mu Alpha Theta () is the United States mathematics honor society for high school and two-year college students. In June 2015, it served over 108,000 student members in over 2,200 chapters in the United States and in 20 foreign countries. Its ma ...

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

National Technical Honor Society The National Technical Honor Society (NTHS) is an honor society for outstanding career and technical students of workforce vocational education institutions in the United States. Overview NTHS began in 1984 as the National Vocational-Technical H ...

, French Honor Society,

Spanish Honor Society Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

German Honor Society The German National Honor Society or Delta Phi Alpha () (german: Deutsche Ehrenverbindung), is the sole post-secondary national honorary society for German studies in the United States. According to the organization, the honor society seeks to "r ...

, Thespians Tri-M National Music Honor Society. * Magnet clubs DECA,

FBLA The Future Business Leaders of America, or FBLA, is an American career and technical student organization headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Established in 1940, FBLA is a non-profit organization of high school ("FBLA"), Middle Level ("FBLA ...

FCCLA Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA, formerly known as Future Homemakers of America) is a nonprofit national career and technical student organization for young men and women in Family and Consumer Sciences education in public ...

, FPSA (Florida Public Service Association), Tri-M Music Honor Society, Mock Trial Team * Service clubs

Junior Civitan Junior Civitan International is a student-led service organization for middle and high school students. There are 11,000 Junior Civitan members in 400 clubs in North America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. It is the longest lasting project of its paren ...

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 ...

, SAC (student advisory council), SADD, Shanti. * Interest clubs Arriba,

Ballroom Dancing Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ...

, FCA, True Love Does Wait, Nubian Queens, Science Brain Bowl, YO,

Model United Nations Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. At a MUN conference, students work as the representative of a count ...

, Human Rights, Step, Male/Female

Weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; pro ...

, Hip-Hop, Crew, Best Buddies, Drama, Health Club. * Additional school newspaper, literary magazine, yearbook.

Notable alumni

* Coleman Bell NFL football player * Ventell Bryant NFL wide receiver *

Andre Caldwell Andre Jerome "Bubba" Caldwell (born April 15, 1985), is a former professional American football player who was a wide receiver and kickoff returner in the National Football League (NFL). Caldwell played college football for the Florida Gators, ...

NFL football player *

Reche Caldwell Donald Reche Caldwell Jr. ( or ; March 28, 1979 – June 6, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons in the 2000s with the San Diego Chargers, New Englan ...

NFL football player * Rick Casares NFL football player * Kirby Dar Dar NFL football player *

André Davis André N. Davis (born June 12, 1979) is a former American football wide receiver and kick returner. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Virginia Tech. Davis also pl ...

NFL wide receiver * Luis Gonzalez Major League Baseball player * Jimmy Herget Major League Baseball player * Tarence Kinsey NBA Basketball player, currently plays for

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's lead ...

of the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

Joe Lala Joseph Anthony Lala (November 3, 1947 – March 18, 2014) was an American musician and actor. In 1966, he co-founded the rock band Blues Image. Life and career Lala was born in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida, to parents from Contessa Entellina (an ...

musician and actor *

Fred McGriff Frederick Stanley McGriff (born October 31, 1963) is an American former first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for six teams from 1986 through 2004. He was one of the most consistently productive powers hitters of the 1990s, po ...

Major League Baseball player * Chris Moore NFL wide receiver *

Ferdie Pacheco Fernando Pacheco Jimenez, M.D. (December 8, 1927 – November 16, 2017) known publicly as Ferdie Pacheco, was the personal physician and cornerman for world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali as well as numerous other boxing champions. ...

Physician for

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...

Tony La Russa Anthony La Russa Jr. (; born October 4, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. His MLB career has spanned from 1963 to 2022, in several roles. He is the former manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland At ...

Major League Baseball player/manager *

Bob Martinez Robert Martinez (born December 25, 1934) is an American retired politician who served as the 40th governor of Florida from 1987 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, Martinez was the first person of Spanish descent to be elected governor o ...

former Tampa mayor and Florida governor *

Tino Martinez Constantino "Tino" Martinez (born December 7, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays from ...

Major League Baseball player *

Keith Newman Keith Anthony Newman (born January 19, 1977) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Chapel Hill) and was drafted by the Buffa ...

NFL football player *

Prechae Rodriguez Prechae Rodriguez (born January 21, 1985) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He signed with Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League as an undrafted free agent in 2008. During his rookie 2008 season ...

NFL football player * Lenny Faedo, Major League Baseball player * Sam Militello, Major League Baseball player * Al Pardo, Major League Baseball player * Fred Rath, Jr., Major League Baseball player *

Torrance Small Torrance Ramon Small (born September 4, 1970) is a former professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League for ten seasons for the New Orleans Saints, the St. Louis Rams, the Indianapolis Colts, the Philadelphia Eagle ...

, NFL football player * Oscar Smith NFL football player * K. D. Williams NFL football player *

Ramik Wilson Ramik Wilson (born August 19, 1992) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Georgia. Early years Wilson attended Jefferson High School in Tampa, Florida, where he played football and ran track. In football, he p ...

NFL Linebacker *

Tony Zappone Tony Zappone (born Anthony N. Zappone on October 9, 1947, in Tampa, Florida), became at age 16 the youngest credentialed journalist to lend press coverage to a major national political convention. He was also the youngest contributor of evid ...

author, photojournalist, broadcaster

References

External links

Official websiteHillsborough County Public School informationJefferson High School baseballJefferson High SportsJefferson sportsSchool Accountability report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson High School High schools in Tampa, Florida Public high schools in Florida 1939 establishments in Florida Educational institutions established in 1939