Forest High School (Florida)

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Forest High School
ForestHighSchoolOcalaMascot.gif
Address
Forest High School (Florida)
5000 Southeast Maricamp Road

Ocala
,
Marion
,
Florida
34480

United States
Coordinates 29°08′39″N82°03′59″W / 29.1441446°N 82.0664781°W / 29.1441446; -82.0664781
Information
School typePublic secondary
Established15 August 1969 (1969-08-15)
School district Marion County Public Schools
SuperintendentDiane Gullett
CEEB code 101258
PrincipalLamar Rembert 
Teaching staff101.00 (FTE) [1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment2,383 (2023–2024) [1]
Student to teacher ratio23.59 [1]
Color(s)Green, Gold & White
   
MascotWildcat
Rival Vanguard High School
AccreditationFlorida State Department of Education
Website www.marionschools.net/fhs

Forest High School is a school near Ocala, Florida, United States. It has an EMIT (engineering) program. The school's colors are green and gold and the school mascot is the Wildcat. As of 2014, it had an enrollment of some 2,058.

Contents

Forest High School moved to its current location on Maricamp Road, southeast of the city limits of Ocala, in 2005. The school was originally on Fort King Street in Ocala, at the 1959 campus of Ocala High School. Prior to 1965, the school was for white students only. In 1965, a group of 34 students from the nearby black school, Howard High School began attending. In 1969 the courts mandated the schools became fully integrated and Howard was closed. Vanguard High School was opened the same year, and the Marion County School Board put to rest the name Ocala High School. [2]

Forest High School is in the Marion County School District.

Programs

Engineering and Manufacturing Institute of Technology (EMIT)

EMIT is a four-year magnet engineering program at Forest High School. EMIT aims to teach its students engineering fundamentals to prepare them for postsecondary colleges or universities in engineering. The curriculum is heavily project-based that often includes problem-solving tasks which must be built and later presented to teachers. These projects typically cover the basics of many engineering disciplines, including civil engineering, aerospace engineering, and more.

EMIT was created from a $1.2 million Florida Department of Education grant in 1994. An application is required to be considered for admission.

Shooting

MCSO Deputy Jim Long's body-camera footage of Bouche's arrest following the shooting

On April 20, 2018, at 8:29 a.m, a 19-year-old former student went on school premises armed with a sawed-off 16-gauge Winchester Model 12 pump-action shotgun, a black tactical vest, and a blue backpack full of gloves and shotgun shells. [3] The perpetrator, later identified as Sky Bouche, shot once through a classroom door and a piece of the door hit one student in the ankle. Immediately after, Bouche surrendered to the school staff. Marion County Sheriff's Office School Resource Deputy Jim Long soon arrested him and took him into custody. [4] SWAT officers swept the school afterwards in search of any weapons or explosives.

In court, Bouche stated that his reason for wanting to shoot up the school was because he figured it was the only way to get out of his violent home life. [5] Bouche also stated that he chose to do it on April 20 since it was the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre. Bouche was charged with Terrorism, Aggravated Assault with a Firearm, Culpable Negligence, Carrying a Concealed Firearm, Possession of a Firearm on School Property, Possession of a Short-Barreled Shotgun, Interference in a School Function, and Armed Trespassing on School Property. In 2021, Bouche was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment, with the possibility of parole only after 25 years, followed by an additional 30 years of probationary release. [6] After Bouche was sentenced, he stated that he never intended to kill anyone, but wanted to "let people know there's something wrong" with him. [7]

Marion County School Board member Nancy Stacy cancelled all school gun-reform walkouts in Marion County due to the shooting. [8] Deputy Jim Long was labelled "Florida School Resource Officer Of The Year" for his involvement in arresting Bouche on June 20, 2018. [9]

Notable alumni

References

  1. 1 2 3 "FOREST HIGH SCHOOL". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
  2. ↑ Fillmore, Andy. "Howard High class of 1968 remembers good times, challenges of integration". Ocala Star Banner. Retrieved May 13, 2020.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. ↑ "Images: Evidence, video stills from Forest shooting". The Gainesville Sun. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Who Is Deputy Jim Long? Resource Officer Stopped Forest High School Shooter". Newsweek. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  5. ↑ "He fired a shotgun into a classroom door, police say, then said 'sorry' to the injured student". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  6. ↑ Cutway, Adrienne. "Man who shot student at Forest High School sentenced to 30 years in prison". ClickOrlando. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Former student who opened fire at Ocala school sentenced to 30 years in prison". WESH Orlando. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Florida school district cancels walkouts after shooting". Cable News Network. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Forest High's Jim Long Named Florida School Resource Officer Of The Year". WUFT. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
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