Fort Myers Senior High School (also known as "FMHS") is a public school in Fort Myers, Florida. It was opened October 19, 1911, making it one of the oldest schools in the state of Florida, and the oldest in Lee County.[citation needed] It is managed by the Lee County School District. The enrollment as of May 2021 is 1,944 students.[2] The school was integrated in 1969, largely by adding students displaced by the closing of historically black Dunbar High School. Integration was accompanied by much difficulty, including a riot at the school.[3]
Many previous principals of Fort Myers High have gone on to hold leading positions in the Lee County School District, including the former Superintendent of Lee County School District, Dr. James Browder, and Director of Student Services, Richard Shafer.[citation needed]
Fort Myers Senior High School offers the International Baccalaureate program, Advanced Placement, Dual Enrollment, Vocational, Honors and general education classes. Additionally, FMHS is the only school in Southwest Florida with an Academy of Finance program.[4] Another asset of FMHS, which is most notable in some academic circles, FMHS is the only high school in Lee county which caters explicitly to the deaf and blind student populations. In addition to the educational programs, the school has thirty FHSAA athletic teams for both young men and women. FMHS is rich in traditions and has a very active Alumni.
Fort Myers High School is home to several Nationally Board Certified teachers and several past winners of the Golden Apple award, given each year to six of Lee County's finest teachers by the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools.[citation needed]
School History
The Sam Sirianni Field football stadiumThe Green Wave band and color guard performing during half time at a varsity football home game
Between 1887 and 1910, high school-aged students in Fort Myers attended classes in a loose configuration of buildings that were neither adequate nor fully accredited. In 1887, Myers School was built and in 1902 a two-story wooden addition was added. As early as 1900, references were made to Myers School as Fort Myers High School and in 1902 the school was dignified by being called the Lee County High School. The school was admittedly a disgrace to the community and severely overcrowded as enrollment passed 300 in 1908. Additional classroom space was made at the Holiness Church on Second Street and the County Commissioners also made room for classes in the county barn.
Colonel Andrew D. Gwynne, a wealthy cotton broker and wholesale grocer from Memphis, Tennessee, was a winter visitor to Fort Myers. He was appalled at the sight of children attending school in the county barn. He told his wife that if Fort Myers ever launched a campaign for a new school facility he would gladly make a donation to take care of part of the expense. Colonel Gwynne died in Memphis on July 20, 1909 but his widow, Andrea, and son, Captain William F. Gwynne, remembered his pledged donation.
The citizens of Fort Myers were concerned about their children’s education and saw that a need existed to create a new school. During the summer of 1909, parents took their plea to the school board to provide a modern building. The board members admitted that the current situation was an embarrassment to the community and not serving its purpose nor meeting the children’s needs. However, they insisted they did not have enough money to build the type of school that Fort Myers needed but they promised to do what they could.
At that point, Mrs. Andrea D. Gwynne and her son pledged to match any sum raised by the town. With that incentive, the townspeople started a subscription list in 1910. Carl F. Roberts, a well-known citizen, headed this whirlwind campaign and in two months raised $8,000. The Gwynnes then pledged an equal amount. An additional $10,000 was obtained from a special bond issue. The school board kept their promise and provided enough additional funds to pay for the building which, with equipment, cost $45,000. Of all the private citizens, none deserve more honorable mention than the Gwynne family.
On October 19, 1911, the Andrew D. Gwynne Institute opened its doors as a fully accredited, state-of-the-art school that the entire community was extremely proud of. It housed 10 rooms, a principal’s office, a library, a spacious 500-seat auditorium, four restrooms, water fountains, and heat by radiation. Its enrollment that first year was 285 students, grades K through 12.
Although Colonel Gwynne did not live to see the opening day, no one was more interested in the betterment of educational conditions in Fort Myers than the Colonel. It was his oft-expressed wish before his death that the children should be better provided for in educational matters. As a fitting testimonial of the love that his fellow townspeople felt for him and for the interest that he showed in them, the first official high school in Fort Myers bore his name.
Romero M. Sealey served as the principal the three years it operated as the high school, October 1911 through May 1914. But soon growth caught up with the Gwynne Institute and a new building was needed once again to house the high school students. Today, the Andrew D. Gwynne Institute still stands at the corner of Second and Jackson Streets and is used as an annex by the School Board of Lee County.
By 1914, growth demanded that more facilities be created to properly educate Fort Myers high school students. At a cost of $40,000, supported by a bond, the Gwynne High School opened its doors in October of 1914. The building faced Second Street on the corner of Royal Palm. It was slightly smaller than the Gwynne Institute but was still very impressive. It was three stories tall and made of red brick. Over the entrance, “Gwynne High School” was carved onto a large concrete stone. The first floor housed the principal’s office and four large laboratories which included room to room- telephone service. The second floor had seven large classrooms, the library, and two rooms equipped to show movies. The building was equipped with electric bells and fire alarms. The lower level had showers, restrooms, a cloakroom, and a boiler room. It was another facility that the community took great pride in. At that time, the Gwynne Institute became the elementary school while Gwynne High School accommodated grades 7 through 12. This particular building was also referred to as Fort Myers High School, Myers High, and the New High. This building served as the high school from October 1914 through May 1921.
Four men served as its principal during that span: R.M. Sealey 1914, J.F. Farrow 1915, C.W. Crumly 1916-18, and H.F. Steedly 1919-20. In the fall of 1920 a beginning and end took place. Principal H.F. Steedly welcomed back 126 students, including members of the very first football team, however, this would be the last year that Gwynne High School would house the high school. In the Fall of 1921 it became the Junior High with grades 7 through 9 and would remain so until 1950. In 1976 the building was torn down and today the site serves as a parking lot for the United Telephone Company.
The third high school in nine years opened its doors on October 20, 1921. The new building was made of yellow brick and was constructed at a cost of $224,500. It was located facing Thompson Street and bordered by Royal Palm, Anderson, and Fowler Streets. It was known as the Lee County High School and also referred to as Fort Myers High School. The students still affectionately called it “Gwynne High.” The community once again settled for nothing but the best and the school was acclaimed as one of the finest high school facilities in the state of Florida. This would not be a short stay, however, as the first two high schools had been. This location served as the high school, grades 10 through 12, for 29 years, from October 1921 until May 1950.
Principal James L. Orr welcomed 160 students in 1921, which was a comfortable fit. By the time Principal Ray Tipton opened the school in the fall of 1949, 1,116 students squeezed into the severely overcrowded little school. It was once again time for a change.
Serving as Principal at this site were: James L. Orr 1921-22, J. Colin English 1923-24, Miss Katherine Moore 1925-30, Howell Watkins 1931-32, Sidney Ellison 1933-35, Charles Whitnel 1936-37, Ellis Greene 1938-41, E.B. Henderson 1942-45, and Ray Tipton 1946-50.
In 1950 the building was sold and used as the Masonic Temple. In 1990 the building was torn down and in its place today stands the black-glassed Lee County Constitutional Complex. A part of the front wall of the school with Lee County High School inscribed on it stands in a small park in front as a reminder of the past.
On Monday, September 4, 1950, Principal Ray Tipton welcomed 1,250 high school and junior high school students to their new school, Fort Myers High School. The new school was situated on 22 acres of land in Edison Park and was another state-of-the-art facility as fine as any in the state of Florida. The community raved about the new $610,000 school located on Cortez Blvd. The school has been located at this same site ever since. The original school included the main building, auditorium, an industrial arts building, home economics building, gymnasium, and stadium. There have been numerous additions over the years including the Edison Learning Center, the science building, the new gymnasium, the library, a new cafeteria, and the Commons Area wing.
In 1996 a $14 million renovation took place. Upon completion, Fort Myers High School had expanded to 37 acres and had a complete technology overhaul and upgrade.
Serving as Principal at its current site have been: Ray Tipton 1950, Maurice Coleman 1951, Damon Hutzler 1952-62, Harold Thompson 1963-73, Herbert D. Wiseman 1974-1992, Dr. James Browder 1992-1994, Joni Logan 1994-1999, Dr. James Browder 2000-2003, Richard Shafer 2003-2006, David LaRosa 2006-2018 and Dr. Robert Butz 2018 to current.[5]
Sources: The First 100 Years: Lee County Public Schools 1887-1987 by Donald Stone and Beth Carter, The Story Of Fort Myers by Karl Grismer, and Gridiron Greenies by Bobby Sizemore
Fort Myers Senior High School's resident woman's basketball team was awarded their third consecutive state title in 2018.[8] The same year point Guard, Destanni Henderson, was acknowledged as one of the most promising student athletes in woman's basketball as well as playing for McDonald's All-American Team.
Related Research Articles
Tipton County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana, located north of the state capital of Indianapolis. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 15,936, a decrease of 3.9% from its 2000 population of 16,577. Its county seat is Tipton. The county has four incorporated towns with a total population of about 7,000, as well as many small unincorporated communities. It is divided into six townships which provide local services. Three Indiana state roads and one U.S. Route cross the county, as do two railroad lines. Before the arrival of non-indigenous settlers in the early 19th century, the area was inhabited by several Native American tribes. The county was officially established in 1844, one of the last Indiana counties to be settled. Tipton and Howard Counties were established by the same legislative action on January 15.
Cape Coral is a city located in Lee County, Florida, United States, on the Gulf of Mexico. Founded in 1957 and developed as a planned community, the city's population had grown to 194,016 as of the 2020 Census, a rise of 26% from the 2010 Census, making it the 130th most populous city in the United States. With an area of 120 square miles (310 km2), Cape Coral is the largest city between Tampa and Miami in both population and area. It is the largest and principal city in the Cape Coral – Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city has over 400 mi (640 km) of navigable waterways, more than any other city on earth.
New World School of the Arts (NWSA) is a public magnet high school and college in Downtown Miami, Florida. Its dual-enrollment programs in the visual and performing arts are organized into four strands: visual arts, dance, theatre, and music.
Florida SouthWestern State College is a public college with its main campus in Fort Myers, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. The college has satellite campuses in Charlotte County and Collier County, and outreach programs in Hendry County and Glades County.
McArthur High School is located in Hollywood, Florida. It serves students from both Hollywood and Pembroke Pines in grades 9 through 12. The school is a part of the Broward County Public Schools district.
Riverside High School is a four-year secondary institution in Jacksonville, Florida. It was originally named after Confederate States of America general Robert E. Lee. Located in the Riverside and Avondale neighborhood, it is the second oldest high school in Jacksonville operating at its original location, after its traditional rival, Andrew Jackson High School. The name was changed to Riverside High School in 2021.
Fort Lauderdale High School is a high school located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that serves students in grades 9 through 12. The school is a part of the Broward County Public Schools district. Founded in 1899 as a school for whites, the high school is the oldest continuously functioning high school in Broward County, Florida, and the oldest in South Florida.
Flower Mound High School (FMHS) is part of Lewisville Independent School District and is located in Flower Mound, Texas, United States. The school rests on 52 acres (21 ha) of land that was purchased in 1993. FMHS was the second high school built in Flower Mound, after Edward S. Marcus High School. With the expansion of the town in the 1980s and 1990s, a second high school was built to accommodate the growth. Flower Mound High School has been called one of the top ten best public high schools in the Dallas area and consistently receives an "Exemplary" (highest) rating from the Texas Education Agency. The school's fight song is the Michigan Wolverines' fight song, "The Victors".
The Fort Lee School District or Fort Lee Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade from Fort Lee, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.
Lincoln Park Academy is a public magnet school located in Fort Pierce, Florida. Commonly referred to as simply "LPA", the school is academically geared, offering Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual-enrollment, and pre-engineering course schedules. It was ranked 178th in the "Challenge Index" of United States high schools in The Washington Post in 2014.
Plantation High School is a high school located in Plantation, Florida, part of the Broward County Public Schools district. As of 2022, the school serves 1,931 students in grades 9 through 12. It was originally located on the Fort Lauderdale Airport grounds, specifically on the Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale base. This was used as a temporary location until the new building was ready to open at its present location. Students at Plantation High are called "Colonels". The original school logo was a graphic of a traditional Southern colonel—the equivalent of Colonel Reb, mascot of the University of Mississippi. In the early 1990s, amidst concerns of racial insensitivity, the logo was changed to a large red letter "C" similar to the Chicago Bears logo.
Chaires Elementary School, formerly The Chaires School, is an elementary school located in the unincorporated community of Chaires, Florida in eastern Leon County. Under the name Station One School, it appeared in Leon County School Board minutes in the 1870s. At that time, it served grades 1–10. It was racially segregated and served only white students.
Stranahan High School, is located in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida was officially opened in 1953 as an elementary school. The school is a part of the Broward County Public Schools district. Originally for white students only, In 1963 Chester Seabury became the first African-American to graduate from a white high school in Florida when he graduated from Stranahan.
Dillard High School is a historic public middle and high school located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The school was established in 1907 as Colored School 11 and was later named for black-education advocate James H. Dillard. It is a part of Broward County Public Schools.
North Fort Myers High School is an American 9-12 high school located in North Fort Myers, Florida. It is the official center for the arts and media for the West Zone in Lee County's School Choice Program; is part of the Lee County School District; and currently serves approximately 1572 students. The official school colors are red, & white and the athletic teams are known as "The Red Knights". North Fort Myers High School offers AICE, Advanced Placement, Dual Enrollment, Vocational, Honors and general education classes, in addition to its Arts & Media program and the North High Collegiate Academy.
Spotsylvania County Public Schools is a public school district serving Spotsylvania County, Virginia. It consists of 17 Elementary, 7 Middle, and 5 High Schools and has a total enrollment of nearly 24,000 students. The Spotsylvania County School division also has a Career and Technical Center and participates with other local school systems to offer the Commonwealth Governor's School. The district partners with area businesses to develop learning opportunities for the students. Spotsylvania County Public Schools works with the area Parks and Recreation Department to help maintain the area around the Schools.
The School District of Lee County manages public education in Lee County, Florida. As of the 2019–20 school year, there were 95,647 students attending 119 schools in the district, which had an operating budget of $1.327 billion.
The Henegar Center is a historic U.S. building located at 625 East New Haven Avenue, Melbourne, Florida. Built in 1919, it is one of Brevard County’s oldest public buildings. On March 12, 1963, the building received its name in honor of Ruth Henegar, a long-time teacher and principal at the school that used the building at the time. The building now serves as The Henegar Center for the Arts.
Lehigh Senior High School is located in Lehigh Acres, Florida, a suburb of Fort Myers. It is one of the largest high schools in Lee County. The current principal is Jackie Corey. It is part of the Lee County School District. Lehigh currently has the highest percent of incoming students in Lee County. It is commonly referred to as "The Center of the Arts", being that it is recognized as one by the local school district for its zone. In addition to Lehigh Senior's dedication to the arts, it also offers dual enrollment classes that allow students to earn college credits for free through Edison State College. It is also now recognized as of 2008 as a University of Cambridge International School and also offers programs called AVID and Advanced Placement.
Lincoln Junior College, located in Fort Pierce, Florida, opened its doors in 1960, at the same time as Indian River Junior College, restricted to white students. It was designed to serve Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, and St. Lucie counties. It was one of eleven black community colleges which were founded, at the urging of the Florida Legislature, in the late 1950s and early 1960s to show that a "separate but equal" educational system for blacks existed in Florida; the Legislature wished to avoid the integration mandated by the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954. At the time, there was no nearby college for Negroes, while the distances and lack of funding effectively closed off most local blacks from college.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
