Mandarin High School

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Mandarin High School
Established:	1990
Student Pop:	3250[citation needed]
Type:	Public School
Principal:	Dr. Crystal Sisler
Location:	Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Campus:	Suburban
Colors:	Orange and Green
Nickname:	Mandarin, Mustangs, MHS
Mascot:	Mustangs
Website:	http://www.duvalschools.org/mhs

Mandarin High School is a public senior high school in the Duval County Public Schools district located on Greenland Road in Jacksonville, Florida. US News and World Report ranked Mandarin as the 3065th best school on its 2008 list of America's Best High Schools^[1]

[edit] History

The school was opened in 1990, at the same time as its sister school First Coast High School. The school has a unique design that includes an open campus which includes a large courtyard where a majority of the students socialize.

Mandarin High offers the Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) program along with Advanced Placement and Honors courses.

Because of the growth of the Mandarin area in Jacksonville the school is overcrowded and is the second largest high school in the Duval County School System, following Sandalwood High School.

[edit] Belief Statement

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All students can learn.

The primary objective of Mandarin High is to facilitate life-long success at life(???)

Each student must be recognized as an individual with unique intellectual, physical, social, and emotional needs and effort must be taken to address these needs when designing curriculum and educational programs

Goals and expectations for student performance must be clearly stated and set at high levels of proficiency.

Students must be provided many opportunities to demonstrate proficiency utilizing a range of modalities and assessment strategies.

Mandarin High School must exist as a safe and comfortable learning environment. Exposing students to a culturally diverse environment will prepare students for success in today's global community.

School improvement must be continuous, must be periodically evaluated, and must include input from all concerned stakeholder groups.

[edit] Vision Statement

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MHS promotes an academic environment that fosters and empowers extensive learning communities to achieve at rigorous, competitive, world-class standards.

[edit] Athletics

Mandarin competes in 15 different sports. There are 10 sports in which boys participate and 12 for girls. Each sport is placed during one of three sports seasons: fall, winter, or spring; however, cheerleading is year-round, and the football team competes in the fall and plays spring ball during the spring (season). The school's mascot is a Mustang. The greatest coach in the history of Mandarin Football is J.D. Hall.

[edit] Swimming Pool

The school has an outdoor pool which is used by the athletic teams and physical education classes during the academic year, then it becomes a free public pool operated by the City of Jacksonville Parks & Recreation Department during the summer months.

[edit] Activities

[edit] Special Classes

[edit] Crime Scene Investigation

Officially titled Forensics and taught by Diane Wagers, the course deals with topics involving forensic science and crime scene investigations. The class's official title was changed from Biology II to Forensics in the 2009 school year. In the class students learn about fingerprints, rigor mortis, and handwriting analysis, among other aspects of criminal investigations. Mrs. Wagers also hosts several speakers per semester to provide more insight into the field of crime scene investigation. The class features assignments consisting of on-campus crime scenes roped off from student traffic. The students are then instructed to investigate the scene and determine what occurred, using investigatory skills obtained during the classroom lessons.

[edit] Marine Science

This class was formerly taught by Alex Waters, who was an active participant in creating artificial reefs. He involved MHS in the creation and use of reef balls. He got the school involved and part of his class is taught students about the project and involved the construction of reef balls. Every few years, when the students have created enough reef balls, he took several students with him to go off the coast of Jacksonville and contribute the balls to an ever growing artificial reef. The completed reef balls are kept near the front entrance to the school to remind everyone of this project. Though Mr. Waters no longer teaches at Mandarin, the reef balls remained featured at the school's entrance, and students continue to study shallow and deep water fish and coastal ecosystems under new instructors.

[edit] Notable alumni

• Sam Cowart
• Fred Weary
• Jeff Chandler
• Tony Carter
• Marcus Thomas
• Kevin Sullivan
• Pettidee (DeWayne Petty)-Christian Rapper

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mandarin High School website
• Duval County Public Schools website
• CSI site created to showcase Diane Wagers' Biology 2 course
• Mandarin Athletics
• Mandarin Football