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Suncoast Community High School
600 W 28th Street, Riviera Beach, FL, 33404-3699 -  Map
tel: (561)882-3400
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School Overview:
Definition of Terms Suncoast Community High School
School Level High school
Grades Offered Grades 9 - 12
County Palm Beach County, FL
Awards Honored for National Blue Ribbon Award Blue Ribbon School – Selected in 2007  
Students & Faculty
Total Students 1316 students
% Male / % Female 52%  /  48%
Total Classroom Teachers 70 teachers
Students by Grade
Grade 9 - 338 students
Grade 10 - 338 students
Grade 11 - 305 students
Grade 12 - 335 students
This School ( FL ) School Average
Teacher : Student Ratio 1:19 1:16
Students by Ethnicity
This School ( FL ) School Average
% American Indian n/a n/a
% Asian 9% 2%
% Hispanic 8% 22%
% Black 31% 28%
% White 52% 47%
Additional Student Information
This School ( FL ) School Average
% Eligible for Free Lunch 9% 42%
% Eligible for Reduced Lunch 5% 9%
% Migrant Students Enrolled n/a n/a
School Performance:
( FL ) Statewide Testing Performance
School Statewide Performance View Education Department Test Scores
School District:
School District Name Palm Beach County School District
This School's Agency ( FL ) District Average
Number of Schools Managed 236 20
Number of Students Managed 177,906 students 12,279 students
District Total Revenue $1,690,560,000 $110,828,000
District Expenditure $1,843,419,000 $112,427,000
District Revenue / Student $9,503 $7,795
District Expenditure / Student $10,362 $7,471
District Graduation Rates 85% 81%
School Notes:
  • Suncoast Community High School is a public high school for grades 9-12 located in Riviera Beach, Florida. The school is considered to have one of the top academic programs in the southern United States, and its Math, Science, and Engineering program is often compared to programs at Bronx Science, Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech, and Thomas Jefferson High Schools. The campus was built in 1955 as Riviera Beach High School.
  • Renamed in 1970, Suncoast became a magnet school in 1989. All students belong to one or two of the school's four magnet programs:
  • International Baccalaureate (IB).
  • Math, Science, and Engineering (MSE).
  • Computer Science (CS).
  • Interdisciplinary Program (IDP).
  • Suncoast was not listed in the 2005 Newsweek list of the "100 Best High Schools in America" due to its status as magnet but was included as #7 in the 2006 Newsweek "Top 100" list. Jay Mathews, the compiler of the Newsweek list and education columnist for the Washington Post, included Suncoast in an unranked list of the nation's 38 best magnet schools in 2006.
  • History: Suncoast's campus was built in 1955 as Riviera Beach High School. During the 1950s and '60s, Riviera Beach High School had a well-deserved reputation for the quality of its teachers, its strong academic programs and the fervid support of its students, alumni and their families. In athletics, the Riviera Beach High "Hornets" were particularly strong in men's basketball, with games against arch-rival Palm Beach High School routinely drawing packed crowds of 1000+ to the school's gym. While Riviera Beach High School had been desegregated during the 1960s (by the end of the decade the school's student population was approximately 15 percent black and 85 percent white), a federal court-ordered program to desegregate all Palm Beach County district schools resulted in nearby J.F. Kennedy High School, where the student body was almost entirely African-American, being converted to junior high (now J.F. Kennedy Middle School). Beginning in 1970, black students who had been going to J.F. Kennedy High School, or who had anticipated going there, were forced to attend what had been the mostly white Riviera Beach High -- now renamed Suncoast High School, home of the "Chargers."
  • The result was chaos. Suncoast High's first year was marred by major riots that received national media coverage, with law enforcement using tear gas and helicopters to break up rock-throwing and fights between mobs of black and white students. Racial tensions remained high at the school over the next several years, and while there were no more riots on the scale of 1970-71, there was a gradual exodus of white students from Suncoast High as their families either enrolled them in private or parochial schools, or moved. By the late 1980s, the racial makeup of Suncoast's student population was more segregated than it had been 20 years before.
  • In 1989 Suncoast became a magnet school under principal Kay A. Carnes, who remained Suncoast's principal for 15 years before stepping down at the end of the 2004 school year.
  • The introduction of the IB program improved greatly racial balance at the school; in this year of the introduction of the magnet program 71 percent of Suncoast's students were black (despite improving its racial balance by 19.3 percent that year) and Suncoast was the target of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.
  • Academics: Students apply to Suncoast via the Palm Beach County School District's Magnet and Choice School Application Form. Applicants apply for a specific program or programs and are admitted into the school by a selective lottery after the top 10 percent of applicants (based upon Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) scores, teacher recommendations, and grades) are admitted.
  • All students belong to one or more of the school's four magnet programs:
  • International Baccalaureate (IB)–the IB Diploma Programme.
  • Math, Science, and Engineering (MSE), which concentrates on mathematics, physics, and engineering research.
  • Computer Science (CS)–computer science, particularly computer programming languages (Java, C++).
  • Interdisciplinary Program (IDP)–general college preparatory program.
  • Each Program is led by a Faculty Member:
  • Mr. David Hale (IB), English Department.
  • Mr. Brian Murray (MSE), Science Department Chair.
  • Mr. John Slattery (CS), Computers/Technology Department Chair.
  • Mrs. Francis Wilson (IDP), English Department.
  • The College Board named Suncoast the "Exemplary AP Comparative Government and Politics" program among schools with 1000 students or more, with the largest percentage of mastery scores in the world for that AP exam. (This course is no longer taught at Suncoast).
  • Brian T. Murray, physics teacher and MSE coordinator, won the 2006 Network of Educators in Science and Technology Distinguished Teacher Award. This is an award given by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Sonja Kelly, a former English teacher, was named 2005 Teacher of the Year in Palm Beach County.
  • Suncoast's National Physics Competition, Academic Games, Speech and Debate, and Mu Alpha Theta teams are ranked nationally.
  • Athletics: Suncoast is a member of the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), and competes in the 4A division. Varsity Sports offered include Basketball, Baseball, Football, Tennis, Soccer, Roller Hockey, Volleyball (both boys' and girls'), Golf, Lacrosse, Cross-Country, Track, and Swimming. In 2006, the girls' varsity volleyball team won the State 4A Championship. In 1981, the football team reached the state finals, but lost to Palatka 42-2. The football team was the district champion in 1984 and 2002. The boys' cross-country team qualified for the state meet for five consecutive years from 1998-2002. The girls' track team was the state champion for four years in a row from 1999-2002. The boys' basketball team won state championships in 1984, 1985, and 1990. The 1990 team, led by future NBA point guard Anthony Goldwire, went 36-0. Former wide receiver Anthony Carter was a 3 time All-American for the University of Michigan and was inducted into the College Hall of Fame eventually playing in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions. Devin Hester, class of '02, is currently rockin' the house for the Chicago Bears, making him the best punt returner in human history.
  • Notes: Mailander, Jodi. "69% of county schools mostly segregated." Palm Beach Post. 5. Dec. 1989.
  • Suncoast is a member of the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), and competes in the 4A division. Varsity Sports offered include Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Football, Girls' Flag Football, Tennis, Soccer, Roller Hockey, Volleyball (both boys' and girls'), Golf (boys' and girls'), Lacrosse, Cross-Country, Track, and Swimming. In 2006, the girls' varsity volleyball team won the State 4A Championship. In 1981, the football team reached the state finals, but lost to Palatka 42-2. The football team was the district champion in 1984 and 2002. The boys' cross-country team qualified for the state meet for five consecutive years from 1998-2002. The girls' track team was the state champion for four years in a row from 1999-2002. The boys' basketball team won state championships in 1984, 1985, and 1990. The 1990 team, led by future NBA point guard Anthony Goldwire, went 36-0. Former wide receiver Anthony Carter played in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings. Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears played at Suncoast.
  • Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL
  • Add information about this school (e.g., awards, news stories, notable alumni, fun facts)
 
School Zip Code:
About This Zip Code (33404)
School Zip (33404) (FL) State Average
Population (Approximate) 29,975 people 15,366,089 people
% (age 25+) w/College Degree 24% 27%
Population Average Age 38 years old 38.7 years old
Average Household size 2.5 persons 2.3 persons
Median Household Income $31,118 $38,451
Avg. # of Rooms in Household 4.4 rooms 5.0 rooms
Median Age of Housing Structure 36 years old 32 years old
View current housing listings in 33404
% Owning / % Renting 61% / 39% 67% / 33%
School Map:
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5. Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Junior School - 1327 students - view location
View all schools in: Riviera Beach Town, Palm Beach County, Zip 33404 
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Note: Data has been gathered from several government and commercial data sources. School data reflects years 2002-04 statistics (most recent years available). Area and demographic data reflects year 2000 statistics. Public School Review does not ensure the timeliness or accuracy of the information on this site.

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