Bartram Trail High School - History

History

Bartram Trail High School was founded in 2000 and was named after the William Bartram Scenic Highway and Bartram Trail exploration route in the Northern St. Johns County area, and not after William Bartram himself. Bartram Trail and Pedro Menendez High School were constructed to relieve overcrowding at Allen D. Nease Senior High School and St. Augustine High School. Bartram Trail and Pedro Menendez were the first new high schools built in the St. Johns County School District in twenty years, since Nease was opened in 1981. However, as the second school year at Bartram Trail began, the original capacity of 1,500 was exceeded with an enrollment of 1,529. By the 2002 school year, enrollment was at 1,840, more than 300 students above capacity. In 2004, the school district projected Bartram Trail's 2007-2008 enrollment at over 3,000.

To reduce overcrowding at Bartram Trail and Nease High School, two new high schools, Ponte Vedra High School and Creekside High School, were constructed and opened for the 2008-2009 school year.

From 2002 to 2006, the Florida Department of Education graded Bartram Trail as an "A" school, but in 2007, it was changed to a "B" school. Bartram Trail is also named in Newsweek's annual list of the top 1,300 high schools in the United States. In 2005, Bartram Trail ranked 894, in 2006 it was ranked 579, in 2007 it was ranked 474, and in 2008 it was ranked 327.