International Baccalaureate
Pensacola High School is the only school in the county to have an International Baccalaureate program as well as a Health Occupation Students of America honors program and a law academy. The International Baccalaureate program was introduced in 1986 as a last-ditch effort to keep the school open; many students had performed poorly, and there were dropout rates higher than they are today. The school district had given the administration an ultimatum: improve the numbers or be shut down. With the introduction of the IB program, the higher test scores helped bring up the average and kept Pensacola High open.
The IB program at Pensacola High was developed by Donna Dunson. Richard Kuhn served as the coordinator from 1994 until 2002. Under his guidance the program achieved great success, all the more impressive when considering the poor funding provided to the county. Upon his resignation, former teacher and District Social Studies Specialist Colleen Boyett served as coordinator. Under her leadership AP and IB course offerings were expanded, resulting in Pensacola High being named as one of the top ten high school programs in America by Newsweek magazine in May 2005. Upon her departure to return to graduate school, she was replaced by Dr. Joy McMichael. In July 2007, however, Dr. McMichael became Assistant Principal of Curriculum, and Deanna Gordon (previously the IB English teacher) became the new IB coordinator. On March 16, 2012, a departure ceremony was held for Mrs. Gordon, as her position's contract had expired and she was asked to retire. She was immediately replaced with the Freshman guidance counselor, Laura Pappas.
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