St. Augustine High School (Florida)

St. Augustine High School is the oldest active public high school in the St. Johns County School District, located in unincorporated St. Johns County, Florida, with a St. Augustine postal address. It teaches students in grades 9 through 12. SAHS is home to an athletics department, performing arts department, visual arts department, Aerospace Academy, Teaching Assistant, and Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC), and Law and Homeland Security Academy. In addition to St. Augustine, its attendance boundary includes: Vilano Beach, and the majority of St. Augustine Beach. Academic programs AICE program The AICE program, administered by Cambridge International Examinations, has been hosted at SAHS since 1998, and makes advanced college-level courses available to high school students. The program challenges students academically with an accelerated curriculum. The AICE program is a four-year set of courses. The AICE Diploma is a group certificate which requires students to draw from four curriculum areas. The areas are mathematics and sciences, languages, and arts and humanities, along with the core. Students must pass a total of seven exams with at least one in each of the four curriculum areas. Students who earn an AICE diploma and have completed 100 hours of community service qualify for the 100% Bright Futures Scholarship, and the SAT/ACT requirement is waived. Aerospace Academy Mission Statement: To provide a supportive small learning community for students to explore careers in aerospace. Student will develop skills that mold them into confident, college-prepared individuals. The Aerospace Academy is affiliated with Embry Riddle University. Army JROTC The Army JROTC program is a cooperative effort between the United States Army and St. Augustine High School. The curriculum teaches each cadet good citizenship, leadership, the ability to communicate effectively, the importance of physical fitness and the importance of a high school diploma for a successful future. St. Johns County Center for the Arts (SJCCA) St. Augustine High School currently offers 2D visual art, 3D visual art, band/jazz band, chorus, dance, digital design, guitar, theatre, and musical theatre for the SJCCA program. Athletics SAHS offers athletics programs in football, basketball, soccer, baseball, lacrosse, tennis, wrestling, cross country, track and field, weightlifting, softball, golf, swimming, cheerleading, volleyball, flag football, bowling. Football The St. Augustine High School football program has competed in the FHSAA football state playoffs 25 times, making their first appearance in 1972 under coach Herman "Foots" Brumley. Brumley's teams made six playoff appearances from 1972 to 1979, including five consecutive appearances from 1975 to 1979, winning the district championship in all five seasons. The Yellow Jackets had a playoff record of 4–6 under Brumley before his retirement after the 1980 season. The Yellow Jackets saw little success in the period from Brumley's retirement until the late 1990s, with head coach Charles Lopez leading the Yellow Jackets to a lone playoff game in the 1993 season. In 1996, Joey Wiles was introduced as the new head football coach for St. Augustine. Wiles would head the program for the next 20 seasons and would establish himself as one of the top five winningest coaches in the state. In the 1999 season, the Yellow Jackets returned to the playoffs, marking the start of an 22-season playoff appearance streak which ended in 2021. Two seasons later, only in Wiles's sixth season at the helm, St. Augustine made their first appearance in a state championship game, which they lost 6–38 to Rockledge High School. The Yellow Jackets would finally break through in 2005, going 15–0 and defeating Booker High School 31–15 to claim their first state championship. The Yellow Jackets would return to the championship game two seasons later, but lost to Naples 10–17. Since Wiles took over the program in 1996 until his resignation after the 2015 season, the Yellow Jackets went 198–43, including 59–3 against St. Johns County schools, made 17 consecutive playoff appearances, won 14 district titles, – including 11 straight from 2004 to 2014 – achieved 7 undefeated regular seasons, won 50 consecutive district games from 2003 to 2015 – a streak which ranked fourth in state history at the time – and appeared in three state championship games, winning one of them. Brian Braddock was hired following Wiles's departure after the 2015 season to take the job of Assistant Athletic Director at Flagler College. In his first season leading the team, the Yellow Jackets reclaimed the district title and reached the region finals of the playoffs, St. Augustine's best playoff result since 2010. The Yellow Jackets play at Joey Wiles–Walt Slater Field at H. L. "Foots" Brumley Stadium. Notable alumni Ronald L. Bailey, Lieutenant General, United States Marine Corps Brandon James, former Indianapolis Colts and Edmonton Eskimos football player Scott Player, former NFL punter Austin Reed, college football quarterback for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Caleb Sturgis, former NFL kicker Steven L. Sears, television writer/producer References