Miami Central High School

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Miami Central High School
Location
West Little River, Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA
Information
Type	Public
Motto	ad astra per aspera--to the stars through adversity
Established	1959
School district	Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Principal	Rennina Turner (as of July 1, 2010)
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	1,665
Average class size	30
Campus	Urban
Color(s)	Green, Pink[1]
Mascot	Rockets[1]
Website	Miami Central High School official website

Miami Central Senior High School, commonly referred to as Central Rockets, is a secondary school located at 1781 NW 95th Street in West Little River, unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA.^[2] The school serves most of the northern fringes of the city of Miami as well as parts of North Miami, Opa-Locka, the village of Miami Shores, and the village of El Portal.^{[citation needed]} The current principal is Rennina Turner. Miami Central opened its doors in 1959; the school mascot and colors were chosen in honor of NASA and its space program which was an event at the time of the schools opening. In the early 1990s, the school acquired a computer science magnet program placed as part of the district's initiative to devote school space to certain magnet programs so as to attract minority students to schools with large populations of one particular ethnic group.

Central's athletic rival is Miami Northwestern High School.

Demographics

Miami Central High is 82% Black, 17% Hispanic, and 1% White non-Hispanic.^[3]

Notable alumni

Academics

• William Cordova, Class of 1988 -The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, BFA (1993–1996) and Yale University MFA (2002–2004). Pursued Art History/literature & creative writing. Was included in the prestigious Whitney Biennial Exhibition (2008) and has published on culture and art in CORE publication, Art Lies Magazine and Anti Periodical (Yale publication). Cordova also works with community activist groups BASE and Jericho Movement both based in NY.

• Abdias Charles, Class of 1999. Haitian Minister of Tourism 2007-2010, Rutgers University (B.S 2004)Founder of RepairHaiti.org, published several articles on crime prevention.

Business

• David J. Smith, II, Class of 1988 - U.S. Marine (89-95), Florida A&M University Magna Cum Laude (2002),NFL Miami Dolphins Operations Department (2002); UPS Sale Executive (03-07) FedEx Sales Executive (07 - 09), and currently Regional Sale Executive Dunbar Armored Inc. South Eastern Region
• Nana Atakora, Class of 1999 - U.S. Navy (00-03), St. Thomas University (2010), Chief Executive Officer for The Miami Millionaires Club 2015 Organization

Athletics

Baseball

• Ronnie Belliard, Class of 1994 - Infielder for the Milwaukee Brewers (1998–2002), Colorado Rockies (2003), Cleveland Indians (2004–2006), St. Louis Cardinals (2006) Washington Nationals (2007–2009) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2009–2010)

Basketball

• Tracy Reid, Class of 1994 - played in the WNBA; played collegiately at the University of North Carolina

Football

• Elvis Peacock, Class of 1974 - Running Back for the Los Angeles Rams (1979–1980) and the Cincinnati Bengals (1981); played collegiality at the University of Oklahoma
• Dwight Drane, Class of 1979 - Defensive Back for the Buffalo Bills (1986-1981); played collegiality at the University of Oklahoma
• Bruce Armstrong, Class of 1983 - Offensive Tackle for the New England Patriots (1987–2000); played collegiality at the University of Louisville
• Najeh Davenport, Class of 1997 - Running Back for the Green Bay Packers (2002–2005) and Pittsburgh Steelers (2006–2008)
• Willis McGahee, Class of 2000 - Running Back for the Buffalo Bills (2004–2006) and Baltimore Ravens (2007–present); played collegiality at the University of Miami
• Bryan Pata, Class of 2003 - Defensive Lineman who played collegiality at the University of Miami before being shot to death on November 7, 2006.
• Darnell Jenkins Class of 2002- Wide Receiver for the Houston Texans 2008- played collegiality at University of Miami.

Josue Charles, Class of 1997 - Wide Receiver CFL Pending

• Ali Highsmith, Class of 2003 - Linebacker/Defensive Back for the Arizona Cardinals (2008); played collegiality for Louisiana State University
• Dennis Brown, Class of 2004 - Quarterback for the Calgary Stampeders (2010–present); played collegiality at the Norfolk State University
• Demetrius Byrd, Class of 2005 - Wide Receiver for San Diego Chargers (2009); played collegiality for Louisiana State University
• Rob Issac, Class of 2007 - Cornerback for the Jacksonville Jaguars (2011–present); played collegiality at the Middle Tennessee State University

Josue Charles, Class of 1997 - Wide Receiver* Cartlon "Cotton" Brown -Grambling Head Coach

Other Sports

Gymnastics

• Kurt Thomas, Class of 1974, American Olympic gymnast, operates the Kurt Thomas Gymnastics Training Center in Frisco, Texas, inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2003.

Track And Field

• Bershawn Jackson, Class of 2002 - ranked #1 in the world in the 400 meter hurdles; bronze medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Academics

As part of the State's Accountability program, it grades a school by a complex formula that looks at both current scores and annual improvement on the Reading, Math, Writing and Science FCATs.

These are the school's grades by the year since the FCAT began in 1998:

• 1998-1999: D
• 1999-2000: D
• 2000-2001: D
• 2001-2002: D (280 Points)
• 2002-2003: D (283 Points)
• 2003-2004: F (268 Points)
• 2004-2005: F (264 Points)
• 2005-2006: F (278 Points)
• 2006-2007: F (351 Points)
• 2007-2008: F (376 Points)
• 2008-2009: D (417 Points)
• 2009-2010: C

See also

• Miami-Dade County Public Schools
• Education in the United States

References

External links

• Miami-Dade County Public Schools
• Miami Central High School Official Website
• Miami Central Class of 1969 alumni page
• Miami Central Class of 1989 alumni page