Nova High School is a public high school located in Davie, Florida and is part of the Broward County Public Schools district. It is one of four schools that comprise the Nova Center for Applied Research and Professional Development, the others being Nova Eisenhower Elementary School, Nova Blanche Forman Elementary School, and Nova Middle School. Nova Eisenhower Elementary, the newest of the three lower schools, began in downtown Fort Lauderdale, in the old Fort Lauderdale High School building, while the current facility was being built in Davie.
Nova High School was established in 1960, and opened in September 1963, as a joint project between the Broward County Public Schools and Ford Foundation. Known as the Nova Educational Experiment, the project aimed to create a community of schools spanning elementary to university level education in one location. Forman Field, the 545-acre site of a vacated naval aviation facility and located in the then rural areas of Broward County was chosen as the site for the project.[4]
The Nova schools were originally jointly funded by the Ford Foundation and local sources, and were known for their progressive curricula and use of experimental teaching methods. Students were required to pass an entrance exam for acceptance and a lengthy waiting list often existed for potential students. The school year consisted of eleven months of instruction, with a one-month summer break.
Nova was the beta testing site for "Propaganda" and a number of other academic games. The earliest national academic games tournaments were held on the Nova campus during the late 1960s.
After the Nova Educational Experiment ended in the 1970s, the Ford Foundation departed, and total control of the Nova schools reverted to the Broward County Public Schools. Entrance requirements were relaxed in 1985; placement on a waiting list for entry into the schools still was required.
Nova High School was ranked as the 237th best public high school in the United States and 36th best in Florida by Newsweek in 2007, and it is listed as a Silver Medal School by the U.S. News & World Report in 2008, placing it within the top 3% of all high schools in the U.S.[5][6]
Demographics and statistics
As of the 2021-22 school year, the total student enrollment was 2,279. The ethnic makeup of the school was 31.6% White, 59% Black, 21.6% Hispanic, 5% Asian, 3.2% multiracial, 0.9% Native American or Native Alaskan, and 0.3% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.[7]
Nova High School was awarded a grade of "A" by the Florida Department of Education in 2002–2003, 2004–2013. On the 2007 norm-referenced Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), Nova students performed nationally at the 75th percentile in reading and 82nd percentile in math. Nova faculty have, on average, 12 years of teaching experience and 49% hold advanced degrees. Average class size is 25, and the student stability rate is 97%.[8]
Members of the Nova High School speech and debate team have won nine National Championships since the year 2000: Jeff Hannan in Student Congress (2000),[9] Scott Jacobson in Student Congress (2002),[10] Matt Futch in Student Congress (2004),[11] Allison Pena in Extemp Commentary (2007),[12] Jared Odessky in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking and Jamaque Newberry in Dramatic Interpretation (2011),[13] Gregory Bernstein in Congressional Debate (2013),[14] Craig Heyne in Prose Reading (2016),[15] and the team of Cornelia Fraser and Rafey Khan in Public Forum Debate (2017).[16]
Notable alumni
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(October 2020)
Tyler Kinley, MLB pitcher with the Miami Marlins (2013-2018),[19] the Minnesota Twins (2018), another stint with the Marlins, (2019) and active player on the Colorado Rockies.
Mike Morse, Class of 2000, MLB outfielder/first baseman with several teams
