Bartram Trail High School

Bartram Trail High School (BTHS) is a public high school in the St. Johns County School District, located in northwest unincorporated St. Johns County, Florida (U.S.) that opened in 2000. More than a decade ago, the school was ranked number 327 by Newsweek magazine in the top 1,300 high schools in the United States.

The attendance boundary includes a portion of Fruit Cove.

Academics

Bartram Trail's curriculum includes: art classes, English studies and literature, mathematics, performing arts, physical education classes, various science and social studies classes, vocational classes, world and foreign language classes, television production, band, chorus and turf management.

Bartram Trail offers the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC) Academy which teaches various academic studies along with character and life skills education based around the heritage and traditions of the United States Air Force. The Bartram Trail High School Academy of Design and Building Construction is available to teach carpentry and in other fields such as interior design, drafting and fashion design. In 2007, Bartram Trail teamed with VyStar Credit Union to form the Bartram Trail High School VyStar Academy of Business and Finance. The course teaches career opportunities with financial services and business management industries. For students with disabilities, the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program is available. One of the school's newest additions is the Information Technology Academy (IT). The IT academy provides students with foundational technological skills and knowledge that will prepare them for future careers in Information Technology.

The Advanced Scholars Program at Bartram Trail gives advanced students the opportunity to participate in advanced placement, dual enrollment and honors courses in preparation for college. For the 2019-2020 school year, Bartram Trail High School offered 28 Advanced Placement (AP) courses.

Bartram Trail can give the graduating seniors a choice of scholarships they can apply for, through the school, to get started with college. In 2006, seven Bartram Trail students earned scholarships when they became finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. The 2020-2021 school year graduation rate was 97%.

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. US News ranks Bartram Trail #1,459 in the national rankings and #86 in Florida High Schools for 2021.

For the school year 2019-2020 the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate was 98%

"Victory V" statue

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Young Republicans Club at Bartram Trail wanted to get a piece of the destroyed World Trade Center for a memorial to those who died in the attacks. Students sent letters to the Office of Emergency Management in New York, forwarded by the former principal, Jim Springfield. The office replied in May 2002 and agreed to let them own a piece of the World Trade Center debris as long as Springfield came to New York City and got it himself. He received the debris on May 21, 2002; the piece was a six-foot-long piece of I-beam steel that weighed seven hundred pounds.