Hillsborough High School opened in 1885 with nineteen students and one teacher. Having occupied a livery stable, a Baptist church, and the upstairs of a newspaper building, students attended classes for the first time in a new school in 1900. The first Hillsborough High School cost $5100 and housed 125 students. The present building, a distinctive Gothic style structure, was completed in 1928 and was one of the four largest high schools in the south. The school recently received the honor of being considered one of the top 20 most beautiful schools in the United States by Architectural Digest. Today our enrollment is 1975 students. We are proud of our traditions and the addition of an International Baccalaureate Programme. Hillsborough High School has been accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Our school district is the eighth largest in the country, enrolling over 200,000 students (K-12). Hillsborough High School is located in an established residential neighborhood near downtown Tampa. It is currently experiencing growth and revitalization.

THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE PROGRAMME

Students must apply to the program with a selection process that is merit based. It is intended for the highly motivated high school students who also fits the IB Learner Profile. The IBP is a magnet program, drawing from 19 public middle schools and 18 private schools in Hillsborough County. We admit approximately 35% of our applicants. We are a four-year program and all students are full diploma candidates. Ninth and tenth grade is Pre-IB with all 9th graders taking Inquiry Skills. During the junior and senior years, students take three IB classes at the standard level (SL), three at the higher level (HL), and Theory of Knowledge. Our average IB Diploma pass rate has been 94% over the past eight years. Our students attend IB classes with other IB student as well as elective classes with traditional program students. We are on a block schedule where students attend four classes per day with a total of eight classes in their schedule. We offer a built-in, highly structured and academically focused study hall as one of those classes. As a result, our students are able to participate widely in sports, student government, honor societies, vocational organizations, and service clubs. Students can also elect to take traditional electives such as band, orchestra, theater, or vocational electives with traditional students. This is in lieu of the full study hall. In addition to the coursework listed on page 2, each student must complete 200 hours of CAS (Creativity, Action and Service), and write two independently scored essays. One is 4,000-word, independent research paper referred to as an Extended Essay (EE). The other essay is linked to the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course. Students take written exams for each Diploma Programme IB course (SL or HL). They are graded by the International Baccalaureate Organization and scores are reported on a scale of 1 to 7 with 7 being the highest score. The IB Diploma is awarded during the first week in July after graduation.

GPA & TRANSCRIPTS

The grade point average is cumulative and includes courses taken in eighth grades as well as courses taken in grades 9-12. All courses taken are included in the computation of the GPA. All HHS Pre-IB and Honors courses are designated b an I or Y in the course flag column of the transcript and earn an extra weight of .04 per semester per course. All Dual Enrollment AP courses and IB courses are designated by a Z in the course flag column and earn an extra weight of .08 per course per semester. Students are ranked countywide. We rank our students countywide because we are a magnet school and students are drawn from the entire district. District policy prohibits our ranking students within Hillsborough High School senior class. Hillsborough High School has two valedictorians and two salutatorians – one from the IBP and one from the traditional senior class.

GRADING SCALE

A = 100 - 90
B = 89 - 80
C = 79 - 70
D = 69 - 60
F = 59 - 0

16 AP classes
24 Honors level classes
44 Pre-IB & IB classes

OTHER STATISTICS CLASS OF 2018

Average ACT Composite: 30
Average SAT EBRW: 650
Average SAT Math: 670
National Merit Semi-finalists: 9
Unweighted GPA Range: 2.7 - 4.0

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