Hialeah High School is a secondary school located at 251 E 47th Street in Hialeah, Florida; its current principal is Mr. Lorenzo Ladaga. Previously it had been Dr.Carmen Maristany, who left the school due to health reasons in 2003.
Hialeah High School was built in 1953 and opened its doors to students and staff in 1954 to serve the ever growing communities of Northwestern Miami-Dade County. It is one of the oldest secondary schools in the county, having celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2004.
Hialeah's growing pains began in the early 1960s. Miami Springs High School opened in September 1962 with its first graduating class in 1966. This did not stop the overcrowding of Hialeah. In the mid-1960s Hialeah was seriously overcrowded with over 4,000 students due to the burgeoning population of Hialeah. Classrooms were generally without air conditioning except for the auditorium classes. Students were put on three shifts, with seniors generally attending from 7:30am, juniors starting at 8:30am and sophomores starting at 9:30am. Half the students from Miami Springs went to Hialeah High and the other half to Jackson High School in Miami. Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School opened during 1971; before the opening year, numerous students from Miami Lakes attended Hialeah High. The class of 1965 had approximately 1190 students in their graduating class, with many seniors from Miami Springs. The Miami Herald reported an overcrowded Hialeah High decades later that had fewer total students than those present in the mid-60's.
Up until the early 1970s, Hialeah High School (as well as the surrounding area), was predominantly white; due to a large influx of immigrants, primarily of Cuban descent, the majority of the school's population became Hispanic in less than ten years. Currently, the school is 95% percent Hispanic. The year 2006 marks the 50th edition of the yearly Hiways yearbook.
Hialeah High's campus was greatly expanded between 1999 and 2003 adding an entirely new building, expanding and renovating its auditorium and classrooms, and adding extra parking space. Due to a population increase in the city of Hialeah, the school is fast becoming one of the most populated in the area and a proposal to build another high school in the city of Hialeah has been put before the school board, though due to its recent expansion, a new high school is unlikely in the near future.
Between 2006 and 2010, all high schools in the Miami-Dade County Public School System will shift over to the Collegiate-Honors System at which time the Valedictorian, Salutatorian, and Top 10 system will be abolished. Instead, Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude honors will be awarded to the top members of each class. The Class of 2006 will be the last Hialeah High School class who will be designated a Valedictorian, Salutatorian, and Top 10 students list. The change came about as a complete overhaul of the high school curriculum system modelled after the New York Public School System and implemented by the school board and superintendent. The system is already in place at the newly built John A. Ferguson High School and will be implemented at the new Ronald W. Reagan Doral High School beginning Fall of 2006. The system will be gradually applied to every high school in the system over the next four years. This school serves more than 4,500 students, making it one of the largest schools in Florida.
Baseball Program has won 3 State Championships. They have won 9 District Championships and 4 Regional Championships since 1993.
School Publications
Hialeah Senior High is host to a plethora of school publications. These include the following: DVD Yearbook (Mr. Carlin), Hiways Yearbook (Mr. Carlin), The Record Newspaper (Mr. Carlin), T-Bred Talk (Dr. Kesselman).
Recent yearbook themes include:
2006, Caution: Contents Under Pressure
2005, Live For The Moment, The Rest Is Just Details
