McFatter Technical Center

William T. McFatter Technical High School
Address
6500 Nova Drive Davie, Florida, 33317 United States
Information
Type	Magnet high school
Motto	Rigor + Relationships + Relevance = Success
School district	Broward County Public Schools
Principal	Jeanette Johnson
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	554
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Silver & Turquoise
Website	Official Site

William T. McFatter Technical Center includes a magnet high school located in Davie, Florida. The center is a part of the Broward County Public Schools district.

The campus tries to maintain an average of 600 pupils in the school at one time, about 150 students per grade. These students are picked out of a lottery after they have met the requirements to get in to the school. Certain requirements include a GPA of at least 2.5 and an FCAT score of a Level 3 or higher. McFatter has an FCAT school grade of "A" for the 2009-2010 academic year.^[1]

History

The school began as a Vocational center for adults, later expanding to combine a full school high school magnet program focusing on college preparation and vocational training. In 2006 the school was honored as Florida's model high school. It was also named a New Millennium High School, being only one of twenty in the state of Florida. The School Board of Broward County has rated the school as an "A" for the last six years. The whole high school program has been running in a total for seven years, and is located near Broward College and Alvin T. Sherman Library. Recently the school has won the Blue Ribbon Award. The Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private schools based on one of two criteria: 1) Schools whose students, regardless of background, achieve in the top 10 percent of their state on state tests or in the case of private schools in the top 10 percent of the nation on nationally-normed tests; and 2) Schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that demonstrate dramatic improvement of student performance to high levels on state tests or nationally-normed tests.

Operation

For their freshman and sophomore years, students are required to take a "Tech Studies" course, in which they explore the aspects of all the technical programs that the center has to offer. With the end of their sophomore year, students are required to choose their technical program for the rest of their high school years. All students take honor classes or classes on higher levels, and some takes Advanced Placement courses. The school operates from 9:15 AM to 4:10 P.M. Students that use school buses as transportation home must take a shuttle bus to Nova High School, where they then get on their buses. There are clubs and organizations for students to participate in, including...

• Anime Club
• Art Club
• Brain Bowl
• Building Futures
• Class of 2011 (class color- red)
• Class of 2012 (class color- green)
• Class of 2013 (class color- orange)
• Class of 2014 (class color- blue)
• Dance Club
• Debate Club
• First Priority
• Future Educators of America (FEA)
• Gay Straight Alliance
• Glee Club
• Human Relation Council
• ICC
• Key Club
• Music Club
• National Honor Society
• Science & Reason Club
• SGA
• SHAPE
• Spanish Club
• Step Team
• Thespian Club
• Women Of Tomorrow
• Yearbook

High school

There is currently only one high school building. Because the campus does not have any sports teams, Physical Education and Health Management classes are required to be taken as a freshman and sophomore. The school symbol is the Fusion, represented by an atom. The first class to graduate from McFatter was in 2002. The class of 2008 had $1.6 million in scholarships.

High School Demographics

As of 2011, the total student enrollment was 800. The ethnic makeup of the school was 54% White, 13% Black, 27% Hispanic, 3% Asian or Pacific Islander, 2% Multiracial, and 1% Native American or Native Alaskan.^[2]

In May of 2011, McFatter elected Florida's first transgender prom queen, Andii Viveros.^[3]

Technical Courses Offered

Automotive Services Technology
Boat and Yacht Repair
Drafting
Welding
Marine Services Technology
Culinary Arts
Commercial Photography
Graphic Arts & Printing
New Media Technology
Television Production
Network Support Services
Computer Programming
Medical Assisting
Practical Nursing
Dental Laboratory Technology
Optometric Assisting
Pharmacy Technology

References

1. ^ FCAT School Grades - High
2. ^ Enrollment Counts
3. ^ Hernandez, Christina. "Transgender Makes History, Wins Prom Queen". NBC Miami. http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Transgender-Wins-Prom-Queen-Title-122901664.html. Retrieved 6/1/2011.