Gulf High School

Gulf High School is a four-year public high school in New Port Richey, Florida. It is part of the Pasco County School System in Pasco County, Florida. It is the first high school in western Pasco County and the second school in Pasco County to offer the International Baccalaureate Program, the other being Land O' Lakes High School. Gulf High School is so named because it was originally located less than one mile from the Gulf of Mexico. History Gulf High School opened on September 18, 1922, with an initial enrollment of 39 students and a faculty of three teachers. There were no seniors during the first school year; the first graduation took place on April 29, 1924, with eleven seniors. Although Gulf High School remained the only high school in western Pasco County for over fifty years, enrollment remained small through the 1950s and local residents feared the state might close the school. In the 1920s and 1930s, the sports teams were nicknamed the "Cooties," from a shortened name for the Pithlachascotee River, on which the school was situated.