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Paxon History
Paxon High School was originally named Paxon Field Junior-Senior High
School when it was built in 1954. It included 7th through 12 grades
until 1957, when Paxon Junior High was built nearby. Paxon became a
college preparatory school and an International Baccalaureate school in
1996 and is now one of the top high schools in the nation.
According to the College Board's Advanced Placement
Report to the Nation, Paxon High School has one of the strongest math
and science Advanced Placement programs in the State of Florida. Because
of this outstanding accomplishment, Paxon is one of a select group of
Florida schools invited to apply for for the Siemens Advanced Placement
High School Award. Only about 10-15 schools per state have been invited
to apply. The site where the school was built was
Paxon Air Field, where Elizabeth "Bessie" Coleman was killed in a plane
accident in 1926. Coleman was the first African American (male or
female) to become an airplane pilot, and the first American of any race
or gender to hold an international pilot license. Paxon Field was probably
Jacksonville's first airfield, with the exception of the beaches. The
Navy used the (grass) airfield for training during World War II, but eventually
declared the site excess in January 1947. |
