West Florida High, 150 E. Burgess Road: a countywide lottery high school, grades 9-12, 1,322 students (2024-25), an A in 2026. 850-876-7300.
Last checked Oct. 11, 2026. Sources: Escambia County Public Schools, the school’s website and its application page, the Florida Department of Education’s 2026 school grades, the federal NCES school directory, the Census Bureau’s geocoder and the Florida High School Athletic Association.
West Florida High School is the Escambia County Public Schools high school on East Burgess Road that admits students by application. It has no attendance zone: every student applies in eighth grade, and the district fills about 400 ninth-grade seats by lottery. The campus has a Pensacola mailing address but sits just outside the city limits, in the unincorporated Brent area, according to the Census Bureau’s geocoder.
Who to call
- Front office: 850-876-7300, 150 E. Burgess Road, Pensacola, FL 32503
- School website: westfloridahs.escambiaschools.org
- Admission questions: Joey Truncale, 850-876-7360, the school’s application page says
- Enrollment Services: 850-469-5580; Enrollment Services page
- Buses: Transportation dispatch, 850-469-5490 or 850-469-5678 (transportation contacts)
| Address | 150 E. Burgess Road, Pensacola, FL 32503 |
| Phone | 850-876-7300 |
| Grades | 9 to 12 |
| Principal | Esi Shannon |
| 2026 state grade | A (77% of points) |
| School hours | 8:30 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. |
| Admission | Application and lottery, no zone |
Principal. Esi Shannon is the principal, according to the school’s administration page. Jeff Anderson is an assistant principal.
Enrollment and teachers
- Federal count: 1,322 students in the 2024-25 school year, with 65 full-time-equivalent classroom teachers, according to the NCES directory, which lists the school as West Florida High School/Technical. That is about 20 students per teacher.
- State figure: the school’s state report card carries current enrollment by grade and student group; it is an interactive dashboard that could not be read for this page.
State report card
Florida gave West Florida High an A in its 2026 school grades, its third straight A. The school earned 77% of the points possible, according to the Florida Department of Education’s 2026 school grades file. The file lists 38.4% of its students as economically disadvantaged.
| 2026 school grade measure | Result |
|---|---|
| School grade | A (77% of points) |
| English language arts achievement | 76% |
| English language arts learning gains | 61% |
| Math achievement | 68% |
| Math learning gains | 62% |
| Science achievement | 91% |
| Social studies achievement | 91% |
| Graduation rate, 2024-25 | 100% |
| College and career acceleration, 2024-25 | 95% |
Florida grades schools A to F on the share of possible points earned across these measures. Achievement is the share of tested students on grade level; learning gains is the share who improved from the year before. For a high school, A is 65% of points or more, B is 60% to 64%, C is 45% to 59% and D is 35% to 44%, the state’s file says.
Admission instead of a zone
No address is zoned for West Florida High. The school’s application page explains how students get in:
- Who may apply: current eighth graders only.
- When: the application opens Oct. 26, 2026, for students entering ninth grade in fall 2027. Last year’s window ran Oct. 27 to Dec. 5, 2025, and the lottery was held in February 2026.
- Who is eligible: a C or better in every core subject through the first semester of eighth grade, a satisfactory attendance record and no serious or repeated discipline infractions in eighth grade.
- How seats are filled: about 400 ninth graders are chosen by lottery from the eligible applicants, with a percentage taken from each high school attendance zone.
To see the zoned high school for any address, type an address into the district’s Find Your School lookup; inside the city limits it is Pensacola High or Booker T. Washington High. The district’s controlled open enrollment page covers other transfers.
Calendar and bell times
From the district’s 2026-27 academic calendar (PDF), approved by the School Board on Feb. 18, 2025:
- Tuesday, Oct. 13: second nine weeks begins
- Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day, no school
- Nov. 23-27: fall break, including Thanksgiving
- Dec. 21 to Jan. 1: Christmas break; the third nine weeks begins Tuesday, Jan. 5
- March 22-26, 2027: spring break
Bell times. School hours are 8:30 a.m. to 3:10 p.m., according to the 2026-27 bell schedule notice on the school’s home page.
Sports and activities
In football, West Florida plays in Class 3A, Region 1, District 1 for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons, with Bay (Panama City), Pensacola, Pine Forest and South Walton (Santa Rosa Beach), according to the FHSAA’s finalized football classifications (spreadsheet).
The Jaguars’ athletics pages list baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball and weightlifting. Todd Leonard is athletic director, the school’s athletics information page says. Follow the season on our Friday night football page and scoreboard.
Programs. The school’s application page lists 12 career academies: Academy of Information Technology, Aerospace Engineering (PLTW), Agricultural Biotechnology, Biomedical Sciences, Civil Engineering and Architecture (PLTW), Criminal Justice Operations, Critical Care and Emergency Medicine, Energy, Multimedia, Pre-Professional Nursing, Sports Medicine and Telecommunications. The same page names contacts for band, orchestra and theater.
More on Pensacola schools
- The district’s high school directory, with the principal and phone for every high school
- Every public school in Pensacola, with zones and report cards
- Our Pensacola schools guide for the full calendar, enrollment steps and School Board meetings
Frequently asked questions
How do you get into West Florida High School?
Current eighth graders apply online and the district’s Office of Enrollment Services draws a lottery from eligible applicants in February. About 400 ninth graders are picked, with a share from each high school attendance zone. The application opens Oct. 26, 2026.
What is West Florida High School’s Florida school grade?
West Florida High earned an A in Florida’s 2026 school grades, with 77% of possible points, its third straight A. Its 2024-25 graduation rate was 100%, the state’s file shows.
Is West Florida High School in the city of Pensacola?
No. It has a Pensacola mailing address, but its campus at 150 E. Burgess Road is in the unincorporated Brent area just north of the city limits, according to the Census Bureau’s geocoder.
What time does West Florida High start?
School hours are 8:30 a.m. to 3:10 p.m., according to the school’s 2026-27 bell schedule notice.
Have your say