Bay High School, 1200 Harrison Ave.: grades 9-12, 1,289 students (2024-25), a C in Florida's 2026 school grades. Zoned for 82% of city homes. 850-767-4600.

Last checked Oct. 10, 2026. Sources: Bay District Schools, its 2026-27 academic calendar, start and end times and transportation page, the school’s website, Bay County’s school zone map, the Florida Department of Education’s 2026 school grades, the federal NCES school directory and the Florida High School Athletic Association.

Bay High School is the Bay District Schools high school on Harrison Avenue, inside the Panama City limits on the western edge of Downtown North. It is the zoned high school for most of the city: about 82% of the residential addresses inside the city limits fall in its zone on Bay County’s school zone maps. The school says it has 100 years of history behind its name.

Who to call

  • Front office: 850-767-4600, 1200 Harrison Ave., Panama City, FL 32401
  • School website: bay.k12.fl.us/o/bhs
  • Which school am I zoned for? School Choice and Zoning, 850-767-4328, or the district’s School Zone and Bus Route search
  • Buses: district Transportation, 850-767-4495; the route manager line for Bay High and the schools around it is 850-767-4489
Address 1200 Harrison Ave., Panama City, FL 32401
Phone 850-767-4600
Grades 9 to 12
Principal Blythe Thompson
2026 state grade C (56% of points)
Mascot Tornadoes

Principal. Blythe Thompson is the principal, according to the school’s website.

Enrollment and teachers

  • Federal count: 1,289 students in the 2024-25 school year, with 65 full-time-equivalent classroom teachers, according to the NCES directory. That is about 20 students per teacher.

State report card

Florida gave Bay High a C in its 2026 school grades, with 56% of the points possible, down from a B in 2025 and the same grade as 2024, according to the Florida Department of Education’s 2026 school grades file. The school’s state report card has results by student group; it is an interactive dashboard that could not be read for this page.

2026 school grade measure Result
School grade C (56% of points)
English language arts achievement 58%
English language arts learning gains 57%
Math achievement 30%
Math learning gains 39%
Science achievement 68%
Social studies achievement 70%
Graduation rate, 2024-25 96%
College and career acceleration, 2024-25 47%

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% and C is 45% to 59%, the state’s file says.

Attendance zone and feeder schools

Bay District Schools assigns schools by home address. We checked all 16,380 residential address points inside the city limits in Bay County’s address records against the county’s high, middle and elementary school zone maps. About 82% are zoned for Bay High; the rest are zoned for Rutherford High (11%) and Mosley High (6%).

Feeder schools. The district does not publish a feeder list, and each level has its own zone map. Of the city addresses zoned for Bay High, the maps place:

Confirm any address with the district’s School Zone and Bus Route search before you enroll.

Calendar and bell times

From the district’s 2026-27 student calendar:

  • Monday, Oct. 12: Columbus Day, no school
  • Wednesday, Oct. 28: teacher planning day, no school for students
  • Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day, no school
  • Nov. 23-27: Thanksgiving break
  • Monday, Dec. 21: winter break begins; students return Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2027
  • Wednesday, May 19, 2027: Bay High graduation

Bell times. Bay High runs 8:15 a.m. to 3 p.m., and high schools dismiss at 12:30 p.m. on early-release days, according to the district’s 2026-27 start and end times.

Sports and activities

In football, Bay High plays in Class 3A, Region 1, District 1 for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons, with Pensacola, Pine Forest (Pensacola), South Walton (Santa Rosa Beach) and West Florida (Pensacola), according to the Florida High School Athletic Association’s finalized football classifications (spreadsheet). The school’s website does not publish a team list; game schedules for every district school are on the district’s athletics site. Follow results on our scoreboard.

Programs, as the school names them:

  • Cambridge AICE: a pre-AICE program for freshmen and the Advanced International Certificate of Education in grades 10 to 12. Students apply; the school reviews grades (a 3.0 GPA minimum in core subjects), test scores, math placement, conduct and attendance, its AICE page says.
  • Air Force JROTC, unit FL-021
  • Career and technical pathways: allied health, culinary arts, digital design, engineering, hospitality and tourism, and sports and entertainment marketing, its CTE page says
  • The Bay High School Fine Arts Center

In partnership with Chautauqua Learn & Serve Charter School, Bay High was named a Canopy School by the Center on Reinventing Public Education, according to Chautauqua’s announcement.

More on Panama City schools

Frequently asked questions

What grades does Bay High School serve?

Bay High serves grades 9 through 12. It is at 1200 Harrison Ave. in Panama City, and its main line is 850-767-4600.

What is Bay High School’s Florida school grade?

Bay High earned a C in Florida’s 2026 school grades, with 56% of possible points, down from a B in 2025. Its 2024-25 graduation rate was 96%.

Which middle school feeds Bay High School?

Mostly Jinks Middle. Of the Panama City homes zoned for Bay High on Bay County’s zone maps, 92% are zoned for Jinks Middle, 5% for Merritt Brown Middle and 3% for Mowat Middle.

What time does Bay High School start?

Bay High runs 8:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the district’s 2026-27 schedule. On early-release days, high schools dismiss at 12:30 p.m.