the school board. School board movements to close or consolidate the schools resulted in heated contention between parents, students and the board, often accompanied by noisy public meetings. The Nova schools have consistently ranked at the very top of schools in the state. Nova High School was ranked as the 237th best public high school in the United States, 36th best in Florida, by Newsweek Magazine in 2007 and is listed as a Silver Medal School by the U.S. News & World Report in 2008, placing it within the top 3% of all high schools in the country. Nova High School is also well known for its extensive course offerings, including 22 Advanced Placement courses. Nova graduates consistently matriculate to some of the finest colleges and universities in Florida and throughout the country. Demographics and statistics As of the 2021-22 school year, the total student enrollment was 2,279. The ethnic makeup of the school was 31.6% White, 59% Black, 21.6% Hispanic, 5% Asian, 3.2% Multiracial, 0.9% Native American or Native Alaskan, and 0.3% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. Nova High School was awarded a grade of "A" by the Florida Department of Education in 2002–2003, 2004–2013. On the 2007 norm-referenced Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), Nova students performed nationally at the 75th percentile in reading and 82nd percentile in math. Nova faculty have, on average, 12 years of teaching experience and 49% hold advanced degrees. Average class size is 25 and the student stability rate is 97%. County-sanctioned athletic programs Basketball (Boys' and Girls') Baseball (Boys') Bowling Cross Country (Boys' and Girls') Diving (Boys' and Girls') American football (Boys') Flag football (Girls') Soccer (Boys' and Girls') Swimming (sport) (Boys' and Girls') Diving (sport) (Boys' and Girls') Track and Field (Boys' and Girls') Tennis (Boys' and Girls') Softball (Girls') Volleyball (Boys' and Girls') Wrestling (Boys') Water Polo (Boys' and Girls') Golf Team (Boys' and Girls') Step Team (Boys' and Girls') Cheerleading Debate team Members of the Nova High School speech and debate team have won nine National Championships since the year 2000: Jeff Hannan in Student Congress (2000), Scott Jacobson in Student Congress (2002), Matt Futch in Student Congress (2004), Allison Pena in Extemp Commentary (2007), Jared Odessky in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking and Jamaque Newberry in Dramatic Interpretation (2011), Gregory Bernstein in Congressional Debate (2013), Craig Heyne in Prose Reading (2016), and the team of Cornelia Fraser and Rafey Khan in