The school lists some club sports that students can participate in. Lacrosse are specific to Gulf Coast. The school also lists Cheerleading as one of their sports, however the FSHAA considers it a "Recognized Sport" and not a "Sanctioned Sport."
Career academies
Gulf Coast High School is home to two different Career Academies. The goal of these programs is to help students that are interested in a certain career. Over the course of their high school education, students enrolled in the Academy take several classes relating to the Academy, some of which are classes specifically made for Academy Students.
Sports and Entertainment Marketing Academy
The Sports Marketing Academy has affiliated itself with the localHertz Arena. They put on shows and programs throughout the school year.
Medical Academy
The Medical Academy's goal is to prepare students to pursue a career in any medical field they may be interested in.
Engineering Academy
For prospective students looking into the engineering field. Project Lead The Way courses offered at Gulf Coast include Introduction to Engineering Design, Digital Engineering, Principles of Engineering, Aerospace, and the Senior capstone course Engineering Design and Development.
Extracurricular activities
Gulf Coast High School is home to many different extracurricularclubs. An accurate, up-to-date list is difficult to keep, as clubs are added and dropped as students graduate or lose interest. However, some of the notable clubs are:
Gulf Coast High School is part of District Six thespians and is International Thespian Society number 5876. Each year the theatre puts on four main events. First there is a main-stage, full length production. There is also either a musical or dinner theatre, and then there are two shows featuring events scheduled to appear in District competition including Evening Extraordinaire: A One Act affair, and A Dramatic Showcase. Occasionally there are other shows that are produced every few years, including the Pratfalls comedy show which appeared for its third production in 2005, and a Night of Improv, which returned April 2006 after its successful debut in Pratfalls III. The troupe performs in The Performing Arts Hall of Gulf Coast High School, one of the largest auditoriums in the school district. Pieces are rated in the following fashion: Superior, Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor. In 2006, for the first time in troupe history, one theatre student received the award for Best Overall Technical Theatre Piece for their Costume design in the District 6 Competition. This piece was chosen by the judges as the best technical theatre entry out of all the high schools participating, and out of all sub-categories in Technical Theatre. In 2007, three students were chosen to represent District 6 in State Competition. One received the award for Best Overall Technical Theatre Piece for a scenic design in the District 6 Competition, and a duo received the award for the Best Overall Pantomime in the District 6 Competition. In 2010, Gulf Coast High School received further acclaim after receiving straight superiors on their one-act play, and on three individual student's monologues. The students also participated at the Florida State Thespian Competition in Tampa, Florida back in April 2010.
Inventeam
In 2004, Gulf Coast High School was one of thirteen schools nationwide that received a $10,000 grant from the Lemelson-MIT Inventeams Program. The program is part of the Lemelson-MIT program which endeavors to foster a spirit of research and invention in high schools nationwide through grants. The GCHS Inventeam's invention was a hybrid between an air ionizing system similar to the Ionic Breeze and a typical ceiling fan. The idea was that the ceiling fan would circulate the air around the room, and as the air flowed over the ionizing system it would be cleaned as well, providing multipurpose from an appliance standard in many households.
The GCHS Model United Nations team is one of the premier activities in Gulf Coast High School. Recently expanding its program in 2010, the team has since won delegation awards at Georgia Tech, Columbia, UCLA, Southwest Florida MUN, and Florida High School MUN, with numerous other delegate awards at other conferences. In Fall 2011, the team was ranked 10th in the nation, hardly a year after the expansion of its program.
Campus
Gulf Coast High School consists of 8 main buildings which enclose a courtyard that is in size. Most of the building is on a single level, however Building 5, being the largest building, has classrooms on a second floor and the auditorium has a balcony on a second level. The school includes computer labs, a main gymnasium and an auxiliary gymnasium, a 3,000-seat capacity football stadium, cafeteria, media center, TV Production Studio, and darkrooms for photography.
