Gibbs High School

The attendance zone covers a broad swath of south St. Petersburg — roughly the corridor bounded by 34th Street South and the surrounding grid in the 33711 ZIP code, extending into adjacent south St. Pete neighborhoods. The feeder chain runs from Campbell Park Elementary, Fairmount Park Elementary, or Melrose Elementary through Bay Point Middle. For an address-specific zone confirmation, use Pinellas County Schools' School Zone Locator at pcsb.org/zone — zone boundaries can shift, and the locator is the only authoritative source.

Apply through the FOCUS District Application Program (DAP) each January — Pinellas posts the exact dates at pcsb.org. After submitting, you'll schedule an audition or portfolio review at Gibbs. Seven strands are available: Dance, Instrumental Music, Vocal Music, Musical Theatre, Performance Theatre, Visual Arts, and Design Technology. A new Integrated Arts option launched in 2025-26 for students who want a multi-discipline survey rather than a single major. Contact PCCA Director Michael Vasallo at (727) 893-5452 ext. 2337 for strand-specific requirements.

Homes in south St. Petersburg's 33711 ZIP — the heart of the Gibbs zone — have trended in the $280K–$340K range, well below the citywide St. Petersburg median. The area is a mix of 1950s-60s concrete-block single-family homes and some updated bungalows; buyers get more square footage per dollar than they would in Kenwood, Old Northeast, or the waterfront corridors. For a current zone-filtered list with honest notes on each home, ask Ben.

Gibbs has standard Pinellas County Schools security: a School Resource Officer, single-point controlled entry, and campus ID protocols. The school's 3/10 GreatSchools rating reflects standardized test-score gaps — it doesn't capture the PCCA program's outcomes, the school's arts culture, or the 2024 boys' basketball state championship. Families who visit the school during PCCA performances or open house consistently describe a focused arts-program campus distinct from what the numeric rating implies. As always, visiting the campus is the best read.

Both are south St. Petersburg public high schools in Pinellas County with documented athletic rivalries (football rivalry is marked on the schedule). Lakewood sits slightly higher on test-score rankings (GreatSchools 4/10 vs. Gibbs 3/10; US News #208 vs. #258 in Florida), and the two schools draw from overlapping south St. Pete geography. The key differentiator is PCCA: Gibbs has a nationally recognized performing-arts magnet, Lakewood does not. For buyers, the address determines the zoned school — but for performing-arts families, PCCA at Gibbs is worth applying to from anywhere in the county.