The Park Community School is a mixed 11-16 state comprehensive school

Comprehensive school

A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...

 in Barnstaple

Barnstaple

Barnstaple is a town and civil parish in the local government district of North Devon in the county of Devon, England, UK. It lies west southwest of Bristol, north of Plymouth and northwest of the county town of Exeter. The old spelling Barnstable is now obsolete.It is the main town of the...

, North Devon

North Devon

North Devon is the northern part of the English county of Devon. It is also the name of a local government district in Devon. Its council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth...

, England. It is maintained by Devon County Council

Devon County Council

Devon County Council is the county council administering the English county of Devon. Based in the city of Exeter, the council covers the non-metropolitan county area of Devon...

. Most of the school's 1,440 pupils progress to further study at Petroc.

History

The Park Community School was opened in 1910 as Barnstaple Grammar School, educating the youth of much of North Devon. In 1976 the school became a comprehensive and took pupils from the Barnstaple area.
The school originally had four house named after famous Devon residents; Kingsley, Fortescue, Drake and Raleigh. Due to growing student numbers a fifth house, Chichester, was created in 1999.
The school underwent extensive remodling during 2002 and 2003 and new Maths and Science departments were opened in September, linking the old North and South Buildings. A new canteen was also built and many old classrooms were redesigned and refurbished.