Winter Park High School

Infobox high school


image_caption =
imagesize = 100px
name= Winter Park High School
coordinates= coord|28.584521|-81.322565
native_name=
latin_name=
motto =
established = 1927
type = Public magnet school/ Public High School
endowment =
Locale = Suburb
staff =
faculty = 169
Head teacher =
schoolmaster =
principal = William R. Gordon II
director =
superintendent = Ronald Blocker
enrollment = 3600
students =
city = Winter Park
state = Florida
country = USA
free_label =
free =
colors = Orange and black
mascot = Willie the Wildcat
district = Orange County
authorizer =
information =
website = http://www.wphs.ocps.net/
footnotes =

Winter Park High School is a school in Winter Park, Florida and one of seventeen public high schools in Orange County. Winter Park High School is a magnet school for the International Baccalaureate program.

History

Winter Park High School was constructed at 528 Huntington Avenue in 1923. It was one of the first high schools in Orange County, Florida. The school remained in this location until construction began in 1969 at the present location. Renovations at the main campus began in 2004 and are completed. The original campus remains in use to this day as the Winter Park High School Ninth Grade Center, a campus exclusively used by ninth-grade students.

ports

=Athletic teams [cite book|title=WPHS Planner 2008 |publisher=Winter Park High School] =

*Athletic Trainers
*Baseball
*Basketball
*Bowling
*Cheerleading
*Crew
*Cross Country Running
*Flag Football
*Football
*Golf
*Lacrosse
*Soccer
*Softball, Fast-Pitch
*Special Olympics
*Swimming
*Tennis
*Track and Field
*Volleyball
*Water Polo
*Weightlifting
*Wrestling

chool rankings

In 2007-2008 Winter Park regained the grade of "A" as given by the FDE. For the two years in a row, Winter Park High School was awarded a "B" rating. "B" was the highest grade awarded for any Orange County high school. The Florida Department of Education gave the school a "B" rating in the 2005-2006 school year. Previously, the school had an "A" rating in 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-2004 and 2004-2005. The school received an "A" as of the 2007-2008 school year.

=Clubs [cite book|title=WPHS Planner 2008 |publisher=Winter Park High School] =

Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps

The Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps unit at Winter Park High School is the largest campus organization with over 200 members actively participating. The unit has been honored as an Area Seven distinguished unit for all but one of its thirteen years in existence. The unit's competition teams consistently are state finalists.

Naval Science Instructors

Commander David Haynes, U.S. Navy (Retired)

Senior Chief Petty Officer Joel Matthias, U.S. Navy (Retired)

Model United Nations Club

The Winter Park High School Model United Nations club is a forum for debate on various international issues. Delegates from WPHSMUN participated in KnightMUN (a conference hosted by the University of Central Florida) and [http://www.fhsmun.org FHSMUN] conferences in the 2007-2008 school year; at FHSMUN, the club received five individual and two delegation awards.

EcoLOGICAL Club

The Winter Park High School Environmental Awareness Club (a.k.a the EcoLOGICAL Club) is involved with school awareness and community outreach projects.

Performing Arts

Winter Park High School has a notable Performing Arts program. It was named a 2004-2007 Music Demonstration School by the Florida Department of Education. The Band, Orchestra, and Choral programs consistently receive "Superior" ratings at State Performance Assessments and all three are recognized nationally as top rated public high school performing arts programs. The Performing Arts Department Chair is Director of Bands, Mr. Joel Moody.

Drama

DirectorKit Haskett

The Winter Park High School Drama department is directed by Christopher Haskett. In addition to school wide plays, students enroll in daytime drama classes where they learn the essentials of acting and of stagecraft.

Orchestra

DirectorLaurie Bitters

The various ensembles in the orchestra program have a long history of superior ratings at both State and District Music Performance Assessments sponsored by the Florida Orchestra Association.Fact|date=August 2008 The program consists of four orchestras: Concert Orchestra, which is a ninth grade orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, which is open to all 10-12 grade students, Winter Park Philharmonic ("Park Phil"), which is available to 9-12 grade students by audition, and Lyric Strings, which is available to 10-12 grade students by audition. Freshmen who are selected to be in the Park Philharmonic must take another music class, usually the Concert orchestra but a band or chorus class in some cases. Under the previous direction of Charles Laux, the Winter Park Philharmonic was selected to perform at the [http://www.midwestclinic.org/ 60th Annual Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic] in Chicago in December 2006.

Chorus

DirectorsMatthew Swope & Sherlee Huang

The [http://www.wpchorus.com Choral Department] at Winter Park High School comprises six choirs and various ensembles. The non-auditioned choirs are the Freshman Women’s Chorus, the Wildcat Men’s Ensemble, and Cantabile. There are three advanced level choirs in the Choral Department: Park Singers, Belle Chanson, and Concert Choir. The Winter Park Chorus Department has performed at Disney Epcot's Candlelight Processional, Carnegie Hall in New York City, and many community and school events. Its students have participated in the American Choral Director Association's Honor Choir, the Florida All-State SSAA, SATB, and Sight-reading choirs, and Orange County Public Schools honor choirs.

Band

DirectorsJoel Moody & Francis Franqui

The Band Program serves 190 students and consists of six performing ensembles: The Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Color Guard, and the "Sound of the Wildcats" Marching Band. The Marching Band has had performances across the country including the 2005 Autozone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee; the 2002 Blue Cross/Blue Shield Fiesta Bowl Marching Band Championship and Parade in Phoenix, Arizona; and the 2000 Sylvania Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. The band has recently been invited to participate in the Fiesta Bowl in 2009. In addition, The "Sound of the Wildcats" holds the distinction of being one of the few high school bands in the country to have an original school fight song (most bands borrow college fight songs). Fact|date=October 2007

The Wind Ensemble performed at the 2002 Bands of America National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana; was the feature ensemble at the "President's Concert" of the Florida Music Educator's Association Conference in Tampa in 2007; and performed at the prestigious [http://www.midwestclinic.org/ 60th Annual Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic] in Chicago, Illinois. In addition to ensemble activities, individual musical achievement is stressed within the membership of the band program. Students also participate in the All-State and All-County bands and various Honor Bands throughout the year.

Ninth Grade Center

Built in 1923 in Mediterranean Revival style at a cost of $137,000, the Winter Park High School Ninth Grade Center originally measured only 10 acres. Over time, the school began to grow, and before long, it became overcrowded. In 1969, a second campus was constructed less than three miles away, and the Ninth Grade Center became a secondary campus, used only for ninth grade students. Now the freshman campus, with about 1,020 students, is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Freshman students wishing to participate in extracurricular activities (band, orchestra, sports, etc.) or classes not offered at the Ninth Grade Center can take a bus before their 2nd period from the main campus to the Ninth Grade Center. The Ninth Grade Center's schedule is offset eighteen minutes later [cite web|title=Main Campus Bell Schedule |publisher=OCPS |url=https://www.ocps.net/lc/north/hwp/student_info/Documents/Bell_Schedule_MC.pdf] [cite web|title=Freshman Bell Schedule |publisher=OCPS |url=https://www.ocps.net/lc/north/hwp/student_info/Documents/Bell_Schedule_FC.pdf] to accommodate the bus ride. The campus offers a wide array of courses and prepares students for an excellent Winter Park High experience.

References in Popular Magazines

In 2008, Winter Park High School was listed at 160 in Newsweek's 1,200 Top U.S. Schools, with the criteria being which schools have the largest percentage of students taking Honors AP or IB exams.

References

External links

* [http://www.wphs.ocps.net/ Winter Park High School official website]
* [http://www.wphs.ocps.net/IB Winter Park High School IB Program]
* [http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/achievement/fl/2084 FCAT scores for Winter Park High School by Grade]
* [http://www.publicschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/18956 Demographic breakdown of Winter Park High School]
* [http://www.winterparkband.com winterparkband.com - Official WPHS Band Website]
* [http://www.winterparkorchestra.com winterparkorchestra.com - Official WPHS Orchestra Website]
* [http://parkcc.com/ - Official WPHS Cross Country Website]
* [http://www.orlandoweekly.com/columns/story.asp?id=10696 - Playboy Magazine's #1 Party School 2006]