Winter Park High School

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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.

Winter Park High School
Principal William R. Gordon II
School type Public
Religious affiliation None
Founded 1927
Location Winter Park, Florida
Enrollment 3600
Faculty 169
Campus surroundings Urban Fringe of Mid-size City
Sports teams Wildcats & Lady Wildcats
Mascot Willie the Wildcat
School color(s) Orange & Black

Contents

[edit] 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.

[edit] Students

Student enrollment in the Ninth Grade Center for the 2005-2006 school year was 1,053. Upperclass enrollment totalled 2,496 students. Of these students, 15.57% are Hispanic, 15.64% are Black, 61.8% are White and 6.99 are other. 3% are eligible for free lunches, and 11% are eligible for reduced-price lunches.

[edit] Sports

The sports teams train predominantly at the athletic complex on campus, which includes a gym, aquatic center, baseball and softball fields, and fields for lacrosse, football, and soccer. The teams play games at nearby Showalter Field and Larry Gergley Stadium, both of which are part of the larger Ward Park complex.

[edit] Athletic teams (as of 2006)

[edit] School rankings

The Florida Department of Education gave the school a "A+" rating in the 2005-2006 school year. It had an A rating in 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-2004 and 2004-2005.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Naval Science Instructors

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

Master Gunnery Sergeant John Alexander, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)

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

[edit] Performing arts

Winter Park High school has a notable performing arts program. In 2003-2004, it was named a Performing Arts Demonstration School for Orange County. The Band, Orchestra, and Choral programs consistently receive superior ratings at state festivals and all three are recognized nationally as top rate public high school performing arts programs. In addition, Winter Park has in the past had a top-rated Speech and Debate program. The Performing Arts Department Chair is John LaCognata.

[edit] Orchestra

The WPHS Orchestra is directed by Charles Laux and has received many superior ratings at both State and District Music Performance Assessments sponsored by the Florida Orchestra Association. The Winter Park Philharmonic was selected to perform at the prestigious 60th Annual Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago in December 2006.

[edit] Chorus

The Choral Department at Winter Park High School is comprised of eight 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. All 9th through 12th grade men in chorus make up the Men’s Chorale, and all 10th through 12th grade women enrolled in chorus make up the Women’s Chorale.

All choirs perform diverse repertoire from all style periods and different cultures around the world. In addition, all chorus students participate in Night on Broadway each spring, a large-scale production featuring music form various Broadway musicals.

All of the choirs in the program will be performing in the FSI National Youth Choir in Carnegie Hall (New York) in 2007 under the direction of Dr. Anton Armstrong.

[edit] Band

The band Department at Winter Park High School is comprised of the Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Visual Performance Ensemble, and the 165-member The Sound of the Wildcats Marching Band. The Band has consistently received straight superior ratings at the Florida Bandmaster's Association Music Performance Assessment with the Marching Band, Jazz Ensemble, and Wind Ensemble. The Sound of the Wildcats Marching Band has participated in many prestigious events, including the 2000 Sylvania Alamo Bowl, the 2002 Fiesta Bowl National Band Championship and Fiesta Bowl Parade, and the 2006 Autozone Liberty Bowl at which the band was featured pre-game. The Wind Ensemble has received Straight Superior Ratings at the District and State FBA Assessments, has performed at the 2002 Bands of America National Concert Band Festival, and will be one of the performing ensembles at the 60th Annual Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. The band department is under the direction of John LaCognazi and Richard Ervin.

[edit] Performing arts directors

Band John LaCognazi; Richard Ervin

Chorus Trent Patterson; Andrew Minear

Orchestra Charles Laux


[edit] References in Popular Magazines

In 2006, Winter Park High School was listed at 291 in Newsweek's 1,200 Top U.S. Schools, with the criteria being which schools best prepare students academically for college.

Also in 2006, Steve Schneider wrote an article in Orlando Weekly purporting that Winter Park was also named the #1 party high school in the nation according to Playboy Magazine's Top Party High School's 2006. According to the article, Playboy had this to say about Winter Park High School:

"Here’s where many attendees of Rollins College (No. 3 on Playboy’s 2002 “party colleges” list) earned their bacchanalian wings. At WPHS, blue-blooded snotlets have four years to Paris Hilton it up, maxing out credit cards they’ve swiped from their step-step-stepdads and forming arbitrary, chemically determined cliques they’ll revisit in college, when the Greek system imposes its own set of sociopathic demands. Nearby establishments expedite the process by shooting seniors free sushi and vodkatinis in exchange for minor sexual favors, and the prom is a legend unto itself: Even your chauffeur is holding!

Where to meet the hottie you fell for in geometry class: Online, for only $49.95 per month"

However, the article was a hoax. The Orlando Weekly article was the only place in which any portion of this list could be found. The other six schools listed (only the "top seven" was given) do not even exist. The #7 school is supposedly from the town of Lincolntown, Pennsylvania, which itself does not exist.

± Winter Park High School IB Program == External links ==

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