University High School (Orlando)
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University High School is a high school in Orlando, Florida opened in 1990. The school is one of seventeen public high schools in Orange County and is located about a mile from the University of Central Florida. University High School has an International Baccalaureate program and a Global Technologies (GT) magnet program, which was formerly known as Global Information and Future Technologies (GIFT).
The school's mascot is the Florida Cougar. The school colors are blue and gold. In 2004, the shade of gold was changed from a yellow gold to varsity gold.
University High School, a place of higher learning where the focus is on student achievement has two campuses, The Freshman Campus and Main Campus (Formerly The East and West Campus). The Main Campus (West) is now the campus where the Sophomore, Junior, and Senior classrooms are. West is designed in a square architectural layout with a courtyard in the middle. The Freshman (East) Campus is made up predominantly of fixed portable classrooms and located across the street from the main building. In 2005, both campuses completed an extensive renovation on roofs.
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[edit] Main/West Campus
- Main Office
- Main Gymnasium - Indoor Basketball Courts, Locker Rooms, Exercise Room, and Wrestling Room.
- Main Cafeteria - Includes four food lines.
- Patrick Culler Performing Arts Center - Drama Department, Choir and Band Performances.
- Large Central Courtyard - Features tower school bell and an outside eating area for students.
- Main Media Center - Features computers for student use.
[edit] Freshman/East Campus
- Secondary Gym - Includes weight room and Secondary Band room.
- Secondary Office - Deals mostly with attendance affairs and checking in and out of class.
- Secondary Cafeteria
[edit] Playing Fields
- Stadium - Football/Soccer field and Track with Stadium seating.
- Practice Field - Adjacent to stadium.
- Secondary Practice Field - Used for Lacrosse, Soccer and Band Practice.
- Outdoor Basketball Courts and Tennis Courts.
[edit] Programs
Aside from the IB and GIFT programs, UHS also offers a JROTC program and hosts a number of clubs and activities ranging from the Asian Club to the UHS Chapter of the National Honor Society.
[edit] International Baccalaureate
The UHS Chapter of the IB Program is designed to provide students with a rigorous education in many fields. Before actually being considered an IB student, the Freshman and Sophomores are technially Pre-IB students until the completion of their Sophomore year. The program is highly demanding and generally only the most dedicated students finish with an IB Diploma.
Requirements for acceptance include an essay, interview, 3.5 GPA from 7th and 8th grade, test scores, and teacher recommendations.
[edit] Global Information and Future Technologies
The G.I.F.T. program offers students a more concentrated education in fields pertaining to technology such as engineering, computer science, and simulation. It also gives students access to hands on courses dealing with programming, robotics, and other computer oriented fields.Students applying are required to have a 3.0 GPA from 7th and 8th grade and teacher recommendations. Recently, the name of the program has become known as Global Technologies or just GT. A common thing amongst the students in GT's 2007 class is to say "GT yo'!" and "knock" their tongues to the roof of their mouth twice. Also there are other sayings that are added into this everyday ritual for most GT students.
[edit] Athletics
[edit] Football
UHS has had limited success with its football program. In 2002, John Flath was chosen as the new head coach.But he had problems with law. The 2002-2003 season resulted in a poor 2-8 record. However, the football program experienced a complete turnaround in the 2003-2004 season with a school record of 8 wins and 2 losses during the regular season. Although failing to defeat Boone High School for the District Championship, UHS still moved on to the playoffs. They lost their first game to Edgewater High School. Since then coach Flath has taken a job at another local high school and Coach Jeff Smily has taken over
[edit] Performing Arts
University High is mostly known for its Drama, Choir, and Band programs.
[edit] Band
The University High School Cougar Band & Guard have a reputation of being one of the best band programs in the state. The Top Bands (Wind Ensemble, Jazz 1) have a history of receiving straight superior ratings at the District and State level MPA(Music Performance Assessment). It is also known for its marching band program. Some of the more recent marching band shows include Channel One Suite(2003), Othello(2004), One City Block(2005), and There And Back Again(2006). A most recent accomplishment was the Jazz 2 band receiving an Overall Superior at district MPA, for the first time since records were kept. This was done in 2007 under the direction of director Franklin Jennings.
[edit] Clubs & Organizations
At the beginning of the year the school holds the Club Rush. A day where clubs and organizations advertise themselves to prospective members in the courtyard. Clubs and organizations at UHS include: ACLU, Art Club, Asian Club, Band, Best Buddies, Beta Club, Business Professionals of America, Chess Club, Chorus, Club Hispano, Colorguard/Winterguard, Debate, Diamond Girls (baseball), Drama, Drama Club, Ecology Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, FFA, French Club, French Honor Society, Freshman Class Cabinet, Future Educators of America, German Club, GSA, Junior Class Cabinet, Key Club, Latin Club, Literary Magazine/Quill and Scroll, Mu Alpha Theta, National Honor Society, Robotics, SADD, SAFE Ambassadors/Non-violence, Science Club, Science National Honor Society, Senior Class Cabinet, Sophomore Class Cabinet, Spanish Club, Spanish National Honor Society, Student Government Association, The Torch (newspaper), Thespians, TV Production, Umoja, Unity Yearbook, Youth Alive.
[edit] 2006 Incident
On October 19, 2006, a 15-year-old male student, Michael Nieves,[1] was stabbed at about 2:35pm [2] while walking to his school bus to go home. He was known to be stabbed with a three-inch serrated blade.[3] The victim was said to be stabbed in the neck and the abdomen. After the stabbing, the 17-year-old Kelvin De La Cruz, then changed clothing and hid out in a classroom on the second floor, and was apprehended by a school resource officer.[4] The 17-year-old, who was pointed out by witnesses, was arrested around 3:00pm the same day.[5] This is the second death that has occurred on Orange County Public School grounds. The last murder was also at University High School and a memorial is located in the parking lot.
[edit] Trivia
- University's rival is Colonial High School. A traditional football game is played each year in which both schools compete for "The Boot".
- Timber Creek High School is also considered a rival school since it was built as a relief school for UHS.
- The high school was once featured on MTV's True Life: I'm Going to the Prom[citation needed]
- The mascot's name is Casey the Cougar.
- Over 45% of the school's population is of hispanic origin.[citation needed]
- The East Campus used to be the location of Discovery Middle School until Discovery re-located to the Waterford Lakes area.
