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
Established 1927
Type of institution Public magnet school
Faculty 169
Principal William R. Gordon II
Enrollment 3600
Location Winter Park, Florida, USA
Colors Orange and black
Mascot Willie the Wildcat
Affiliations The Nation's Top Universities
Website http://www.wphs.ocps.net/

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] Sports

[edit] Athletic teams (as of 2006)

[edit] School rankings

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.

[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] Drama

Director Kit Haskett

The Winter Park High School Drama department is directed by Christopher Haskett, new to Winter Park High for the 2006-2007 school year. Many students participate, often crossing over from the other performing arts disciplines. The two most recent plays, M*A*S*H and To Kill A Mockingbird, were both enourmous successes. In addition to school wide plays, students enroll in daytime drama classes where they learn the essentials of acting and of stagecraft. Many students excelled at their District performances this year, earning the superior ratings necessary to move on to state.

[edit] Orchestra

Director Charles Laux

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 program consists of four orchestras: Concert Orchestras, which is a ninth grade orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, which is open to all 10-12 grade students, Winter Park Philharmonic, which is available to 10-12 grade students by audition, and Lyric Strings, which is available to 10-12 grade students by audition. The Winter Park Philharmonic was selected to perform at the prestigious 60th Annual Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago in December 2006. Laux has announced, however, that he will not be remaining at WPHS for the 2007-2008 school year, because of a scholarship opportunity at Ohio State University.

[edit] Chorus

Directors Trent Patterson; Andrew Minear

The Choral Department at Winter Park High School is comprised of 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. 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. Most of the proceeds go towards the Tyler Rush Memorial fund, a scholarship program dedicated to a former Park Singer who died in a car accident. His love of Broadway musicals led to the foundation of Night on Broadway.

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

[edit] Band

Directors John LaCognata; Richard Ervin

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 was one of the performing ensembles at the 60th Annual Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. The band department is under the direction of John LaCognata and Richard Ervin. Neither of the directors, however, are staying to teach in the 2007-2008 school year. LaCognata is pursuing his doctorate at University of Florida, and Ervin is returning to teaching private lessons and playing proffessionally.

[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!

However, this story was never actually published in Playboy.

[edit] External links

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