| University High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 11501 Eastwood Drive Orlando, Florida, United States |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Public secondary (with some magnet programs) |
| Motto | Contio Laureata (Latin: An Assembly of Honored Scholars) |
| Established | 1990 |
| School district | Orange County Public Schools |
| Principal | Dr. Armbruster |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Number of students | 3,364[1] |
| Color(s) | Blue and Gold |
| Mascot | Cougar |
| Newspaper | The Torch |
| Yearbook | Unity |
| Website | uhs.ocps.net |
University High School is a public high school in Orlando, Florida opened in 1990. The school is one of many public high schools in Orange County and is located about a mile from UCF. 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 has been named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.[2]
University High School has two campuses, the East Campus (formerly the Freshman Campus) and the West Campus (also known as the Main Campus). The West Campus is the campus where the Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior classrooms are. The West Campus is designed in a square architectural layout with a courtyard in the middle. The East Campus is made up predominantly of fixed portable classrooms and is located across the street from the West Campus.
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The school's mascot is a Florida Cougar named Casey the Cougar. The school colors are navy blue and vegas gold. In 2004, the shade of gold was changed from a yellow gold to varsity gold. University's main rivals are Colonial High School and Timber Creek High School. UHS was built as a relief school for CHS in 1990 and Timber Creek was built as a relief school for UHS in 2002. East River was also built as a relief school for both University and Timber Creek in 2009.
The UHS football team had a slow beginning but has had some recent successes. In 2002, John Flath was chosen as the new head coach. 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 Smiley has taken over. Coach Smiley resigned at the end of the fall season in 2008. Coach Don Stark is now the current coach. During the 2010-2011 season the Cougars went 2-9-0 winning the two games against Lake Nona(59-21) and Cypress Creek(36-6) Failing to make the playoffs. They are currently ranked 8622 in the National Ranking. They are also Ranked 392 in the Florida State Ranking. Also the Cougars are Ranked 75 in the Florida the Florida 6A Division Ranking.
University High School has an accomplished Drama Department. They have performed several popular plays and musicals such as Les Miesérables, Ragtime, Carousel, Evita, Aida, Miss Saigon, The Wiz and Beauty and the Beast . University has presented Lend Me A Tenor the fall of 2010, and was one of the first high schools in the world to put on the production Phantom of the Opera in Spring of 2011.
The Drama Department also boasts a Thespian Troupe. Troupe 4848 of District 5 travels to Dr. Phillips High School every winter to compete in District competition, and to Tampa every spring for State competition. The Troupe's One Act, The Window School, won "Best in Show: One Act" and went on and received straight superiors at State in 2008. Silas Marner was presented in 2009, and received straight superiors at District and State competition. Troupe 4848 attended Districts 2010 and won straight superiors for their One Act, A Tulip For Lily. In 2011, Troupe 4848 entered Jesus Christ Superstar as their One Act in the District 5 competition, won straight superiors and are now expected to go to the State Competition in March 2012. Troupe 4848 will also be presenting Les Miesérables as their musical in April 2012.
The University High School 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). In 2005, their show One City Block received 5th place at State competition. Some of the more recent marching band shows include There And Back Again (2006), Almost Yesterday (2007), The Enigma (2008), An Inconvenient Truth (2009), Through The Mind Of A Child (2010), and Reflections (2011).
The University High School Winter Guard has been a finalist at nationally qualifying regionals and had strong placements in statewide competitions as well. The Winterguard was also elevated to Scholastic Open Class for the 2009 season receiving 14th place at WGI World Championships.
Also recently, the University High School Percussion Syndicate gained massive national recognition by winning their first FFCC Circuit Championships and placing 4th in Scholastic A class at the 2009 WGI World Championships in Dayton, Ohio. This is quite an accomplishment as this was only their 2nd season in a row competing in indoor percussion after a long seven year hiatus. Previously, they competed in the 1999 WGI World Championships in Dayton, Ohio and placed 3rd in Scholastic A in the 2001 WGI World Championships held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Under the direction of Patrick F. Culler, the marching band was highly successful, traveling around the nation to perform. The group participated in the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington, D.C. (1995), performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City (1995), and traveled to Pasadena, CA to participate in the Tournament of Roses Parade (1998). In the mid to late 1990s, the marching band was one of the largest in the Central Florida region. The membership was near 350 students; approximately 10% of the total UHS population at the time. The performing arts center was also named in Culler's honor after his death. It is now the Patrick F. Culler Performing Arts Center.
The band is currently under the direction of Adam Steff and Jon Brown.
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. Some clubs and organizations at UHS include: Asian Student Association, Beta Club, Chorus, Colorguard/Winterguard, Debate, Ecology Club, French Honor Society, German Club, International Thespian Society, Junior State of America, Key Club, Mu Alpha Theta, National Honor Society, Sabor Latino Dance Team, Senior Class Cabinet, SADD, Science National Honor Society, Student Government Association, TV Production, Youth Equality Alliance (local Gay-Straight Alliance), Best Buddies and many others.[3]
On October 19, 2006, a male student, Michael Nieves ,[4] was fatally stabbed at about 2:15pm[4] while walking to his school bus to go home. He was stabbed with a three-inch serrated blade.[5] The victim was said to be stabbed in the neck and the abdomen. After the stabbing, 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. [6] The 17-year-old, who was pointed out by witnesses, was arrested around 3:00 pm the same day.[7] On June 15, 2007, De La Cruz was sentenced to 60 years in prison.[8]
Shortly after classes on December 9, 1998, 20-year-old construction worker Omar Witt approached 16-year-old Mark Thornton, allegedly seeking to confront Thornton about alleged harassment of a female student. The nature of the incident was also considered racially charged (Witt was African American; Thornton was Caucasian).