University High School (Orlando, Florida)

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University High School
Address
11501 Eastwood Drive

Orlando
,
Orange County
,
Florida
32817

United States
Information
TypePublic secondary (with some magnet programs)
MottoContio Laureata
(Latin: An Assembly of Honored Scholars)
Established1990; 32 years ago (1990)
School districtOrange County Public Schools
SuperintendentDr. Barbra Jenkins
PrincipalMr. Thomas Ott
Faculty149.00 (FTE)[1]
Grades9–12
Number of students2,746 (2019–20)
Student to teacher ratio19.67[1]
Color(s)Navy and
   
MascotCougar
NewspaperThe Torch
YearbookUnity
Websitewww.uhs.ocps.net

University High School is a public high school in Orlando, Florida opened in 1990. The school is a part of Orange County Public Schools and is located about a mile from the University of Central Florida. University High School offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) magnet program, and a Performing Fine Arts magnet program which began in the 2019–20 school year. University High School also has a well known Athletic Training program, Veterinary Assisting program, Culinary Program, Dual Enrollment and Advanced Placement (AP) classes. The school has been named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.[2]

The school's mascot is a Florida Cougar named Casey the Cougar. The school colors are navy blue and vegas gold. University's main rival is Colonial High School. University and Colonial face off in an annual football game known as Crush Colonial or the Boot Game; the winner takes home the Boot trophy and hosts next year's rival game at their school.

University High School's main campus is designed in a square architectural layout with a courtyard in the middle, with classrooms are located in buildings surrounding the main plaza. Along with this, the main campus includes the 25th building (a separate two-story building) and two rows of portables located at both west and east ends of the school. The East or Innovation Campus (formerly the Freshman Campus) is located across the street from the Main Campus and is predominantly unused due to plans to tear the campus down. Nonetheless, many of the East Campus's remaining portables and cafeteria are still of use to the school and students. University High School's campus's design differs greatly from other OCPS High Schools.

History[]

University High School was built as a relief school for Colonial High School in 1990. Later, Timber Creek High School was built as a relief school for University High School in 2002. More recently, East River High School was built as a relief school for both University and Timber Creek in 2009.

University previously had a Global Technologies (GT) magnet program that was discontinued in the 2017–2018 school year and is now known as the GT academy.

Feeder schools include Legacy Middle, Union Park Middle, Discovery Middle, Corner Lake Middle, Odyssey Middle, Arbor Ridge K-8 and Jackson Middle.

University's entrance.
University back in 1999.

Performing Arts[]

Drama[]

University High School has been noted as one of the best drama and technical departments in Florida. They have performed several popular plays and musicals throughout the years such as Into the Woods, A Man of No Importance, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, West Side Story, Les Misérables, Ragtime, Carousel, Evita, Aida, Miss Saigon, The Wiz, Beauty and the Beast, Shrek, Guys and Dolls and Sweeney Todd. University has presented Lend Me A Tenor in the fall of 2010, and was one of the first high schools in the world to put on a production of Phantom of the Opera in the spring of 2011.

The Drama Department also boasts a Thespian Troupe. Every winter, Troupe 4848 of District 5 hosts the District 5 thespian competition, and travels to Tampa every spring for State competition. In the past, 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. In 2019, Troupe 4848 presented Silas Marner once again, and received superiors, and an additional fan favorite award. In 2020, Spoon River Anthology was presented, and also received superiors AND Top Honors for the Online Regional Festival. They also participate annually in the Applause Awards at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center, an award ceremony created to recognize Central Florida high schools theatrical programs, technical crew, and individual actor performances.

This upcoming school year (2021-22), the program plans on performing for their One Act, “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane”, for the winter, “Romeo and Juliet” the first ever full length Shakespeare play produced by UHS , and for the spring, “Pippin”. In addition to this, the Musical Theatre Program will be performing, “Bright Star”.

Band[]

The University High School Band Program has had a history of excellence in a wide range of performance activities since its inauguration in 1990. The program currently serves approximately two hundred students, who participate in a variety of ensembles including concert bands (Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band), two jazz bands (Big Band and Jazz Ensemble), a steel drum band (Blue Steel), two percussion ensembles, color guard and winter guard, International Baccalaureate (IB) Music, and marching band.[3]

The University Marching Band entering the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida.

The wind ensemble and big band have regularly received superior ratings at the district and state level Florida Bandmasters Association Music Performance Assessment (MPA).

The University High School Winter Guard has been a finalist at nationally qualifying regionals and had strong placements in statewide competitions. The Winter Guard received 12th place at WGI World Championships in 2008 and 14th place in 2009. Additionally, throughout the 2000s, the program won the Scholastic A gold medal multiple times at the Florida Federation of Color Guard Circuit (FFCC) Championships. Most recently, for the 2021 season, the University High School Winter Guard received third and second place in the University Regionals, and were awarded bronze medalist in the FFCC Championships.

The band's indoor drumline, called the "University Percussion Syndicate," earned national recognition in 2001, claiming third place in class Scholastic A in the WGI World Championships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The UPS won the 2009 FFCC Circuit Championship and placed fourth in Scholastic A class at the 2009 WGI World Championships in Dayton, Ohio. The name was then changed to simply "University Percussion Ensemble", and received first place at the 2020 WGI Regionals and second place in the 2020 FFCC Percussion Focus.[4] They went on for the 2021 season to win both University regionals as Scholastic Open Champions, and Scholastic Open Champions in FFCC Championships, in Daytona.

The newest addition to the University High School band program has been the Indoor Wind Company, introduced in the 2020–2021 school year. Similar to the University Percussion Ensemble, the Indoor Wind Company participates in both FFCC and WGI competitions. The group went on, in their first year of existence, to win Scholastic A Champions at both University Regionals, and bronze medalist at the FFCC Championships.

The University Marching Band is the most visible performing arts ensemble at University High School band program and has a long history of quality and highly praised performances on the national stage. High-profile performances by the group include the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington, D.C. (1995 & 2001), the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City (1995), the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California (1998) where the school modeled a float after "The Princess and the Pea" (as seen in the Bee Movie), and the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Chicago, Illinois (2013). The marching band has received the highest rating at the FBA Marching MPA twenty-two of the school's twenty-three years. Field productions by the marching band include "One City Block" (2005), "There And Back Again" (2006), "Almost Yesterday" (2007), "The Enigma" (2008), "An Inconvenient Truth" (2009), "Through the Mind of a Child" (2010), "Reflections" (2011), "Ballet Méchanique" (2012), "Danzón Universitas" (2013), "Pandora's Box" (2014), "The Ring Cycle" (2015), "Je Suis" (2016), "Let There Be Light" (2017), "No Part Of Easy" (2018), "Out of the Silent Planet" (2019), and "The Glass Cage" (2021).[5]

A Florida Marching Band Coalition (FMBC) regional competition called the "University Classic" has been hosted by the band in October annually since 2004.[4]

Dance[]

University has a new dance program that began the 2018–2019 school year. This program is now part of the Performing Fine Arts Magnet. Although being relatively new, the program has managed to perform multiple shows. This school year (2020–21) the University Dance Program put on in the Winter season, "On The Front Line", and in the Spring season, "Follow Our Lead".

Although this program is new, there have been other dance programs at UHS in the past.

Sabor Latino was a student-directed Latin dance team that participated in the Orlando Latin Dance Expo. Sabor Latino was directed by Giovanni Nieves along with several team captains (Valerie Kerr 08–09, Julissa Henry 09–10, Frankie Agosto 10–11, Juan Medina ‘11, Kenneth Shuga ‘11). SL performed at every Hispanic Heritage Month at the school bell tower, and also participated in many charity events. Sabor Latino lasted through graduating classes of 2007–2011.

Chorus[]

The University Chorus program, similar to both the band and theatre programs, has received recognition on the regional and state level. The program is apart of the Performing Fine Arts Magnet. Additionally, the chorus department and its teachers have been awarded frequently for their overall repute and esteem. It has also given many notable performances, with performances at Disney’s “Grand Floridian”, “Boardwalk”, and on the national level, traveled to Kansas City, MO for ACDA (American Choral Directors Association).

The program also hosts a wide selection of different courses, with classes based on individual technique to classes for full choir singing. While limited for the 2020-21 school year, the program has put out multiple concerts, and still maintained its status of excellence, with students being placed into chorus’ on the county level.

Notable alumni[]

Clubs and organizations[]

At the beginning of the year, the UHS Student Government Association holds the Club Rush event, a week where clubs and organizations advertise themselves to prospective members in the plaza.

Some clubs and organizations at UHS include Asian Student Association, Beta Club, Chorus, Colorguard/Winterguard, Debate, Future Farmers of America, Gay-Straight Alliance. German Club, International Thespian Society, JROTC which provides a way for students to establish a sense of citizenship and for the students to get a taste of what it would be like in the United States Marine Corps. Key Club, Latinos in Action, Marine Corps, Mu Alpha Theta, National Honor Society, Red Cross, Senior Class Cabinet, Science National Honor Society, Science Olympiad, Spanish National Honor Society, Student Government Association, TV Production, Best Buddies, Club 42 (a club in honor of a student who passed), and many others.[15]

Movies[]

  • The school's stadium and junior parking lot were used as a backdrop for the 2007 film Sydney White.
  • The University High School cheerleaders won the 2006–07 state championship and were featured in the 2007 film Bring It On: In It to Win It.
  • University High School students were featured in an episode of MTV's hit show True Life: I'm Going to Prom.

References[]

  1. ^ a b "University High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  2. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2009. Retrieved August 20, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "University High School Band". www.uhsband.com. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  4. ^ a b "FMBC". www.floridabandtournament.com. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  5. ^ "Out of the Silent Planet". Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  6. ^ "LSU's Nick Goody has given the Tigers a new dimension with his ability at closer". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  7. ^ "Lessons in Library Leadership - 1st Edition". www.elsevier.com. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  8. ^ "Licensing Electronic Resources in Academic Libraries - 1st Edition". www.elsevier.com. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  9. ^ "Library Licensing". www.abc-clio.com. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  10. ^ "Curtis Riley - Football Recruiting - Player Profiles - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  11. ^ "Former UCF QB to receive gold hall of fame jacket Friday at Orlando University".
  12. ^ "Look Out for Young Finch".
  13. ^ "Nick Buchert". NBRA. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  14. ^ "Florida House of Representatives – Anna V. Eskamani". Florida House of Representatives. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  15. ^ UHS

External links[]

Coordinates: 28°34′34″N 81°12′51″W / 28.576229°N 81.214236°W / 28.576229; -81.214236

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