University High School
11550 Eastwood Drive, Orlando, FL, 32817-3503 - Map Map

School Overview:
Definition of Terms
University High School
School Level High school
Grades Offered Grades 9 - 12
County Orange County, FL
Students & Faculty
Total Students 3610 students
% Male / % Female 51%  /  49%
Total Classroom Teachers 180 teachers
Students by Grade
Grade 9 - 1134 students
Grade 10 - 952 students
Grade 11 - 819 students
Grade 12 - 705 students
This School
(FL) School Average
Teacher : Student Ratio 1:20 1:19
Students by Ethnicity
This School
(FL) School Average
% American Indian n/a n/a
% Asian 7% 2%
% Hispanic 44% 18%
% Black 10% 26%
% White 39% 52%
Additional Student Information
This School
(FL) School Average
% Eligible for Free Lunch 25% 26%
% Eligible for Reduced Lunch 9% 6%
% Migrant Students Enrolled n/a n/a
School Performance:
(FL) Statewide Testing Performance
School Statewide Performance View Education Department Test Scores
School District:
School District Name Orange County School District
This School's Agency
(FL) District Average
Number of Schools Managed 211 24
Number of Students Managed 175,662 students 15,852 students
District Total Revenue $1,556,195,000 $150,286,000
District Expenditure $1,516,974,000 $148,035,000
District Revenue / Student $8,859 $9,481
District Expenditure / Student $8,636 $9,339
District Graduation Rates 83% 90%
In the News:
View all past news stories
School Notes:
  • 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.
  • 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. Discovery Middle School (in Orlando, FL) was located in what is now the East Campus prior to moving to its own location.
  • Athletics
  • The school's mascot is a Florida Cougar named Casey the Cougar. The school colors are blue and 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.
  • Football
  • 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. Currently leading the Football team is Coach Stark.
  • Performing Arts
  • The Drama Department
  • University High School has an accomplished drama department. They have performed several popular plays such as Les Miesérables, Ragtime, Carousel, Evita, Aida, Miss Saigon, and ,in 2009, The Wiz. In 2010, University is set to present Beauty and the Beast
  • 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. In 2008, the troupe's one act, The Window School, won "Best in Show: One Act" and went on to get straight superiors at State. In 2009, they performed Silas Marner and received straight superiors at District and State competition.
  • Band
  • 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).It is also known for its band program. Some of the more recent marching band shows include Channel One Suite (2003), Othello (2004), One City Block (2005), There And Back Again (2006), Almost Yesterday (2007) and The Enigma (2008).
  • The University High School Winterguard has started to make a name for themselves and the school. The performance ensemble has been a finalist at nationally qualifying regionals and had strong placements in statewide competitions as well. The Winterguard was also bumped to Scholastic Open Class for the 2009 season.
  • 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 2000 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 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. (2000), 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.
  • 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 2006-2007 state championship and were featured in the movie In It to Win It.
  • A University High School student was featured in an episode of MTV's hit show True Life:I'm Going to Prom.
  • 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. Some clubs and organizations at UHS include:
  • Anime Club
  • Beta Club
  • Chorus
  • Colorguard/Winterguard
  • Debate
  • Ecology Club
  • French Honor Society
  • German Club
  • GT Gingerbread Men
  • International Thespian Society
  • Junior State of America
  • Key Club
  • Model United Nations
  • Mu Alpha Theta
  • National Honor Society
  • Ping Pong Club
  • SADD
  • Science National Honor Society
  • Student Government Association
  • The Torch (newspaper)
  • TV Production
  • Unity Yearbook
  • Youth Equality Alliance (local Gay-Straight Alliance)
  • And many others.
  • 2006 Murder
  • On October 19, 2006, a male student, Michael Nieves , was fatally stabbed at about 2:15pm while walking to his school bus to go home. He was stabbed with a three-inch serrated blade. Orlando Sentinel Blogs 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 dount express. Orlando Sentinel Local News The 17-year-old, who was pointed out by witnesses, was arrested around 3:00 pm the same day. WFTV.com
  • 1998 Murder
  • 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 harassment of a female student. After a crowd had gathered, someone in the crowd shouted a racial slur. In response, Thornton was threatened by Witt. Thornton denied having made the slur and began to leave. As he turned to leave, Witt threw a punch that connected with Thornton's temple. Thornton fell to the ground and did not get back up. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Omar Witt was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. A memorial dedicated to Thornton is located in the parking lot of the Main Campus.
  • Sadly, due to the racially charged nature of the incident (Witt was an African-American; Thornton was white) Mark Thornton has been listed as a martyr on white supremacist web sites Crosstar Martyrs' Honor Roll.
  • External links
  • Official school website
  • Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.
  • Add/edit information about this school (e.g., awards, news stories, notable alumni, fun facts)
 
School Zip Code:
About This Zip Code (32817)
School Zip (32817)
(FL) State Average
Population (Approximate) 27,923 people 15,366,089 people
% (age 25+) w/College Degree 44% 27%
Population Average Age 30 years old 37 years old
Average Household size 2.7 persons 2.3 persons
Median Household Income $46,087 $38,396
Avg. # of Rooms in Household 5.5 rooms 5.0 rooms
Median Age of Housing Structure 21 years old 32 years old
View Current Housing Listings View current housing listings in this area
Median Value of Housing Unit
Zipcode (32817)


Zillow Median Value of Housing Unit
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Zillow Median Value of Housing Unit
% Owning / % Renting 65% / 35% 67% / 33%
School Map:
1. Hagerty High School - 503 students - 3.6 mi. away - view location
2. Lake Howell High School - 2246 students - 5.1 mi. away - view location
3. Timber Creek High School - 3732 students - 5.4 mi. away - view location
4. Colonial High School - 3764 students - 6.0 mi. away - view location
5. Oviedo High School - 3133 students - 6.2 mi. away - view location
View all schools in: Orlando, Orange County, Zip 32817 
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Note: Data has been gathered from several government and commercial data sources. School data reflects 2006 statistics (most recent year available).

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