| Number of Schools Managed |
77 |
24 |
| Number of Students Managed |
67,513 students |
15,852 students |
| District Total Revenue |
$529,073,000 |
$150,286,000 |
| District Expenditure |
$534,139,000 |
$148,035,000 |
| District Revenue / Student |
$7,837 |
$9,481 |
| District Expenditure / Student |
$7,912 |
$9,339 |
| District Graduation Rates |
92% |
90% |
|
- Winter Springs High School, is a high school in Winter Springs, Florida. It was founded in 1997 as the seventh full-time high school in Seminole County.
- History
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Winter Springs High School first opened in 1997 as the latest high school of Seminole County. Plans had gotten under way three years earlier as a result of overcrowding at Oviedo, Lake Howell and Lyman High School. The small community of Winter Springs successfully lobbied to have the school built in their town as a way of creating a "town identity and center, and not just be an outgrowth of the surrounding cities". [1]
- A.W. Epps was the school's first principal. When the school opened in 1997, it housed only 9th and 10th grade students. The school housed grades 9-11 in 1998-1999, and the first class graduated in 1999-2000. Dr. Elise Gruber became principal in 2000, and was succeeded by Dr. Michael R. Blasewitz in 2004. The school's bell schedule has been adjusted to a modified block format, to accommodate student needs.
- Sports
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Winter Springs High School sponsors many interscholastic sports teams including football, cross country, volleyball, golf, track and field, lacrosse, wrestling, swimming, water polo, bowling, baseball, basketball, soccer, weightlifting, softball and tennis. The Winter Springs teams compete at the A.W. Epps Sports Complex, named after the high school's first principal.
- Football
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The WSHS football team will miss the 6A State Playoffs for the third straight year after making the state playoffs (both 6A and 5A) for 3 straight years.
- District championships: 0 (Have been district runner-up 4 times)
- Playoff appearances: 4 (2001, 2003, 2004, 2005)
- Basketball
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The WSHS Basketball team has won back to back district championships, but lost to Winter Park High School, failing to make the state championship.
- Wrestling
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The Wrestling team won the 2008 district championship.
- School rankings
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The Florida Department of Education gave the school an "A" rating in the 2003-2004 school year. It also had an A rating in 2000-2001 and 2001-2002. In addition, the school is a Florida 5-star school and is also accredited by the Florida Department of Education.
- This school is ranked #334 on Newsweek's 2008 list of the Best High Schools in America.[2].
- Theater
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The theater department of Winter Springs High School is one of the more successful programs in Seminole County. The program has been under the direction of George Frank Colangelo since 2003. He holds a BFA in acting from SUNY Purchase, and a Masters of Arts in Theatre from the University of Colorado at Boulder. In addition, Program Director George Colangelo is a member of Actors Equity and the Screen Actor's Guild, and has been a professional actor, director and writer for well over 30 years. In 2008, Colangelo was replaced by Teresa Steward, formerly a soccer coach.
- Major Productions include You Can't Take It With You, Grease, Les Misérables, Godspell, Romeo and Juliet, Lucky Stiff, the female version of The Odd Couple, which was double cast, All Shook Up, Up the Down Staircase, The Sound of Music, and Father of the Bride.
- Winter Springs High School Drama is active in the International Thespian Society. In 2006, the original one-act Love Isn't Black and White written by Keith Traver and Taylor Jeffers placed 3rd at the District Festival and then moved on to State Festival, where it received a superior rating as well. The students who created Love Isn't Black and White formed Last Minute Panic Productions and took the play to The Orlando Fringe Festival in 2007, where it earned the Patron's Pick award in its venue.Opinions Vary.
- Band
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The Winter Springs High School Band of Gold is under the direction of J Adam McIntyre and Drum Majors Lindsay Morris and Alli Grubbs. The 2009 halftime show will be safari themed, titled, "into the Jungle". In April 2008, the Band of Gold won the highly coveted Otto Kraushaar Award for the first time in 4 years. The Band of Gold traveled to Washington, D.C. in January 2009 for the inauguration of President Obama, as well as performing at the President's Park in Williamsburg, Virginia.
- National Prominence
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In 2004, Winter Springs High School gained national attention for its excellent Safe-School Ambassador program and was featured in a segment on MSNBC.In 2005, Winter Springs High School gained national attention yet again when several Winter Springs students, riding in a limousine to prom, stopped the drunk driver and called police. This story gained national headlines, and the students were featured on several national talk shows as well as NBC, CBS, and ABC. [3]In 2005 the school was recognized as having the second largest number of National Merit semifinalists (19) in the state of Florida. The story was featured on the front page of the Orlando Sentinel.
- In 2007, Kenneth Colonel, a graduate of the class of 2007, was named the National Champion at the National Forensic League National Speech and Debate Tournament in the Student Congress House of Representatives.
- In 2009, Robert Colonel, brother of national champion Kenneth Colonel and a graduate of the class of 2009, was named the State Champion at the Florida Forensics League State Speech and Debate Tournament in Student Congress. Later in 2009 he was also named National Champion at the National Forensic League National Speech and Debate Tournament in the Student Congress Senate.
- Culinary
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In 2007, Winter Springs High School Culinary Bears placed in two events at the 7th Annual Prostart Competition. Seniors Matt Ponziano, Scott Ward, and Junior Taylor Tharp all received 5th place in the Waiters Relay Competition. Senior Joseph Kelly placed 4th in Edible Centerpiece. (Students were coached by Chef Jay Judy) there were over 50 schools throughout the state competing. This was the first time Winter Springs High School has ever placed in this competition. In 2009 Winter Springs Culinary Bears again placed highly in the Prostart Culinary Competition but earned top marks in an event for the first time. Juniors Julie More, Chelsea Middleton and Jan Van Oene placed first in the Waiters Relay competition. Winter Springs earned 3rd place overall in the state. 2009 Team members incuded Seniors Jeffrey Patton, Joey Williams, Leah Tapely, and Juniors Dillon Alspaini, Julie More, Chelsea Middleton and Jan Van Oene.
- External links
- Seminole County Public Schools - WSHS
- Winter Springs High School official website
- School Advisory Council report on Winter Springs (PDF)
- 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.
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