Ocoee High School is a public secondary school located in Ocoee, Florida, 12.5 miles west of Orlando.

Orlando, Florida

Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

 Since 2005 Ocoee High School has served students from the cities of Ocoee

Ocoee, Florida

Ocoee is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. According to the 2000 census, the city proper had a population of 24,391. As of 2006, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 30,654. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Ocoee is...

, Apopka

Apopka, Florida

Apopka is a city located in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 26,969 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2006, the city grew to 53,563. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area. Apopka is an Indian word for “Potato...

, Winter Garden

Winter Garden, Florida

Winter Garden is a city located west of downtown Orlando in western Orange County, Florida. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winter Garden's population is currently over 30,000.-Geography:...

, and Pine Hills

Pine Hills, Florida

Pine Hills is a census-designated place and an unincorporated area of Orange County, Florida, United States . It is part of the Greater Orlando metropolitan statistical area. The population was 41,764 at the 2000 census. In 2007, the population was estimated to be 49,222...

. Ocoee High School is currently serving 2,479 students.

Mascot

The Ocoee High School's mascot is a Knight wearing a gold tunic that bears the image of a rising cardinal. A cardinal was the mascot of the old Ocoee High School which was converted into a middle school in 1975. The knight symbolizes a protector that guards against forces that would cause the school to become dismantled and fold like its predecessor.

Campus

Ocoee High School is on fifty-two acres near Lake Apopka. It was the largest of nine new schools opening in Orange County

Orange County, Florida

Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida and is part of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 1,145,956....

 in 2005. Before the high school opened, the school board members considered naming the high school Crown Point High, Platinum High or Unity High. The Orange County Public School (OCPS) decided on the name, Ocoee High School, in memory of the old Ocoee High School.

Ocoee High School is built on the Smaller Learning Communities Model

House system

The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...

. This places students in one of the four sub-schools for their core classes. The Ocoee sub-schools are called: Columbia

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, Harvard, Princeton

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

, and Yale

YALE

RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...

. Each sub-school has two counselors, a dean, and an assistant principal. Each of these smaller schools has approximately 150 students.

Ocoee High School is built on this model because research has shown that schools within a school have decreased dropout rates and they experience fewer discipline issues. "The idea is to create a small learning community for students," explained former Principal Mike Armbruster. "Instead of mingling with 2,700 students, they'll be with 700, so they don't get lost between the cracks." Ocoee High School adopted the smaller learning community model (SCL) as a part of school reform. The school board wanted students to stop getting lost in the crowd. SCL allow students to get to know each other and counselors, who push them to take more-advanced classes. "A kid who is connected...is more likely to graduate," said former principal Armbruster.

Music

The Ocoee High School bands include: the Freshman Band, the Symphonic Band, the Jazz Band, the Percussion Ensemble, the Winter Guard, the Wind Ensemble, and the Marching Band. In 2007 the Marching Band performed in the Cotton Bowl Music Festival, and in 2009 the band performed in both the Florida Citrus Parade and the Ikea Thanksgiving Parade. They also performed at the Under Armour

Under Armour

Under Armour is an American sports clothing and accessories company. The company is a supplier of a wide range of sportswear and casual apparel mainly focusing on hi-tech sportswear for professional athletes...

  Football All American Games that were broadcast on Entertainment and Sports Programming Network

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 (ESPN) in 2009 and 2010.

Academics

The Class of 2009 had 606 graduates. 54% of students reported that they planned to attend either a two year college or a vocational college, 37% of students reported that they plan on attending a four year college.

Ocoee High School's average score for both the verbal and math sections of the SAT

SAT

The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...

in 2009 was 530, and for the writing section of the SAT, the average score was 500. These scores are below average on both the Florida and national scales.

The Sword in the Stone

"Sword in the Stone" trophy is a peer acknowledgement award. The "Sword in the Stone" concept was suggested by Matt Fitzpatrick, a former teacher at Ocoee High School. Fitzpatrick had seen this concept in action at another school, where they called it "You Rock." The "Sword in the Stone" trophy is a hand sized rock with a small sword in it. It is passed among faculty when a staff member does something special for another staff member. The award is also announced in an email to the entire staff so that everyone knows the reason for the recognition. The recipient holds the trophy for a week before passing it on to the next deserving teacher. For example, Ms. Gillam, a teacher at Ocoee High School, passed the trophy to Ms. Thorpe, because the students that Ms. Gillam received from Ms. Thorpe's class were very well prepared. Ms. Gillam said, "they say you can tell the quality of a teacher by the quality of the student, and I can tell that she is a great teacher by the students that she has given to me."