Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) is the

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...

for

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It is based in the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

. As of the 2021-22 school year, OCPS has an enrollment of 206,246 students, making it the 9th largest school district in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the fourth largest in

. The school district also employs over 24,576 instructional and classified employees, which make up more than 95% of the OCPS work force. It includes the entire county.
Text list
/ref>

School board

The

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

of Orange County Public Schools is Maria Vazquez. The position of superintendent is appointed by the

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

. The district is overseen by the

School Board, a body of seven elected officers, each board member sitting for a particular geographic district. School board districts are not analogous in any way with county commission districts. As of 2022, the current school board members, in order of district number, are Angie Gallo, Maria Salamanca, Alicia Farrant, Pam Gould, Vicki-Elaine Felder, Karen Castor Dentel, and Melissa Byrd. Board members are elected every four years with 12-year

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

s as of July 1st, 2022, with Districts 1 through 3 elected during midterm election cycles (next in 2026) and Districts 4 through 7 elected during presidential cycles (next in 2024). School board elections in Orange County are non-partisan. A county-wide public vote in 2009 created the elected position of school board chairman. Bill Sublette was subsequently elected to this position in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. Teresa Jacobs was elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022.

Schools

OCPS has used an attendance model of

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

through grade 5 for

elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

, grades 6–8 for

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

and grades 9–12 for

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

since July 1987. Before then, grade 6 was part of elementary school and grade 9 was part of middle school ("junior high" in OCPS prior to July 1987). As now required by Florida law, virtually all elementary schools have

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

programs. OCPS has 205 regular-attendance schools as of the 2021-22 school year: 128 elementary, nine K–8, 39 middle, 22 high, and seven exceptional student education centers. The district also has an

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...

system with six dedicated campuses and night classes at most high schools, four dedicated

special education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

schools as well as a hospital/homebound program, and dozens of alternative education centers, including

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of auto ...

s. Six of the high schools in OCPS have separate ninth-grade centers, three of them off-site of the main campus, built after the shift from K–6/7–9/10–12 to K–5/6–8/9–12. Some elementary middle and high schools include magnet programs that allow students to specialize in particular subject areas. Students must apply to magnet schools in order to take advantage of this specialization. Some magnet programs offered by OCPS are agriscience, aviation and aerospace, Cambridge AICE, criminal justice, culinary arts, digital media & gaming, education, entertainment production, entrepreneurship, finance, fine arts, first responders, foreign languages / dual languages, gifted academy,

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

, international studies, healthcare, hospitality, laser

photonics Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of generation, detection, and manipulation of light in form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. Though ...

, law, leadership, medicine, nursing, performing arts, STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), veterinary animal science, and visual arts. The schools of OCPS are divided into six areas called learning communities: North, East, West, Southeast, Southwest and School Transformation Office (STO). Southeast and Southwest were split from a larger South Learning Community in 2006. The School Transformation Office Learning Community, which was founded in 2013, includes schools throughout Orange County who have received failing grades and helps provide resources for students at these schools to succeed. Prior to the existence of STO, there was a Central Learning Community, which was known as the "Urban Cohort" until 2005. The district is in an aggressive expansion and school improvement project being fueled by a 0.5%

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

option passed by the voters of Orange County in 2002. Skyrocketing land and materials costs, however, have outpaced faster-than-expected sales tax revenue increases and slowed progress. Many projects had been pushed back, and some had been cancelled altogether. An extension of the half-penny sales tax was passed in 2014 for another ten years. Most paperwork distributed to students and parents by OCPS is available in both

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

. Many such documents are also available in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, and

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

due to the significant populations in Orange County that speak each language.

Elementary schools

* Aloma Elementary School * Andover Elementary School * Apopka Elementary School * Avalon Elementary School * Azalea Park Elementary School * Baldwin Park Elementary School * Bay Lake Elementary School * Bay Meadows Elementary School * Bonneville Elementary School * Brookshire Elementary School * Camelot Elementary School * Castle Creek Elementary School * Castleview Elementary School * Catalina Elementary School * Cheney Elementary School * Chickasaw Elementary School * Citrus Elementary School * Clay Springs Elementary School * Columbia Elementary School * Conway Elementary School * Cypress Park Elementary School * Cypress Springs Elementary School * Deerwood Elementary School * Dillard Street Elementary School * Dommerich Elementary School * Dover Shores Elementary School * Dr. Phillips Elementary School * Dream Lake Elementary School * Durrance Elementary School * Eagle Creek Elementary School * Eagles Nest Elementary School * East Lake Elementary School * Eccleston Elementary School * Endeavor Elementary School * Engelwood Elementary School * Forsyth Woods Elementary School * Frangus Elementary School * Hamlin Elementary School (2022) * Hiawassee Elementary School * Hidden Oaks Elementary School * Hillcrest Elementary School * Hungerford Elementary School * Hunters Creek Elementary School * Independence Elementary School * Ivey Lane Elementary School * John Young Elementary School * Keenes Crossing Elementary School * Killarney Elementary School * Lake Gem Elementary School * Lake George Elementary School * Lake Silver Elementary School * Lake Sybelia Elementary School * Lake Weston Elementary School * Lake Whitney Elementary School * Lakemont Elementary School * Lakeville Elementary School * Lancaster Elementary School * Laureate Park Elementary School * Lawton Chiles Elementary School * Little River Elementary School * Lockhart Elementary School * Lovell Elementary School * Maxey Elementary School * McCoy Elementary School * Meadow Woods Elementary School * MetroWest Elementary School * Millennia Elementary School * Millennia Gardens Elementary School * Mollie Ray Elementary School * Moss Park Elementary School * Northlake Park Community Elementary School * Oak Hill Elementary School * Oakshire Elementary School * Ocoee Elementary School * Orange Center Elementary School * Orlo Vista Elementary School * Palm Lake Elementary School * Palmetto Elementary School * Panther Lake Elementary School (2022) * Pinar Elementary School * Pine Hills Elementary School * Pineloch Elementary School * Pinewood Elementary School * Prairie Lake Elementary School * Princeton Elementary School * Ridgewood Park Elementary School * Riverdale Elementary School * Riverside Elementary School * Rock Lake Elementary School * Rock Springs Elementary School * Rolling Hills Elementary School * Rosemont Elementary School * Sadler Elementary School * Sally Ride Elementary School * Sand Lake Elementary School * Shenandoah Elementary School * Shingle Creek Elementary School * Southwood Elementary School * Spring Lake Elementary School * Stone Lakes Elementary School * Stonewyck Elementary School (2022) * Summerlake Elementary School * Sun Blaze Elementary School * SunRidge Elementary School * Sunrise Elementary School * Sunset Park Elementary School * Sunshine Elementary School * Tangelo Park Elementary School * Thornebrooke Elementary School * Three Points Elementary School * Tildenville Elementary School * Timber Lakes Elementary School * Union Park Elementary School * Ventura Elementary School * Village Park Elementary School * Vista Lakes Elementary School * Vista Pointe Elementary School * Washington Shores Elementary School * Washington Shores Primary Learning Center * Water Spring Elementary School * Waterbridge Elementary School * Waterford Elementary School * West Creek Elementary School * West Oaks Elementary School * Westbrooke Elementary School * Westpointe Elementary School * Wetherbee Elementary School * Wheatley Elementary School * Whispering Oak Elementary School * Windermere Elementary School * Winegard Elementary School * Wolf Lake Elementary School * Wyndham Lakes Elementary School * Zellwood Elementary School

K-8 Schools

* Arbor Ridge K-8 School * Audubon Park K-8 School * Baldwin Park K-8 School * Blankner K-8 School * Kelly Park K-8 School (2022) * Lake Como K-8 School * OCPS Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) * Orlando Gifted Academy * Pershing K-8 School * Wedgefield K-8 School * Windy Ridge K-8 School

Middle schools

* Apopka Memorial Middle School * Avalon Middle School * Bridgewater Middle School * Carver Middle School * Chain Of Lakes Middle School * College Park Middle School * Conway Middle School * Corner Lake Middle School * Discovery Middle School * Freedom Middle School * Glenridge Middle School * Gotha Middle School * Hamlin Middle School (2022) * Horizon West Middle School * Howard Middle School * Hunters Creek Middle School * Innovation Middle School * Judson B. Walker Middle School * Lake Nona Middle School * Lakeview Middle School * Legacy Middle School * Liberty Middle School * Lockhart Middle School * Maitland Middle School * Meadow Woods Middle School * Meadowbrook Middle School * Memorial Middle School * Ocoee Middle School * Odyssey Middle School * Piedmont Lakes Middle School * Roberto Clemente Middle School * Robinswood Middle School * South Creek Middle School * Southwest Middle School * SunRidge Middle School * Timber Springs Middle School * Union Park Middle School * Water Spring Middle School * Westridge Middle School * Wolf Lake Middle School

High schools

Prior to 1952, there were only two high schools in the City of Orlando:

Orlando High School Orlando High School was a high school located in Orlando, Florida, United States. The first high school class, which was composed of 11 students, met in the second story of a frame schoolhouse graduated in 1892. In 1921 the school was relocated to ...

and Jones High School, which was a

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of humans ...

-era Black-only high school until integration was enforced. Other municipalities in the county had high schools:

Apopka, Florida Apopka is a city in Orange County, Florida. The city's population was 55,000 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area. ''Apopka'' comes from Seminole word ''Ahapopka'' for "Potato eating ...

;

Winter Park, Florida Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 30,183 according to the 2022 census population estimate. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winter Park was fo ...

;

Ocoee, Florida Ocoee () is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. According to the 2019 US Census population estimate, the city had a population of 48,263. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hist ...

;

Winter Garden, Florida Winter Garden is a city west of Downtown Orlando in the western part of Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population was 46,051 as of 2019. History ...

(Lakeview H.S.), and

Eatonville, Florida Eatonville is a town in Orange County, Florida, United States, six miles north of Orlando. It is part of the Orlando– Kissimmee metropolitan statistical area. Incorporated on August 15, 1887, it was one of the first self-governing all-black ...

(Hungerford H.S.). In 1952, Orlando High was split into what became

Edgewater High School Edgewater High School is a public secondary school located in the College Park section of Orlando, Florida. It is operated by the Orange County Public Schools system. The athletic teams are known as the 'Fighting Eagles' with colors red and white ...

and

William R. Boone High School William Rennick Boone High School is a public high school in Orlando, Florida. Built in 1952, the school is one of twenty high schools in the Orange County Public Schools system, created to accommodate the growing number of students at Orlando H ...

. Originally to be named "Orlando North" and "Orlando South", respectively, Orlando South took its modern name after its principal, William R. Boone, died before it opened. Orlando North took the name of the road it was built on, Edgewater Drive. The former Orlando High campus became Howard Middle School. Jones High moved to its present location in 1952, which was reconstructed in 2004. In 1975, Ocoee High School and Lakeview High School were closed (their old campuses then housed Junior High schools of the same names) and their students went to the new West Orange High School. 30 years later, a new Ocoee High School was built and opened in 2005. Robert F. Hungerford High School, founded in 1897 in the historically black community of Eatonville, was renamed Wymore Tech and Wymore Career Education Center in the 1960's until it became the Hungerford Preparatory School in the late 1990's and operated as a district-wide magnet school without a specific geographic attendance zone. OCPS closed Hungerford Prep in 2009. Twelve of the district's high schools were opened after 1990, not including reconstructed campuses for existing schools. *

Apopka High School Apopka High School is in Apopka in northwest Orange County, Florida, United States. The school has been named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. The school serves grades 9 through 12, and has a preschool with a main teacher and student teachers. ...

(1931) *

(1952) *

Colonial High School Colonial High School is a public high school located in Orlando, Florida, United States. Colonial serves grades 9–12 within the neighborhoods of Azalea Park, Engelwood Park, Rio Pinar, Lake Fredrica, Ventura, Pershing, Vista East, Vista Par ...

(1958) * Cypress Creek High School (1992) *

Dr. Phillips High School Dr. Phillips High School is a public high school in Dr. Phillips, Florida, United States, near Orlando. It serves the Dr. Phillips census-designated place (CDP), the Bay Hill CDP, and the residential portion of Lake Buena Vista. History Dr ...

(1987) *

East River High School East River High School is a high school located in east Orange County, Florida, United States. It is located in the Bithlo area. East River High School was built in 2009 as a relief school to reduce overcrowding in nearby high schools Timber Cree ...

(2009) *

(1952) *

Maynard Evans High School Maynard Evans High School is a high school located in Orlando, Florida, United States, served by Orange County Public Schools. The school's name is often shortened to "Evans High School" or "E-HIGH", and the mascot for the school are the Trojans. ...

(1955) * Freedom High School (2003) * Horizon High School (2021) * Jones High School (1895) * Lake Buena Vista High School (2021) *

Lake Nona High School Lake Nona High School is a public high school in Orlando, Florida, United States. It was a relief school for Odyssey Middle School, Cypress Creek High School, and Oak Ridge High. Lake Nona High School stands as one of the more challenging scho ...

(2009) * Oak Ridge High School (1959) * Ocoee High School (2005) * Olympia High School (2001) * Timber Creek High School (2001) * University High School (1990) * Wekiva High School (2007) * West Orange High School (1975) * Windermere High School (2017) *

Winter Park High School Winter Park High School (often simply abbreviated as WPHS) located in Winter Park, Florida, United States is one of nineteen public high schools in Orange County. Winter Park High School is a International Baccalaureate school and delivers Advan ...

(1927)

Exceptional Education Schools

* ESE Transition * Esteem Academy * Hospital Homebound * La Amistad * Magnolia * Silver Pines Academy

Alternative Education Schools

* Acceleration East * Acceleration West * AMIKids Orlando * Beta * Devereux Treatment Program * Juvenile Detention * Juvenile Offenders Program * OCVS Digital Academy * OCVS Virtual Franchise * OOCVS Virtual Instruction Program * Orange Youth Academy * Pace Center For Girls * Positive Pathways Transition Center * Project Compass * Randall Academy * Simon Youth Foundation Academy * Universal Education Center * Village

Charter Schools

* Access * Aloma High * Aspire Academy * Bridgeprep Academy * Central Florida Leadership Academy * Chancery High * Cornerstone Academy * Cornerstone Charter Academy High School * Econ River High * Hope Charter * Innovation Montessori High School * Innovation Montessori Ocoee * Innovations Middle * Lake Eola * Legacy High * Legends Academy * Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy * Mater Academy Narcoossee * Oakland Avenue * Orange County Preparatory Academy * Orlando Science Schools * Passport * Pinecrest Academy Avalon * Pinecrest Collegiate Academy * Pinecrest Creek * Pinecrest Preparatory * Princeton House * Prosperitas Leadership Academy * Renaissance Charter at Crown Point * Renaissance Charter at Chickasaw * Renaissance Charter at Goldenrod * Renaissance Charter at Hunter's Creek * Sheeler High * Sunshine High * UCP Bailes Community Academy * UCP East Orange * UCP Orange * UCP Pine Hills * UCP Transitional Learning Academy * UCP West Orange * Workforce Advantage Academy

Footnotes

External links

*
Orange County Public Schools Nutrition Services Official Website

Orange County Launchpad Student

New OCPS District Site
{{Authority control School districts in Florida Education in Orange County, Florida Government agencies with year of establishment missing Organizations based in Orlando, Florida