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. Edgewater earned a C on the State of Florida D.O.E. school report card for 2016.

Student enrollment for 2016-2017 is 2032. EHS draws in students primarily from College Park, Colonialtown, Eatonville, Lake Fairview, Rosemont, Spring Lake, western portions of Maitland and Winter Park, and downtown Orlando. Feeder middle schools include Howard, Lee, Lockhart, and Maitland. In addition, the school has 120 faculty members. 85% of graduating seniors report intending to attend a college or university after graduation. The school newspaper The Eagle Eye is a member of the High School National Ad Network.

Origins

In 1950, the School Board of Orange County, Florida unveiled plans to build two new high schools in Orlando. These two schools were built from the same architectural plans and both were opened on the same day, Tuesday, September 2, 1952. The first was named William R. Boone High School and the second was named Edgewater High School. Boone was named for William R. Boone, a long-serving principal of the original Orlando High School (which is now Howard Middle School, on Robinson Street in downtown Orlando, near Lake Eola). The campuses of Boone and Edgewater contained identical buildings, but their arrangement on each campus is different. Edgewater's first principal was Mr. Orville R. Davis, a veteran of Orange County Public Schools, who was once the principal of the original Memorial Junior High School (now Memorial Middle School), also in Orlando.

Edgewater and Boone were originally to be named North and South High Schools, respectively. However, William R. Boone, who was to be principal of South, died the summer before the schools opened. South High was renamed in his memory. North High was then named for the road it was built beside, Edgewater Drive.

Edgewater High School has recently been renovated into a 3-story facility on the land which previously held mobile homes to the North of the old campus, most of which will be destroyed to create a new sports field. The remaining buildings will undergo a refurbishment to house freshmen and will be available by the start of the 2011-2012 school year. The new facility is mostly indoors to allow for overall protection from the elements and a more secure campus, and uses new technology such as new Promethean boards and an all new auditorium. Students were given access to the facility on the first day back to class in 2011 after winter break, and both staff and students are currently working on adjusting to the new facility. The new campus was designed by CT Hsu + Associates, P.A.

Academics

Edgewater High School was designated by the Orange County School Board to be the District's Magnet School for Engineering, Science and Technology beginning in the fall of 1991. Courses offered in the program include, but are not limited to: Engineering Technology, Architectural and Mechanical Drafting (CADD), Computer Graphics, Computer Animation, Game Design, Web Design (HTML), as well as the dual-enrollment courses offered by the University of Central Florida (Systems Modeling, Engineering Analysis, and Engineering Analysis of Economics).

The Advanced Placement Academy is intended to prepare students to be successful upon entry into a selective four year postsecondary institution and offers the potential for earning college credit while in high school. The Advanced Placement Academy is an interdisciplinary program focusing on Liberal Arts through Pre-AP and AP courses. Scholarship, honor, attendance, and integrity are essential components of the success of the APA Program.

Beginning in 2016, two new academies will have been established: The Educational Professionals Academy and the STEM Innovation Academy.

The Education Professionals Academy, EPA, is a program designed for students in grades 9-12 who plan or may consider a career in education. Whether being a Pre-K teacher, Coach, Guidance Counselor, School Administrator, or a K-12 teacher, EPA can help students test the waters while getting a jump start on their college degree. Students applying to the Education Professionals Academy will choose one of two tracks, fundamentals of instruction or fundamentals of coaching.

The STEM Innovation Academy is National Academy Foundation (NAF) STEM-based program offered.

Marine corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (M.C.J.R.O.T.C)

^[1] The Marine Corps JROTC program was established in 1980 by Lieutenant Colonel James O. Cranford, a former artillery officer and Vietnam veteran. He served as the Senior Marine Instructor for the Edgewater program for 24 years. This program instills the Marine Corps values of honor, courage, and commitment into high school students. MCJROTC prepares high school students for responsible leadership roles while making them aware of the benefits of citizenship or future military association.

Their official website is https://sites.google.com/site/edgewaterhighmarinecorpsjrotc/

Sports

The boys' basketball team won the state championship in 1976 and again in 2004.^[2][3] The girls' basketball won the state championship in 2007, 2012, 2013, and 2014.^[4][5]

A complete list of athletic achievements is maintained here.^[6]

Marching band

The Edgewater High School "Pride of College Park" Band is currently headed by Director Bruce Green.

Orchestra and Chorus

The Edgewater High School Orchestra is led by Doreen Johnson and the Edgewater High Chorus is directed by Alexander Glover.

International Space Settlement Design Competition Participation

Edgewater's Space Settlement Design Team, Tempus, has qualified annually for the International Space Settlement Design Competition (ISSDC) Finals almost consecutively for the last decade. The competition requires that the team design a large-scale space settlement based on a provided Request for Proposal (RFP), detailing every aspect of human existence in space. A qualifying forty-page proposal is first submitted, and if selected the team then travels to the Johnson Space Center for the Finals where an additional space settlement is designed and presented to a panel of NASA judges over the course of one weekend. Tempus has won the international title both in 2004, 2012, and 2013.

Principals

Edgewater High School's past principals have included:

Orville R. Davis    (1952-1962)
Howard Fleming      (1962-1968)
C. Norman Kent Jr.  (1968-1976)
Charles G. Rohrer   (1976–1989)   
Robert Williams     (1989–1993)   
Michael Blasewitz   (1993–2004)  
A. Robert Anderson  (2004-2008)   
Kenneth Iiames      (2008–2009)   
Michele Erickson    (2009–2014)   
Howard D. Hepburn   (2014-2016)
Mark Shanoff        (2016-present)

Notable alumni

• Connor McDonough - Singer/ songwriter, member of popular band Before You Exit, class of 2012
• Marquis Daniels - Basketball guard, currently member of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks
• Howie Dorough - member of the Backstreet Boys.
• Ed Gantner - football player and professional wrestler. (dec.)
• John Hunt - professional football player and coach
• Sharon Lechter, co-author of Rich Dad Poor Dad.
• Norm Lewis - Broadway actor, class of 1981
• Michael James Nelson - Television Writer/Producer/Performer, best known for producing The Bachelor: Rome, writing for MTV, American Broadcasting Company, DreamWorks, and appearing on The Oxygen Network's television series Pretty Wicked^[7]
• Mike Sims-Walker - NFL Wide Receiver
• Arthur W Willett - 2002 Winner of NASA's prestigious Silver Snoopy Award for service to the Space Shuttle astronauts^[8]
• Aaron Fechter - Inventor of the Whac-A-Mole and animatronics programmer famous for The Rock-afire Explosion^[9]
• J.B. Woodman - Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2nd round of the 2016 MLB draft

References

External links

• Edgewater High School Official Website
• Orange County Public Schools Official Website

Coordinates: 28°34′50″N 81°23′25″W / 28.58060°N 81.39041°W / 28.58060; -81.39041