Winter Springs High School

Winter Springs High School
Location
130 Tuskawilla Road
Winter Springs, Florida
Information
Type Public
Established 1997
School district Seminole County Public Schools
Principal Dr. Mickey Reynolds
Grades 9-12
Number of students 2000-3000
Color(s) Purple, Black and Gold
Mascot Bear
Rivals Lake Howell High School, Hagerty High School
Newspaper

The Bear Truth News

http://beartruthnews.com/
Website http://www.wshsbears.com/

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. The school is operated by Seminole County Public Schools.

History

Winter Springs High School opened in 1997 as the latest high school of Seminole County. Plans for the new school began three years earlier as a result of overcrowding at Oviedo, Lake Howell and Lyman High Schools. The 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."

Although, the school first opened in 1997 as Winter Springs High School, the school had first opened its doors as a temporary home to the student body, faculty and staff of nearby Lake Howell High School the previous year while the Lake Howell campus underwent major renovations.

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. In 2012 Dr. Blasewitz was named Director of High Schools of Seminole County Public Schools. As a result, Dr. Mickey Reynolds was named the fourth principal of Winter Springs High School the same year. The school's bell schedule has been adjusted to a modified block format, to accommodate student needs.

Sports

Winter Springs High School sponsors many interscholastic sports teams including football, cross country, volleyball, golf, track and field, lacrosse, wrestling, swimming, water polo, Drill, bowling, baseball, basketball, soccer, weightlifting, cheerleading, softball and tennis. The Winter Springs teams compete at the A.W. Epps Sports Complex, named after the high school's first principal. The girls basketball team won state championships going back to back in 1999 and 2000.[1]

Band

In April 2011, the Band of Gold was invited to perform at Stetson University's prestigious band invitational, performing a repertoire that included the finale of Symphony No. 3 (Saint-Saëns). 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. The band recently went to the University of South Florida to participate in the 2012 Florida Bandmaster's Association State Music Performance Assessment, performing a program of March Grandioso, Armand Russell's Theme and Fantasia, and the Overture to Tannhauser. The band received straight superior ratings.

Chorus

The Winter Springs High School Chorus program includes the Combined Women's (which includes the beginner, intermediate, and advanced women), Men's, Mixed Concert (which includes the men and advanced women), and Advanced Women's choirs.


National prominence

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 a drunk driver and called the police. This story gained national headlines, and the students were featured on several national talk shows as well as NBC, CBS, and ABC. 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. On May, 4, 2015 a 19-year-old from Winter Springs, Florida, Kenneth Petruzziello dialed 9-1-1 and threatened police a bomb was to explode in one hour at the high school. The building was subsequently evacuated and searched, with no bomb found. Petruzziello was not a student at the time of the incident.

Culinary

In 2007, Winter Springs High School Culinary Bears placed in two events at the 7th Annual Prostart Competition. 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. Winter Springs earned 3rd place overall in the state.

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ "FHSAA Championship Record Books". FHSAA. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  2. ↑ Belanger, Ashley. "Baking with Caskey Orlando rapper cooks up a video that gets him signed to Cash Money records". Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  3. ↑ Ruiz, Stephen (21 November 2014). "Winter Springs coach starts walk to Tallahassee". Retrieved 22 March 2016.

Coordinates: 28°42′04″N 81°15′35″W / 28.701241°N 81.25985°W / 28.701241; -81.25985

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