Dr. Phillips High School Renovation to Begin in September

Dr. Phillips High School recently celebrated its 25^th anniversary. The school is home to Orange County’s Performing Arts magnet, Center for International Studies, one of the top sports programs in the state, and 3800 students, the most of any Orange County high school. The school, which still uses its original roof, is scheduled for a $60 million upgrade starting next month with completion set for March 2015.

The project, scheduled for completion March 2015, will make Dr. Phillips a state of the art high school, just like similar renovations to Edgewater and Jones. “When the school was built in 1987 it wasn’t wired for computers. Our new rooms will have overhead projectors, virtual blackboards, and all the tools available to students in the newest Orange County schools,” said principal Eugene Trochinski.

Since construction will start during the school year, OCPS and the Dr. Phillips administration have structured the plans to make it as easy as possible on students and teachers. “Our goal is to maintain our academic standards,” said Trochinski. “In the first year, 75% of our teachers will feel no impact from the construction.”

The renovation will start with the Visual and Performing arts magnet room, building practice rooms, classrooms, and a state of the art auditorium along Turkey Lake Road. The students and teachers will be relocated to new portables during the construction. They will return to rooms that will enable them to study their craft in up to date facilities.

The plans call for building an ice plant, a facility that can cool the campus at less cost than traditional air conditioning. The ice plant also contains fewer moving parts which makes it easier to repair. A two story classroom building will rise where the current tennis courts stand. The courts will relocate to another part of the campus. All of the classrooms will be wired for computers. The current multi-level classroom building will be renovated into a large open courtyard, making it easier for students to get to class promptly.

The gym will close in March 2013, after the winter season, and the new, updated gym will open in October. This will require the Men’s and Women’s volleyball teams to find alternate practice spaces, but will only impact two sports teams instead of ten. The parking lot will be renovated that summer, in order to improve traffic flow and increase safety for parents and students during pick up and drop off times. They will build separate gates for students and parents.

Principal Trochinski and OCPS officials will meet regularly to monitor the construction and keep it on track. They will also have a community meeting later in the fall to present the final plans. The current plans reflect citizen input, and at the last meeting the community members who attended spoke very favorably about the project. The construction costs are covered by the half cent sales tax voters approved for school construction.