Windermere High School

Windermere High primarily serves Horizon West communities in west Orange County: Lakeside Village, Bridgewater Village, Keene's Crossing, Windermere Isle, Windermere Trails, Summerport, and nearby master-planned neighborhoods along the Winter Garden Vineland / SR 535 corridor. Note: despite the name, most of Windermere town proper is not in the WHS zone — it falls mostly in a different boundary. For address-specific zone confirmation, use the OCPS boundary lookup at ocps.net before making an offer.

Both AP and Cambridge AICE are available to all WHS-zoned students. AP enrollment is course-by-course — students (with parent and counselor sign-off) elect AP sections during course selection each spring. The Cambridge AICE Diploma Programme has a separate track: students complete required AS and A-Level Cambridge exams over 9th-12th grade. The Valencia AA dual-enrollment pathway requires meeting CPT/PERT score thresholds and a minimum GPA. Check windermerehs.ocps.net for current course selection calendars and AICE pathway info.

Homes in the Windermere High zone run roughly $500K–$900K. Horizon West new-construction communities (the Lakeside Village and Bridgewater Village areas) typically price single-family homes $500K–$750K for 4-5 bedroom plans on smaller lots. The broader Windermere area citywide median runs higher ($865K–$999K per 2025 data) but those figures include ultra-luxury lakefront estates outside the school zone. For families targeting this school specifically, a realistic zone-filtered budget starts around $550K for a 4BR in a master-planned community. Pull a zone-filtered search or ask Ben for current active inventory.

The campus carries standard OCPS security: a School Resource Officer, controlled-access entry during the school day, and ID badge requirements. Horizon West — the community the school primarily serves — is a planned, family-oriented area with lower crime rates typical of newer master-planned suburbs. The school's 76% AP participation rate and strong academic culture are consistent with a campus focused on outcomes rather than discipline. For current incident data, check OCPS's annual school safety report at ocps.net.

Both are A-rated OCPS high schools in southwest Orange County serving similar buyer demographics, but they're different schools. Dr. Phillips has a deeper legacy (opened 1987), a nationally recognized Visual and Performing Arts Magnet (DP VPA), and a stronger IB program. Windermere High is newer (2017), has a higher Niche grade (A+ vs. A), a stronger AP participation rate (76%), and draws from newer master-planned communities with more consistent new-construction inventory. For buyers, it often comes down to which side of the zone boundary the specific address falls on — there's no clear-cut winner between the two.