Robert Hungerford Preparatory High School is located in the historic town of Eatonville, Florida. Originally established in 1889 as Robert L. Hungerford Normal and Industrial School and modeled after Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute, the school was known as the first school for African-Americans in central Florida. The school attracted students from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina with the hopes of providing boarding and day students with top-quality academic and vocational training. It was the school's goal to instill a positive work ethic, strong moral values and proper social graces in each student. During the 1950's, Orange County Public Schools took over the facilities, and it was during the integration of OCPS schools in the 1960's that the school became Wymore Career Education Center.
As time progressed, Wymore Career Education Center became Wymore Technical School. Wymore inherited its share of problems, ranging from discipline to academic. It soon became a place of refuge for OCPS's low-achieving students. In 1999, OCPS decided to close the doors to the facilities. Eatonville's citizens were infuriated that the "Community School's" doors had been closed and they fought to regain it. Soon after the doors of Wymore were closed, OCPS decided to place Robert Hungerford Preparatory High School, a new, all-magnet school in Wymore's old facilities.
Robert Hungerford Preparatory High School opened in the fall of 1999 as Orange County's first all-magnet school of choice. Not only did this new school gain Wymore's facilities, but it also gained Wymore's negative reputation. The school was stigmatized by many because of its location and its predecessor's reputation. The student population was made up of students from all over Orange County, changing the major characteristics of the school drastically.
The new school catered to a very diverse student population from diverse academic backgrounds. Although the student population was composed of students from all over the county, the location of the school played a vital part in the way the OCPS community viewed the school.
At the inception of the new school, the facilities were renovated to create an educational institution designed to provide practical opportunities for students to apply what they learned. The purpose of the school was to implement a career-focused curriculum for students who had an interest in a particular career.
Hungerford Prep offers a career-focused, hands-on curriculum that engages students in the course of study that interests them. Academy teams meet weekly to discuss content and plan an integrated curriculum. Students attend classes with other members of their academy, enabling teachers to present content relevant to the students' career interests. Teams plan field trips, major projects, homework, and other assignments that result in a cohesive and engaging curriculum. Content area teachers have bi-monthly professional learning community meetings to ensure compliance with the Florida Sunshine State Standards and to explore and share effective teaching strategies
Students are actively engaged in the learning process. Teachers give them assignments that enable them to make practical applications of the material they learn. Teachers and students use technology frequently and effectively, because the equipment and materials used in the classrooms are similar to those used in the workplace.
The curriculum provides courses that will enable students to receive a Regular or Honors Diploma. Students select their academies-of-choice and are expected to follow specific course requirements pertaining to their choices. Program requirements include an accelerated course of study so that, once students enter into their senior year, their schedules will allow them to participate in an internship program.
An additional program available to our students is dual enrollment. Students entering the 11th grade have the opportunity to take dual enrollment courses offered by Valencia Community College on campus. It is our goal to expand dual enrollment offerings each year and give students the opportunity to take dual enrollment courses at the Valencia campus. At the end of the 2002 school year, sixty-two juniors had completed dual enrollment classes.
