Orange County High School

OCHS has also been a nightmare for my family as well. Because my daughter is Special Education on an IEP, we cannot place her in a private school. My child's Special Education Co-ordinator is also a teacher, and has followed my daughter for two years. For some reason, this co-ordinator cannot remember my daughter's name, or that she is not capable of obtaining a standard diploma. The school is so crowded that my daughter could not be placed in a 4th block class, so she sits in the guidance office for two hours after the 1 hour unsupervised lunch. The rating says there are 19 students to a teacher, but this is not correct. There are many more students in a class on average than is being reported. This is the only high school in Orange County, and some kids, like my own, must ride the bus for an hour or more each way to and from school. There is little to no communication from teachers, and it is impossible to make contact during the day with a live person. If I had it to do over, knowing then what I know now, I would have purchased a house in a different county just so that I would not have to deal with OCHS.
--Submitted by a parent

This school is overcrowded, underfunded and an absolute nightmare. Staff does not care about the kids, they are quick to fail them and the special education department is a confused mess. I have heard many complaints from staff that there is just not enough faculty to match the kids. The kids are stuck in 2 hour blocks with 4 classes a day, and unsupervised at their lunch time. Communication from the teachers is non-existent.
--Submitted by a parent

This is an underfunded school with sub par educational materials, too little in the way of technology, and high teacher to student ratios. The community is not youth friendly and has very little for the youth to do, so they have to drive an hour to go to a decent park or go to the movies.
--Submitted by a parent

The past comments, I feel, lack the truth besides the one posted on March 2008. Compared to several other high schools, OCHS is a mediocre school with sub-par standards. Their advanced courses should not even be called 'advanced'. The teachers provide no challenge whatsoever and the material barely prepares us for the AP exam. There are only a handful of teachers that I feel are really amazing and I wish they would go to another school. They deserve better. The governor school program, likewise, is a joke. In a single class, there are only 3 or 4 students who really work hard. The rest out of 15... not even half as much. If the undeserving can make it in, I highly doubt its standards. Also other high schools provide about twice as many course opportunities than Orange. Academically, your student will more than likely suffer if they attend this school.
--Submitted by a student

Orange County High School (OCHS) is a strong academic environment with gifted teachers, a multitude of programs for students of all academic abilities, and a caring and invested staff who work for the best interests of the students. In a small community such as Orange County, the schools play an important role in both the education of the youth and as the center for county activities. OCHS is a shining star among the high schools in this area of the state. Students who truly seek to challenge themselves and take advantage of the numerous opportunites to gain from their instruction are highly successful once they leave high school and move on to college.

Orange County High School did not prepare me for college. This can be see by how many of the graduates who went to college ended up dropping out of college.
--Submitted by a student

Orange County High School contains great academic programs, including Blue Ridge Virtual Governor's which I do infact participate in. There is a variety of teachers with differing personalities who master in the techinique of their subject to teach. As a sophmore at OCHS, I try to charish every moment I have, not only with friends and learning, but on the field as well. I am part of the field hockey team at OCHS and have been constantly striving to progess with my skills, as have many other atheletes in OCHS sports. Our sports program has been progressing over the years with much young talent and newly introduced activites. School spirit is tremendous with our student section at all of our basketball games, in which the basketball boys have succeeded to win 1st in the Jefferson district tournament and season with 22-0 record..continued...
--Submitted by a student