Orange Park High School is a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

located in

Orange Park, Florida Orange Park is a town in Clay County, Florida, United States. As a suburb of Jacksonville in neighboring Duval County, it is formally a part of the Jacksonville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 9,089 at the 2020 cen ...

. It is a part of the Clay County School District. The school opened as a junior-senior high school in Fall 1959, although it went only to 10th grade, so that the first graduating class was not until Spring 1962. The school celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2011, the 50th anniversary of the first 12th-grade class (1961-1962 school year). The athletic teams are known as the Raiders. In the 2021–2022 school year the school had 1,560 students.

School Data

*The year of 2007-2008 had approximately 2,538 students and OPHS statistics indicated that 87% were college bound. *The school has 164 classrooms. *Most notable catchphrase- "Swords Up" (2017-N/A)

Athletic achievements

Football

*The 1992 football team was undefeated in the regular season, were ranked #1 in the state for most of the season, and were ranked as high as No. 15 in the United States by ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

''. The 1992 team were Florida Star Conference champs, District 1-5A champs, and went to the Region 1-5A finals (Final Four), where they lost to Bradenton Manatee. *The 2008 football team, the first led by Head Coach Danny Green, were Region 1-6A Division Champions and went to the 3rd round of the playoffs. *The 2009 football team were also Region 1-6A Division Champions, and went undefeated season the entire regular season. *The 2010 football team were Region 1-6A Division Champions, becoming the first team in Clay County history to win their district three consecutive years.

Boys basketball

*The 1995 Boys Basketball Team was a Region 1-6A Finalist. *The 2007 Boys Basketball Team went (27-3) and were champions of District 1-6A in both the regular season and in the district tournament, champions of the St. Johns River Athletic Conference, and made it to the finals of Region 1-6A.

Boys soccer

*The 2001 Boys Soccer Team won the state championship and was ranked #3 in the United States. Varsity Cheerleading *The 2003-2004 Varsity Competition Cheer team won the National Title at the Universal Cheer Association's (UCA) Nationals at Disneyworld

Non-athletic achievements

''NJROTC'' *The NJROTC unit took 1st place at the Athletic, Academic & Drill National Championships for three consecutive years, 1991, 1992, and 1993. The 1994 unit came in 2nd place. The 1995 unit reclaimed the title again. Since then it has only managed a top ten finish once—a 6th-place finish in 2007, led by cadet commander Bill Owen. ''Marching Band/Winter-guard'' *The Winter-guard team took 1st place at the Florida state championship in 2017, 2021, and most recently 2023.

Notable alumni

* Adrian White (1982) -

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and current

assistant coach An athletic coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction, and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''Coach'' is that of a Coach (carriage), horse-drawn carriage, deriving ul ...

for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. * Chris Gannon (1984) - American football

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

and the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. * Brian Lee (1984) - Professional Wrestler (WWF, Smokey Mountain Wrestling, ECW, TNA, USWA). *

Todd Grisham Todd Grisham (born January 9, 1976) is an American sports reporter for DAZN and Glory kickboxing. Prior to his departure from ESPN at the end of 2016, his duties for the network included being the in-studio host for '' Friday Night Fights'' as w ...

- Current UFC analyst and former ESPN anchor and commentator for World Wrestling Entertainment. * Sid Roberson (1989) - former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

. * Richard O. White, III, MD (1994) - Chair of the Division of Community Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic - Jacksonville. *

Brian Patrick Wade Brian Patrick Wade (born June 9, 1978) is an American actor and physical trainer, best known for his television roles as Capt. Craig Schwetje in the mini-series '' Generation Kill'', as Kurt (Penny's former love interest) in ''The Big Bang Theo ...

(1996) - Actor and Producer, known for The Guardian (2006), Generation Kill (2008) and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013). * Greg Smith (1999), a

child prodigy A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...

who graduated from the school at only age 9. He later went on to Randolph–Macon College at only 10 years old. * Sahel Kazemi (2004–2005) - Involved in the murder-suicide incident that took the life of NFL star quarterback

Steve McNair Stephen LaTreal McNair (February 14, 1973 – July 4, 2009),Steve McNair Found Dead

of the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

. * Terrance Plummer (2010) - American football

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

. All-American honorable mention by Sports Illustrated and an All-AAC first team pick While at the University of Central Florida, received the 2014 Fiesta Bowl Defensive MVP award after a win against #6 Baylor. * Shawn Wells (2015) - US Army Veteran, Actor and Model * Kat Cole (1996) - Businesswoman, Humanitarian, CEO of Athletic Greens, former President of Cinnabon and EVP of Hooters

References

External links

*
Orange Park High School Alumni

School Profile
{{authority control High schools in Clay County, Florida Public high schools in Florida Educational institutions established in 1961