PHOTO VIA ORANGE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL
Orange County Public Schools is planning to transform the long-vacant Cherokee School near Lake Cherokee into the Cherokee School of Arts and Entertainment. It’ll be a magnet high school focused on digital media, cinematic arts, and sound design, and would be the first program of its kind in Orange County. But a vocal group of neighbors is doing everything they can to stop it.
The building operated as a school until 2023 and has sat empty since, and OCPS held a public meeting Monday evening to walk the community through its plans to bring it back to life. District officials say the location is ideal, given its proximity to downtown Orlando’s arts corridor and its central location within the district, but one Orlando Shine reader who attended the meeting came away frustrated, not with the school, but with what they witnessed in the room.
“I was so disappointed to understand quickly that the neighborhood surrounding this beautiful and empty campus is very vocally opposed to the extra traffic and increased demand for street parking,” they told us. “Their comments were shouted over design architects and civil engineers, who were unable to share any factual information that this crowd was willing to believe.”
Allegedly, one man asked how OCPS would reimburse him if students or teachers parked on the street. A woman with a film degree questioned whether the school was even a wise investment given the rise of AI. Another neighbor noted it was the fourth meeting in 60 days they’d attended specifically to oppose the project.
“There were many moments where I felt I was witnessing a Christopher Guest spoof film,” our reader said.
OCPS has already made concessions in response to community pushback, reducing the proposed student population from 600 to 500, and now proposing a staggered schedule that would have no more than 250 students on campus at any given time, to help reduce any impact on the neighborhood. The district has also floated removing an on-site playground to create additional parking. When Cherokee closed in 2023, it was serving just 30 students in grades Pre-K through 5.
If approved, renovations would begin later this year with a target opening date of August 2028. The school remains in the planning stages. OCPS has not yet announced next steps for community input.
Cherokee School is located at 550 S. Eola Drive [GMap], just south of the 408.
