Chain of Lakes Middle: A Zoned Middle School for MetroWest Families
What relocating parents should know about the school, the zoning split along Hiawassee, and the 2026-27 Performing Arts & Technology Academy launch
Chain of Lakes Middle School is a public school in Orange County Public Schools located at 8700 Conroy Windermere Road, Orlando, FL 32835. It serves grades 6 through 8 with approximately 1,050 students. MetroWest is split-zoned for middle school along South Hiawassee Road — students living east of Hiawassee attend Chain of Lakes Middle, and students living west attend Gotha Middle School. Chain of Lakes sits roughly 0.3 miles from Olympia High School, the area's primary high school feeder. Beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, Chain of Lakes becomes an OCPS Scholastic Academy for Performing Arts and Technology.
Here's something a lot of MetroWest real estate listings get wrong: they name-drop one middle school like it's the only option. Chain of Lakes Middle is a zoned middle school for MetroWest — not the only one. The community is split-zoned along South Hiawassee Road, which bisects MetroWest north to south. East of Hiawassee feeds Chain of Lakes. West of Hiawassee feeds Gotha Middle. That matters when you're choosing between two houses three blocks apart and assuming they share a school.
The Basics: What Chain of Lakes Middle Is
Chain of Lakes Middle School sits at 8700 Conroy Windermere Road in Orlando — technically inside the city limits but on a stretch of road most locals associate with Windermere. It serves grades 6 through 8 with about 1,050 students as part of Orange County Public Schools, the eighth-largest district in the country.
The mascot is the Osprey, school colors are green and yellow, and the current principal is Dr. Robin Broner. School hours run 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, with 3:00 p.m. early release on Wednesdays. Front office: 407-909-5400.
The Hiawassee Zoning Split — Read This Before You Buy
This is the single most important thing for relocating families to understand. MetroWest's middle school zoning is divided down the middle of the community along South Hiawassee Road:
- East of South Hiawassee Road → Chain of Lakes Middle School
- West of South Hiawassee Road → Gotha Middle School
Both schools are within about 10 minutes of MetroWest, and both feed into the same high school (Olympia). But the middle school programs and culture are not identical — and your kid won't get to pick. They attend the one their home address is zoned for.
So don't take the listing agent's word for it. Use the OCPS "Find My School" tool with the exact street address and verify. We've seen buyers fall in love with a home assuming Gotha Middle was the zoned school, then discover at closing they were on the Chain of Lakes side. Both are fine options — but you should know which you're getting.
For the other half of the equation, our profile of Gotha Middle School covers what families on the west side of Hiawassee should expect.
The Big News: 2026-27 Performing Arts & Technology Academy
Here's where Chain of Lakes is doing something genuinely interesting. Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, the school becomes an OCPS Scholastic Academy for Performing Arts and Technology. That's not a marketing rebrand — it's a designated program within OCPS's Scholastic Academy network, with dedicated curriculum, mentors, and pathways into similar academies at the high school level.
The academy blends rigorous academics with performing arts (music, theater, dance, visual arts) and emerging technologies (digital media, technology integration). For creative or tech-curious kids, this is a meaningful new pathway. It also changes the conversation about Chain of Lakes — historically test scores have lagged the county average, and the academy designation reflects an OCPS commitment to building a distinctive identity here.
Be realistic: 2026-27 is the launch year. Programs like this take a few cycles to mature, and the first cohort will essentially be building it with the faculty.
Existing Programs Worth Knowing
Beyond the new academy, Chain of Lakes already offers a Gifted and Talented program with differentiated instruction, the Project Lead The Way (PLTW) STEM curriculum used widely across OCPS for engineering and applied science, school-level athletics, and Algebra I for advanced math students who can earn high school credit before leaving 8th grade.
The Feeder Map: Where Students Come From and Where They Go
Chain of Lakes' geography is genuinely convenient. The school shares a corridor with two other key schools in the feeder pattern:
- Windy Ridge K-8 sits about 0.6 miles away. Some Windy Ridge families keep their kids there through 8th grade; others transition to Chain of Lakes for middle school.
- Olympia High School is 0.3 miles away — literally next door. Most Chain of Lakes students feed into Olympia, which serves portions of MetroWest, Gotha, and Windermere with around 3,000 students.
That tight three-school cluster on the Conroy-Windermere corridor is actually one of MetroWest's selling points: kids can stay within a half-mile radius from 6th grade through 12th. For more on the high school piece, see our breakdown of Olympia High School, our guide to high school options in this part of West Orange County, and the broader Windermere schools guide.
The Honest Pros and Cons
Pros
- Excellent location — three schools within 0.6 miles for the 6th–12th grade pipeline
- New Performing Arts & Technology Academy launching fall 2026
- Established Gifted and PLTW programs already in place
- Direct feeder relationship to Olympia, which has a strong reputation
Cons
- State test proficiency has historically lagged county and state averages (recent figures: ~39% math, ~34% reading)
- Large enrollment (~1,050) means individual attention varies by teacher
- Parent reviews flag inconsistent handling of high school math credit — worth asking about directly
- The new academy is still ramping up; families enrolling now are early adopters, not picking a finished product
Getting to Chain of Lakes
The school is right on Conroy-Windermere Road, the main east-west artery connecting Windermere to I-4 and MetroWest. From most MetroWest neighborhoods, figure 5 to 10 minutes door-to-door; from Dr. Phillips, 10 to 15 via Conroy. Standard OCPS bus zones apply.
What the Locals Know
Real talk: families relocating to MetroWest with middle-school-age kids often arrive expecting one simple school assignment and bump into the Hiawassee split for the first time at registration. Don't let that be you. Pull up OCPS Find My School on your phone while you're walking through houses, type in each address, and confirm.
If you end up on the Chain of Lakes side, the bet is on Olympia High next door, the new Performing Arts & Technology Academy, and a school actively reinventing its identity over the next few years. If your kid leans creative or tech-curious, that bet looks pretty interesting. If you're chasing test scores today, Gotha Middle has historically rated higher on that single metric — but zoning isn't optional. Families looking at private and charter alternatives in the Windermere area do have options if the zoned middle school doesn't fit.
The other factor locals know: Olympia is the strongest piece of this feeder pattern. Olympia High School has earned consecutive A ratings and runs strong magnet and AP programs — the prize at the end of the pipeline regardless of which MetroWest middle school your kid attends.
For programs, calendars, and the Performing Arts & Technology Academy launch, visit the official Chain of Lakes Middle School website. For the Find My School address lookup, visit Orange County Public Schools.
Thinking about a move to MetroWest, Windermere, or anywhere in West Orange County with middle-school-age kids? We help families verify school zoning before they fall in love with the wrong house. Browse MetroWest homes for sale or contact us for a school-aware home search.
