Olympia High School: MetroWest's Zoned A-Rated High School
What MetroWest, Gotha, and Windermere 34786 families need to know about the Titans
Olympia High School is an Orange County Public Schools comprehensive 9-12 high school located at 4301 South Apopka-Vineland Road, Orlando, FL 32835. Olympia is the zoned high school for MetroWest, Gotha, and most of the Windermere 34786 area. The school opened in August 2001 as a relief campus for Dr. Phillips High School and serves approximately 3,052 students in 2025-2026. Olympia has earned an A grade from the Florida Department of Education in each year from 2018 through 2024 per GreatSchools, and offers AP, Cambridge AICE, and the four-year APEX cohort program. The mascot is the Titans; school colors are black, silver, and teal.
If you're house-hunting in MetroWest and you've got kids, the high school question comes up fast. The short answer: your zoned campus is Olympia High School, and it's a name that carries real weight in this corner of southwest Orange County.
Olympia opened in 2001 as a relief school for the famously packed Dr. Phillips High School (see the Dr. Phillips schools guide for that side of the zone). It draws students from MetroWest, Gotha, and most of Windermere 34786, and the Titans have a multi-year track record of A grades from the Florida Department of Education. That's the headline. But — and we always say this — school grades are a starting point, not the whole story.
Where Olympia Sits (and Why That Matters)
The campus address is 4301 South Apopka-Vineland Road, Orlando, FL 32835 — same zip code as MetroWest, but the school is about four miles south of the MetroWest core, closer to Gotha and the northern edge of Windermere. When MetroWest parents talk about "their" high school, they mean a campus that's a quick drive south on Apopka-Vineland, not a school inside the neighborhood itself.
That geography is why Olympia's attendance zone reaches across three communities. For any individual address, the OCPS Find My School tool is the definitive source — OCPS approved targeted West Orange rezonings as recently as December 2025 (none affecting Olympia's core zone, but worth checking).
A Quick Origin Story
Olympia opened August 13, 2001. Current principal: Christy Gorberg. Mascot: Titans. Colors: black, silver, and teal. The student newspaper, The Oracle, is one of the more substantive in the district.
For 2025-2026, Olympia enrolled approximately 3,052 students in grades 9 through 12 — one of the larger comprehensive high schools in OCPS. That scale buys a deep menu of electives, AP and AICE offerings, and athletics. It also means real class sizes and hallway density. Olympia is not a small, quiet school.
The A-Rating: What It Actually Means
Per GreatSchools' record of FDOE grades, Olympia earned an A in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 — a long stretch by Orange County standards (for district-wide context, see our Orange County Public Schools overview). The school's Oracle staff confirmed the most recent A in fall 2024.
The honest part: a Florida school grade isn't just test scores. It's a composite of achievement, learning gains, graduation rate, and college and career acceleration. Olympia's raw proficiency numbers sit closer to the state average than the A alone suggests — Niche-aggregated data puts Olympia near 46% math and 52% reading proficiency. The A is real, but earned largely on growth, graduation, and acceleration metrics rather than absolute proficiency. Go in with eyes open.
What's on the Academic Menu
Olympia runs a deeper advanced-academic program than most zoned high schools its size:
- APEX (Advanced Placement Experience Scholars Academy) — A selective four-year AP cohort. Selection happens at the end of 8th grade via application, teacher recommendation, testing, essay, and interview.
- Cambridge AICE Diploma — Olympia is a full Cambridge AICE school. AICE pairs well with Florida's Bright Futures Scholarship and is a strong alternative to AP for students who do better with end-of-course assessments.
- Advanced Placement (AP) — A broad AP catalog is available outside APEX as well.
- Project Lead The Way — STEM pathways in engineering and biomedical sciences.
- JROTC, Gifted Services, ESE, ESOL, and NHS — Standard but well-staffed comprehensive supports.
One thing Olympia does not offer is the full IB Diploma — that's the lane held by Windermere Preparatory School. Families committed to IB look there. For a broader look at non-zoned alternatives, see private and charter school options near Gotha. Families wanting a public path to college credit through AP, AICE, or dual enrollment are well-served at Olympia.
The Feeder Pattern
For MetroWest families, the typical OCPS path runs:
- Elementary — MetroWest Elementary or Westpointe Elementary (the two share a campus)
- Middle — Most of MetroWest feeds Gotha Middle School; portions feed Chain of Lakes Middle
- High — Olympia High School
Gotha Middle is itself an A-rated, Red Ribbon and Five Star campus, so the Olympia feeder pipeline from MetroWest is unusually strong by OCPS standards. For a deeper look at the elementary and middle layers, see our Gotha schools and education guide. Caveat: portions of MetroWest feeding Chain of Lakes Middle may route to a different high school zone — the OCPS Find My School tool is the address-by-address truth source.
Athletics, Activities, and Campus Life
Olympia fields around 30 sports — upper end for OCPS. Notable Titan alumni include former NFL running back Chris Johnson, Tennessee Volunteers and NFL quarterback Joe Milton, and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year (2022-2023) Eric Cole. Beyond athletics, the school runs robust band, theatre, visual arts, and winter guard programs, plus academic clubs tied to APEX and AICE. The campus rivalry with Windermere High School over in Horizon West gives Friday nights some bite.
Pros: What MetroWest Parents Tend to Like
- Consistent A grade from FDOE — multi-year track record, not a one-off
- Strong advanced-academic stack: APEX, full Cambridge AICE, broad AP catalog
- Solid feeder pipeline through Gotha Middle
- Deep athletics and arts for a zoned school
- Real D1 athletic recruiting pipeline
Cons: What's Honestly Worth Knowing
- Large size (3,000+ students) means real hallway density — not for families wanting boutique
- Raw proficiency numbers sit closer to the state average than the A grade implies
- Student reviews on Niche and GreatSchools describe instructional quality as inconsistent across departments — some standout teachers, some not
- Morning carpool traffic is what you'd expect for a 3,000-student campus
- Not an IB school — IB-committed families look private
Visiting and Verifying for Your Address
- Confirm the zone at OCPS Find My School — zones can split inside a single community
- Tour by appointment through the front office; OCPS schools generally don't allow walk-ins
- Read recent Oracle issues for current student perspective rather than 5-year-old reviews
- Ask about APEX or AICE admission in middle school — applications start at Gotha Middle (or your feeder), not after enrollment at Olympia
What the Locals Know
Olympia anchors family-buying decisions across MetroWest, Gotha, and most of Windermere 34786. The A grade is real and sustained, the advanced-academic options are unusually deep for a zoned campus, and the athletics culture gives the community a Friday-night focal point. The honest caveat: "A-rated" in Florida is a composite measure, and Olympia's strength is broader and more nuanced than a single letter suggests. For most families moving into West Orange, the answer to "what's the school like" is: large, well-resourced, consistently graded A, with a real ceiling for kids who want to climb. 🏛️
For current programs, calendar, athletics, and the principal's weekly updates, visit the official Olympia High School website, or the Orange County Public Schools district site for attendance zone tools and rezoning notices.
Considering a move to MetroWest, Gotha, or Windermere? Browse MetroWest homes for sale, explore Gotha and Windermere, or contact David Myers for personalized West Orange relocation help.
