Orange County plans School of Arts and Entertainment at historic Cherokee site

Orange County Public Schools officials and volunteer Jose Fernandez detailed a proposal on Nov. 6, 2025 to renovate the historic Cherokee School into a new School of Arts and Entertainment for grades 9–12. The presentation occurred at a board work session; no board vote was taken and the public was not permitted to comment at the meeting.

District leaders described the school as an immersive, interdisciplinary high school with three concentrations — cinematic arts, sound design and emerging media — intended to connect students directly to Orlando’s creative and modeling/simulation industries. "This will be a first of its kind public high school, immersive, interdisciplinary, and future focused," Dr. Harold Border, the district presenter, told the board during the session.

Why it matters: presenters framed the school as a workforce pipeline and cultural asset for downtown Orlando. The district projects the campus would be surrounded by industry and cultural institutions — including Creative Village and the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts — offering mentorships, internships and local employment pathways. Jose Fernandez, the Foundation volunteer leading fundraising outreach, called the plan a national model: "there's nothing like this...there is none. So we are creating the model."

Facilities and program: conceptual renderings shown to the board preserve Cherokee’s historic architecture while adding high‑performance fabrication labs, green‑screen production studios, soundproof booths and collaboration zones. A historic theater on site would be renovated into a flexible "destination theater" for student productions, screenings and community events. The gymnasium space would be converted to a dining and commons area. Architectural renderings were prepared by Corgan, the district said.

Curriculum and student experience: the school would emphasize interdisciplinary work across concentrations, including storyboarding, scriptwriting, cinematography and editing in cinematic arts; composition, digital recording and studio production in sound design; and 3‑D fabrication, installation and new media in emerging media. Presenters said the design allows students to take core academic coursework virtually while spending in‑person time on technical concentrations and industry collaboration.

Admissions, staffing and enrollment: presenters said the district is considering an audition/application‑based selection process rather than a typical magnet lottery, aiming to identify students with relevant talent and commitment. The planned capacity is roughly 625–650 students in grades 9–12. District staff said hiring would follow standard opening‑school human resources processes, with principals conducting interviews and hires; the district also expects to use visiting professors, industry professionals, apprenticeships and postsecondary partnerships to supplement in‑house staff.

Funding: Dr. Vasquez told the board the district has approximately $67 million in capital funds budgeted for the base renovation. The project team seeks an additional roughly $25 million in private funds: presenters described about $18 million to equip enhanced fabrication labs and industry‑grade technology, plus roughly $7 million as a reserve to support visiting lecturers, mentorships, internships and ongoing program needs. Team members said a business plan and targeted donor conversations are already underway; Fernandez said the fundraising process has started but did not name specific donors at the work session.

Operations and finance: the district indicated operating funding will depend on students’ course loads and enrollment patterns. Presenters noted that course funding follows the number of classes a student takes (for example, five of seven classes yields five‑sevenths of generated funds), and they expect many students to take multiple arts courses at the site. No operating‑budget vote or formal commitment was made at the work session.

Transportation and parking: board members raised concerns about limited on‑site parking and neighborhood impacts. Presenters said a parking garage was not economically viable; instead, staff are exploring depot parking, partnerships with the city for overflow transportation, and integrating pedestrian connections (an "arts walk") so that off‑site parking could link to the campus. They said the school would not rely on traditional bus routes but would plan depot or shuttle options for students as needed.

Industry partnerships and economic development: presenters said they are engaging with local economic development organizations, chambers of commerce and creative employers in the modeling and simulation corridor, theme parks and local theaters. The team is also preparing materials to request support from the Tourist Development Tax (TDT) board for destination programming tied to the theater and festivals; presenters said lobbying for state tax incentives would be a county or board decision, not a staff action.

Board response and next steps: board members expressed broad support, praised the concept’s potential to retain local creative jobs and reduce student costs compared with private alternatives, and pressed for more specificity on partnerships, teacher recruitment and parking solutions. Presenters said additional design work, donor outreach and operational planning are next steps. No formal actions, votes or timelines for opening were adopted at the Nov. 6 work session.

Closing: the board and presenters thanked fundraiser Jose Fernandez and district staff for developing the proposal and noted further updates and detailed plans will return to the board as fundraising and design work continues.