I have to say as a parent with children in the Winter Park schools, it has been more than worth the extra money we paid to move to the area. My daughter was talking about her experience at Audubon Elementary just last night. She is in 10th grade now. My other daughter actually once said that she loved her middle school - Glenridge Middle School. How many middle schoolers say the love their school. Both of them are in band, and the IB programs at Glenridge and now at Winter Park High School. WPHS is nationally ranked and is a stand out in the county earning A's nearly every year since the schools have been receiving rankings. The IB program is internationally recognized (that's the I in IB), and the band is often invited to perform all over the country. WPHS athletics programs are no slouch either, the crew team has won the state championship 31 times, and football and basketball are regularly ranked.

Looking at Winter Park and the Orlando neighborhoods like Baldwin Park (where I live) that are zoned for the Winter Park schools, you can see that values have not dropped as badly as they have in other areas of town. The schools are definitely a factor in helping to keep values more stable here, of course the chain of lakes and the close proximity to downtown Orlando are helpful too. So, if schools are important, you cannot go wrong in Winter Park. Go Wildcats!