Orangewood Presbyterian Church and Orangewood Christian School have secured site plan approval from the City of Maitland for a $35 million overhaul of their West Maitland Boulevard campus, clearing the way for a new sanctuary, four hands-on STEM labs and a construction timeline that is expected to run 18 to 24 months. The project will break ground later this year, with crews set to build a new two-story structure on an open area of the site and connect it to the existing building layout.
The scope has grown considerably since design firm SchenkelShultz first unveiled early renderings in February 2025, when the project carried a $25 million price tag before expanding to its now-approved $35 million budget, according to SchenkelShultz. As reported by the Orlando Sentinel, the approved plan calls for 63,950 square feet of new and renovated space, including an 814-seat sanctuary and theater, an open-concept lobby meant to serve as a central gathering hub, youth ministry facilities, classrooms for Sunday school and adult discipleship, expanded church administrative suites, and a single point of entry designed to manage access across the campus.
A New Home for Worship, School Plays and STEM Class
The centerpiece sanctuary and theater will feature acoustic wall treatments, theatrical lighting rigs and audio-visual arrays built to handle everything from worship services and school plays to musical concerts and community events, per the Sentinel's report. Once it opens, the campus gymnasium — which currently hosts Sunday worship, school chapels and seasonal events after Orangewood converted it into a formal sanctuary setting — will be freed up for full-time athletic use. That matters for a school that the same report notes currently shares a single indoor gym among its varsity, junior varsity and middle school programs.
Four new hands-on STEM labs and four additional classrooms are also part of the build, adding capacity for a school that the same report says enrolls about 900 students from pre-K through 12th grade. The academic investment follows Orangewood Christian School's adoption of Anatomage, a life-size 3D digital human cadaver visualization table, which the school integrated into its science curriculum in September 2025, according to Christian Schools of Florida. The school operates across two Maitland sites — a Trinity Woods campus in Maitland, Florida, serving kindergarten through sixth grade, and a Maitland Boulevard campus serving grades 7 through 12, located about one mile from the Trinity Woods campus and serving as the site of this expansion.
Modular Classrooms and a Multiyear Fundraising Push
Construction won't be disruption-free. The plan includes temporary modular classrooms, with three units set to be placed on site to serve as swing space for up to four years while the new structure goes up and existing interior spaces get remodeled, per the Sentinel. Reconfigured parking is also part of the approved site plan.
Financing the project has unfolded in phases. Orangewood launched a multiyear capital campaign that started with an original goal of $15 million before the target was raised to $17.5 million. The church has since secured more than $12 million in initial pledges and raised an additional $2 million through subsequent fundraising, with the remaining balance expected to come from ongoing congregational giving and long-term financing, the Sentinel reports.
Rooted in a 50th-Anniversary Push
The expansion is tied to Orangewood's Generations Initiative, launched in 2023 to support planning around the church's 50th anniversary. Orangewood Presbyterian Church was originally established in June 1976 under organizing pastor Rev. H. Charles “Chuck” Green Jr. as a local congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America, according to The Presbyterian Journal. The school followed four years later in 1980, founded as a direct ministry of the church, per Private School Review. Patrick Rauch, whose design work on the project was detailed in coverage from GrowthSpotter, said particular attention was paid to channeling natural light into the building, and the new campus interior is expected to feature natural wood finishes throughout.
Growth Fueled by Statewide Voucher Demand
Orangewood's expansion lands amid a broader surge in private school enrollment across Florida, driven by the state's 2023 passage of House Bill 1, which expanded Family Empowerment Scholarships to all K-12 students regardless of household income, according to the Florida Department of Education. By the 2024-2025 school year, more than 500,000 K-12 students were participating in state-supported choice scholarship programs statewide. Scholarship amounts vary by grade level and county, according to the Florida Department of Education's 2025-2026 School Choice scholarship renewal application. Orangewood Christian School is accredited by Christian Schools of Florida and competes in varsity athletics through the Florida High School Athletic Association.
The buildout also arrives as Maitland's Boulevard corridor sees fresh investment on multiple fronts. In May, the Maitland City Council approved a $3.5 million streetscape extension along Independence Lane, according to the City of Maitland. The surrounding commercial corridor is part of the broader Maitland submarket alongside the church and school's own construction timeline.
