Boca Prep International School aims to prepare students to navigate the wide world and to work with people of different cultures.

While it serves children of globe-trotting parents for whom Boca Raton may be a temporary home, it is also a place for local children to get a global education.

Serving students from preschool through 12th grade, Boca Prep offers the rigorous International Baccalaureate curriculum. It is IB authorized for the diploma program and working toward credentials for the primary and middle years.

The school facilitates cultural sensitivity by its atmosphere, where every day  children are sitting next to someone with a different background.

Founded in 1999, Boca Prep is owned by SEK, which runs international schools around the world. Enrollment at the Boca campus, in the Mission Bay community near U.S. 441 and Glades Road, is at 180 students.

Students from sister SEK schools abroad visit Boca and stay with host families. Some Boca students do the same abroad.

Though IB is more structured, the approach is similar to Montessori in its focus on inquiry and critical thinking rather than the regurgitation of information.

In admissions, Boca Prep looks for students who will work hard. There is plenty of homework, especially in the diploma program (11th and 12th grades.)

Boca Prep also offers opportunities for kids to pursue sports at a high level and compete for college scholarships. The Evert Tennis Academy is across the street, and Boca Prep is partnering with Team Boca to up its soccer game.

Teachers will work with a student’s schedule to accommodate their pursuit of excellence in sports or the arts.

(Tennis stars Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish  and pro soccer player Jozy Altidore are alumni).

IB was founded to provide a global community of schools. The United States is the fastest-growing area for IB, partly because of its value in college admissions.

The college dropout rate for IB students is low because they are trained to be self-organized, self-motivated and can meet deadlines.

OTHER DETAILS

• The admissions process is ongoing. There is plenty of space in some grades for fall, especially the middle school years. The first step in applying is scheduling a tour. Call 561-852-1410.
• Tuition – which goes up to $17,000 a year for upper grades – includes books, snacks and local field trips. Exam fees at the end of senior year are extra ($1,000), as are overnight field trips. This year, sixth- through 10-graders went to Costa Rica.
• Some transportation is provided.
• Students wear uniforms.
• The school day runs 8 a.m. to 3:10 p.m., but students can stay for electives until 4:15.
• Extracurricular activities include debate club, dance, yoga, drama, music lessons and more.
• Sports include soccer, tennis, fishing and more.

LEARN MORE

Visit Boca Prep online

Read  more about the International Baccalaureate curriculum at www.ibo.org.

Read about other Boca schools in the BocaParent blog:

• Choosing a Middle School
• Choosing a Preschool

And read our profiles of other private schools:

• Saint Andrew’s (which is also implementing the IB curriculum)
• Pine Crest
• Grandview Prep

Grandview Prep is all about personalization.

The small private school on nine acres at 336 Spanish River Blvd. takes a child-centered approach to teaching toddlers through 12th-graders.

Its hands-on curriculum – with little use of text books – incorporates some Montessori philosophy, especially in the early years.

“Our program grows and changes with the child,” Head of School Jacqueline Westerfield said last week at a gathering of prospective parents.

She emphasized the school’s philosophy of playing to learn and learning by doing – not by passive lectures, drills and worksheets. Teachers work to help
children recognize their talents and pursue their interests.

“The work of childhood is play,” Westerfield said. ” The research is very clear on this point.”

Grandview’s aim is to graduate problem solvers. For example, some ninth-graders were given the task of building an artificial limb – not just writing a
report about it.

The school, which is accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools and the Florida Kindergarten Council, uses technology to enrich learning
and allow teachers to create individualized lessons, but tries to balance that with outdoor exploration. Sixth- through 12-graders are required to have
a laptop.

Grandview also emphasizes sportsmanship and character education, with all students participating in community service projects.

Families are very involved in the school. Parents can even take language classes alongside their children.

Other details

• The average class size is 12 students.
• There are 23 students in this year’s senior class.
• Tuition is $10,000-$14,000 a year. Scholarships and financial aid are available.
• Student activities include glee club, honor societies, tae kwon do, basketball, volleyball, swimming, private music lessons and more. (The school’s dance teacher, Katie Petronio, is featured in this month’s Boca Raton magazine.) Students also take music, art and dance through the regular curriculum.
• After-care is available.

Learn more

Admission for fall is going on now. Read more about the process at Grandviewprep.net.

Or call to schedule a tour: 561-416-9737, ext. 305.

The Pine Crest School prides itself on being a small campus that nurtures leadership and independence through award-winning academics.

The Boca campus at 2700 St. Andrews Blvd., has about 850 students in prekindergaren through eighth grade. They move on to the Fort Lauderdale campus, 1501 Northeast 62nd St., for high school.

Administrators say they know every kid’s name.

“We really get to know the children and know them well,” said Tammy Stamm, assistant head of the middle school. “You can’t get lost in this school.”

The school focuses on challenging academics, as well as the arts and athletics, plus leadership and character education.

The students do charity projects, and a science teacher runs a chapter of Roots & Shoots, the international kids service organization. Eighth-graders  are offered a class on “social issues.”

Teachers and counselors help students get organized and teach them how to study.

Students get top scores in the nation and state on French and Spanish exams. The chorus sings at Carnegie Hall. And students put out an award-winning
yearbook.

Tuition at the nonprofit school averages about $20,000 a year and includes lunches and textbooks.

Curriculum

Spanish, French and Mandarin Chinese are among the core classes.

Most classes are taught at the same level, except for math, which offers four levels, depending on ability. For example, some kids can work up to Algebra 2 in eighth grade.

Technology

Classrooms are equipped with smart boards.

Sixth- through 12th-grade students are required to have laptops. Teachers put notes and assignments online, though some also use textbooks in the classroom, as well.

The school has a big auditorim for performances and soundproof rehearsal rooms, as well as a well-equipped TV studio.

Admissions process

• Submit application and make an appointment for administrators to meet your child.
• For pre-K, kindergarten and first grades, students will have a developmental assessment.
• For incoming second- through fifth-graders, students come for a Saturday visit and evaluation and later a class visit.
• Sixth- through eighth-graders must take the SSAT. (Register online for the next one.) The school expects to have about 10 openings for sixth grade next fall.
• The school has an ongoing admissions process, but assessments are being done now for next year.

Other details

• The school day runs from about 8 a.m.-3:20 p.m. Pine Crest provides transportation between the Boca and Fort Lauderdale campuses.
• After-care is available.
• Uniforms: Yes.
• Sports include football, basketball, lacrosse, tennis, baseball and swimming. Ballet is offered as a PE class and also after school.
• Financial aid is available.
• Parents are expected to volunteer.
• Tutoring, fine arts and sports lessons are available after school for a fee.

Summer

Pine Crest offers a host of summer camp programs for kids age 4-14. Get the details and register online. www.pinecrest.edu/bocasummer

Learn more

Vist the school’s website, or call the Boca campus at 561-852-2801.

If you’re seeking a well-rounded private education for your children – where they can move seamlessly from those tender prekindergarten days through high school graduation – a tour of Saint Andrew’s School should be on your list.

The Jog Road campus serves 4-year-olds through 12th-graders, where the “vertical integration” of curriculum allows kids to build on the previous year’s academics, without having to switch schools. They can start Chinese or Spanish in kindergarten – three or four days a week. Students may have the same music teacher for years.

A few years ago, the city estimated that about half of Boca’s children were enrolled in a private school. While the recent economic downturn may have had some effect on enrollment, private education is still in great demand here. Saint Andrew’s added prekindergarten only three years ago and is fully enrolled, with 1,300 students in pre-K through 12th grade.

Saint Andrew’s is a nonprofit, with tuition averaging about $20,000 a year.

The school campus is much like a small college – neat and manicured. Saint Andrew’s lower school, added in 2000, is LEED-certified, built to environmentally friendly standards. And the playground equipment is designed for circular motion, which stimulates the brain.

There are “smart boards” in all the classrooms, and fifth-graders are trying out iPads. But beyond that, technology is not pervasive. Teachers want the kids to take notes by hand, they don’t hand out laptops, and wi-fi isn’t everywhere on campus.

The school’s mission is to nurture the students in mind, body and spirit. It offers a rigorous International Baccalaureate program for the upper grades (and soon, the lower grades, too).

The program is part of the school’s worldly focus. While it is affiliated with the Episcopal Church, Saint Andrew’s is independent and embraces students of all faiths. Students attend chapel, but the speakers focus on multicultural, thought-provoking messages.

“It’s very inclusive, very respectful,” said Carlos Barroso, director of marketing and communications.

Part of the Episcopal tradition is service oriented. Every grade does a service project. A common message to the students is: To whom much is given, much is expected, said Denise Redington, associate director of admissions.

For those anxious middle years, the school is proactive about bullying and drugs, and teachers are vigilant, Redington said. Students follow an honor code.

“It’s cool to be smart here,” she said.

Sports are a big part of the Saint Andrew’s experience. Upper school students are required to play a sport. Well-known Saint Andrew’s alumni include champion boxer Steve Geffrard and young golf sensation Morgan Pressel.

The school has 10 tennis courts, an Olympic size pool (swimming is part of PE), and two gyms.

“The scholar athlete does well here,” Barroso said. “They’re balanced out.”

For arts, middle school students take performing arts every day. Upper school students can take song-writing classes or stage crafts. They produce three drama productions a year in the school’s 653-seat theater, which is also used by the Boca Raton Symphonia.

Saint Andrew’s also has a co-ed bagpipe band, a nod to its Scottish founders.

About 75 percent of Saint Andrew’s graduates go the most competitive, or highly selective colleges, Redington said. But the guidance counselors work hard to ensure students end up with a good match. Close to 90 percent stay at the first college they go to, she said.

Other details:

• Uniforms are required in lower grades; dress code in upper grades.

• Each division – lower, middle and upper grades  – has its own library and dining hall.

• The school day runs roughly 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., depending on the grade.

• Before- and after-care is available.

• About 100 students – mostly international – board at the school.

• Tuition: Averages about $20,000 a year; includes food and tutoring. Books extra. (Need-based financial aid is available).

Getting in

The first step in applying is calling the admissions office to schedule a tour: 561-210-2000.

For the fall, Saint Andrew’s expects to have 48 slots for 4-year-olds. Testing begins in January, so apply now if you’re interested.

For sixth grade, the school expects to have 13-15 openings. For the best chance of getting in, apply by Feb. 1. The school will keep accepting applications after that.

Saint Andrew’s is looking for motivated students who will add to the school community. For older students, grades, test scores and recommendations are considered.

Class sizes

Sixteen per class in prekindergarten; 22 in kindergarten; up to 24 by third grade. Saint

Andrew’s uses the co-teacher model, with two full-time teachers in the classroom through fifth grade.

Summer camp

Saint Andrews also offers a summer camp that is open to the public. Registration is going on now.   Click here for more information.

To learn  more

Visit the school’s website.

For information on the public school academy programs for the middle grades, visit our middle school guide.