UPDATED: December 2012
If you have a math whiz on your hands, or a kid who’s intensely interested in science – or already knows she wants to work in the health/medical field when she grows up – Boca Raton Community Middle School’s academies may be a good fit.
The Palm Beach County public school offers two “choice” programs: the Premedical Science Academy and the Cobra Mathematics Academy that attract students from all over.
The A-rated school also offers a host of honors classes, as well as a full-time gifted program. Boca Middle has gone to a seven-period schedule, offering a long list of electives, including Spanish, computer skills, art, cooking, creative writing, health, broadcast communications, Photoshop and more. It has an award-winning band and music classes. It also serves kids with special needs.
Boca Middle is the first in the county to offer a Transition to Middle School elective course, which covers a wide range of topics including note-taking skills, conflict resolution and relationships.
It offers the AVID program, an elective course to prepare students for college readiness and success. Students study a rigorous college-prep curriculum, tutor-facilitated study groups and motivational activities.
Boca Middle strongly emphasizes good behavior, with anti-bullying messages throughout the school. Kids and school staff wear anti-bullying T-shirts on Fridays, and many students have been trained in how to defuse tense situations among their peers.
The recently renovated school has a new track, and the buildings are clean and well-kept. The custodial staff received the 2012 award from the Palm Beach County School District for custodial excellence.
PREMED
Your student need not aspire to be a doctor to benefit from this program. It’s an intensive, but wide-ranging curriculum that encompasses research, anatomy, nutrition and sports medicine, among other topics. Eighth-graders serve internships at a medical business. The program is very hands-on, with several lab experiments.
MATH
The Cobra Mathematics Academy offers accelerated math classes, some of which count toward a high school diploma, including an honors Algebra 1, geometry and Algebra 2. Boca Middle has a 100 percent passing rate on the End of Course Exams for Algebra 1 and Geometry and has the most number of students passing the End of Course Exam in Geometry out of all of the middle schools in the state of Florida. Boca Middle also has the most students in the state taking Algebra 2 in middle school.
HOW TO APPLY
Choice applications are due to the Palm Beach County School District on Dec. 14. Find the application and instructions at the school district website. Boca Middle expects to have about 88 sixth-grade seats available for next school year in the premed academy and about 66 for math, said Academy Coordinator Amy Finneran. If the middle schools end up changing to a seven-period schedule, which is under consideration, that could open up more seats. For this year, more than 250 students applied to the premed academy and more than 150 applied to the math academy.
The premed program only accepts incoming sixth-graders. But seventh-graders can apply to the math academy.
Students can apply for both academies. And this year’s choice application only includes two options, as the third choice rarely comes into play for any of the school district’s programs.
OTHER DETAILS
Start time: 9:30 a.m. Early dropoff is available starting at 7:30 a.m. for $5 a day. The students go to the gym or media center to play sports or work on the computers. Dismissal is at 4:14 p.m. An after-school program is also available until 5:30 p.m.
Dress code: Students must wear collared polo shirts of any color and any color cotton pants (no jeans). Girls’ shorts must be finger-tip length; skirts must be knee length. Closed-toe shoes required.
EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Boca Middle offers many sports teams, including volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, dance, swimming, diving, cheerleading and lacrosse.
Clubs include art club, yearbook, robotics, chess club and more.
For students who qualify for bus transportation, they can stay after-school for activities until 5:30 and still be able to take the bus home.
IS THIS YOUR ‘HOME’ SCHOOL?
These elementary schools feed into Boca Middle: Addison Mizner, J.C. Mitchell, Boca Elementary, and half of Verde Elementary, as well as parts of Calusa and Orchard View in Delray Beach.
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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.
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:
And read our profiles of other private schools:
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
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
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.
Updated December, 2012
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 81-acre 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 is seeing more requests for financial aid, which is given to about 15 percent of the student body.
A part of the value is private college counseling, personalized attention, teacher support and after-school help if needed, said Denise Redington, associate director of admissions
A new head of school, Peter Benedict, takes over July 1, 2013. He has had a long career leading private, college-prep schools, most recently in Dayton, Ohio.
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 students in the middle school grades lease MacBook Air laptops. Ninth-graders will get them next year. There is campus-wide wi-fi. Lower school students use iPads.
The school’s mission is to nurture the students in mind, body and spirit. It offers a rigorous International Baccalaureate program for all grades.
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. An emphasis on character and values are ingrained in the culture of the school.
“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, Redington said.
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 three gyms – a brand new one for the middle school.
“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.
In October 2013, Saint Andrew’s will host the Round Square Conference, with participants from all over the world. Round Square is an organization of more than 80 schools (Saint Andrew’s is one of six in the United States) committed to personal development and responsibility in students. It involves community service projects and international exchanges of students and faculty. The conference is expected tol bring 1,000 particpants to South Florida.
Other details:
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.
