May archive

Montverde Academy's 2008 achievements

May 29, 2008

Below is a list of great accomplished that Montverde Academy and its students have reached in 2008 so far!

• Montverde reached new heights in student performance and achievement with the highest percentages of students achieving honor roll status and the lowest percentages of students on academic probation.
• The two Math A & B teams won the Lake-Sumter County Math competition defeating 11 other schools in both counties.
• The Math team ranked 8th in the country on the American Mathematics Association national exam among 120+ schools from across the nation.
• The Academic team won the Lake-Sumter County competition and based on a successful season, was offered the opportunity to attend the national competition in Chicago this month.
• SAT scores improved on average by some 160 points with the implementation of an on site preparation course with 5 students achieving perfect scores in mathematics.
• The college admission process has seen great achievements this year as we continue toward our 100% college matriculation. The quality of schools that our students are earning admission is remarkable. Students have earned in excess of 2 million in scholarships. Felecia Williams is our full time college counselor and does a wonderful job working with our seniors and their families throughout their junior and seniors years preparing for the college search process.
• The school had its lowest faculty attrition this year at less than 2% as it strives to generate a highly qualified, diverse, experienced and well educated faculty. To date, nearly 80% of the instructional faculty have earned their graduate degrees and through professional development funding provided by the Academy, nearly 12 teachers will have earned their graduate degrees by the end of next school year further increasing the percentage of faculty who have the advanced degree.
• The choral program was recognized with scores of excellent at several competitions and the drama program continues to produce wonderful productions for everyone to enjoy.
• A number of campus improvements took place during the summer of 2007 to increase the beauty of the campus including the new lower school playground and fencing, safety devices on the lower school building, new flooring in the student center and administration building as well as the replacement of several air conditioning units throughout the campus. McCammack Hall was completely remodeled for girls.
• Athletics achieved great success with winning seasons in many of the sports with the boys' soccer team heading to the state finals for the second consecutive year.

Needless to say, the school is very proud of its students and faculty for all that they have achieved throughout the school year and this list is only a small accounting of the many positive things that have happened throughout the school year.

To learn more about Montverde Academy, click here.

New Headmaster at Knox School

May 29, 2008

As Knox looks ahead to the next school year, the school community is preparing to welcome George K. Allison as Knox’s next headmaster beginning in July. With more than 40 years devoted to independent school education, George and Lucy are committed to Knox’s mission of providing college-bound students the opportunity to learn and grow in a family-oriented, traditional and structured environment.

In the meantime, the Board of Trustees and school community want to thank David B. Stephens, who after three years, will move on to become headmaster of The Meadowbrook School in Pennsylvania. During his tenure, Knox has enhanced its academic curriculum and upgraded its campus facilities.

The Board of Trustees is proud to serve the school and proud of the achievements — large and small — of each of the Knox students. The board is grateful to the school administration, faculty and staff for creating an environment that promotes intellectual and character development as well as a love of learning.

To learn more about Knox School here.

Foxcroft Academy - Rose Recipients

May 29, 2008

Recently, Foxcroft Academy congratulated the outstanding academic senior students in the class of 2008 at the annual Rose Awards Assembly. The Rose Awards were established in 1931 when Mr. Frank Stone was Headmaster at Foxcroft Academy.

Rose Award recipients have accumulated an average that places them in the top 15% of their class over the last seven semesters of academic work. These top students will inevitably serve as leaders in their chosen professions and in the communities in which they live.

For the 23rd year in a row and in addition to the traditional rose, a medal with the Foxcroft Academy Trustee seal was presented to each recipient as a permanent remembrance of their Rose Award.

To learn more about the school's academic program click here.

Montverde Academy student crowned Miss Florida Teen United States

May 28, 2008

On Sunday, May 6, 2008, Victoria Rager was crowned Miss Florida Teen United States! Victoria competed against seventeen other young ladies from Florida to earn this title. She will go on to represent Florida in the national competition that will be held in Las Vegas on July 17, 2008. The event will take place at the Orleans Hotel and Casino. The Montverde Academy family is extremely proud of Victoria’s accomplishment and asks that you join us in congratulating her on this victory. Great job Victoria!

South Kent students head to Alaska and Peru for community service.

May 27, 2008

Two South Kent School (SKS) students have been awarded SKS scholarships for participation in VISIONS Service Adventures programs (http://www.visionsserviceadventures.com) for community service in Alaska and Peru.

This year’s scholarship winners include SKS eleventh-grader Blake Taylor of New Milford -- who will travel to Peru this summer -- and tenth-grader Patrick Fleming of Watertown -- who will participate in a VISIONS program in Alaska.

Each year the school offers two scholarships which provide SKS students an opportunity for service work and cross-cultural immersion for four weeks each summer. Currently SKS students compete for two $3,400 scholarships to participate in the acclaimed VISIONS summer community service programs at locations in North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean West Indies, and in Vietnam.

Blake is very involved with community service work at home and has been an active participant in Scouting for years. He has recently been working to complete his Eagle Scout award and hosted a Music Night at SKS last fall to raise funds for the New Milford Food Bank.

“I have taken part in many service projects in New Milford, some with the Special Olympics, my church, and Scouting services, however the opportunity to assist a devastated country, which had an earthquake just last year, is a selfless opportunity,” Blake said. “Not only will we be constructing shelters and places to live, but we will be traveling through Peru. Climbing Machu Pichu, and living in a remote puebla is my way of exposing myself to the outside world.”

Patrick has never traveled much outside of New England and is looking forward to seeing Alaska. His group will be building a recreational facility which will be used as a community center for the general public.

“I chose Alaska because I like the kind of work that I'd be doing up there, and I'd like to see Alaska,” he said. “It's one of the places you hear stuff about but never see, and I wanted to experience that.”

Patrick is also the recipient of South Kent’s Millennium Scholarship. This scholarship was created in 2000 by the Class of 1950 in celebration of its 50th reunion. The scholarship seeks to attract students to South Kent who meet specific criteria including academic ability and leadership potential.

To learn more about this private boarding school for boys, click here.

Burr and Burton Juniors Qualify for National Merit Scholarship Semifinals

May 19, 2008

Burr and Burton Academy juniors Eliza Davis, Laura Donnelly, Alex Evanczuk, Dana Midura, Devin Midura, and Ellen Parent recently received notification that they were among the 50,000 highest-scoring participants out of over 1.5 million students who took the 2007 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. As part of this select group, they will advance to the semifinalist round of competition for the 2009 National Merit college scholarships. Out of this group, only 16,000 students will be named semifinalists, representing the top scorers in each state.

To learn more about the strong academics at this boarding school, click here.

Foxcroft Academy's new $7 milllion dormitory project!

May 18, 2008

Foxcroft Academy’s current boarding program has its roots dating back to the school’s earliest years in the 1800’s, including a small dormitory and boarding homes which were in use until the late 1930’s. Plans are now under way to build a new on-campus dormitory that will house 48 students and provide housing for 6 faculty members and their families.

In 1995, with a demographic projection of a 40% loss in student population in Piscataquis County, Trustees re-initiated its boarding program with an emphasis on international students. Thirteen years later the boarding program has grown from 5 students to over 40 students, even as the local student population has shrunk from 467 to 349.Even with the sharp decline in locally tuitioned students, the Academy has been able to maintain the breadth and quality of its academic programming for all students thanks in part to the growth of its boarding program. In addition, the boarding program is providing the school and the larger community with a more diverse population as students from countries such as Japan, Egypt, Korea, Brazil, China, Jamaica, Taiwan, and Russia attend Foxcroft Academy for their high school education. These students and their visiting families also provide significant support to the local economy as they shop, visit local restaurants and involve themselves in local organizations such as the YMCA.

For the past thirteen years most boarding students have been housed in three small residential style dorms supervised by dorm parents. At the same time, some students have preferred a host family living situation and the Academy currently has 16 students living with 9 host families. The three residential style dorms, which are leased properties, house 5 to 11 students each. The distance from campus as well as the age of these stately homes which are in constant need of costly upgrades including those necessary to meet various code requirements, make these accommodations less than ideal as the Academy works to develop a nationally recognized program.

Trustees, recognizing the current academic, cultural and financial benefits of the boarding program, as well as the need to ensure its ability to grow a quality program, voted at its January 2008 board meeting to build a permanent on-campus residence for students. Since 2005, Trustees and administrators had been informally studying various models for housing students. In 2007, Scott Simons Architects of Portland was engaged to develop a preliminary dormitory model. Eight months later the Trustees, working with a Project Committee made up of Trustees, faculty members, parents, and community members, have decided upon a model around which construction documents are currently being developed. This $7 million project will be funded over 30 years by revenues from the boarding program.

The dormitory will be located on the hill behind Oakes Field and in front of the large grove of red pine trees. The dorm will have two floors and two wings, one wing for girls and one for boys. Each wing will have 3 faculty apartment units attached to it with faculty members carrying responsibilities for the supervision of their particular wing of students. The preliminary start date for construction is spring 2008 with completion anticipated in winter 2009. Once construction begins, their new website will carry progress of the construction work through all of its stages. Be watching!

To learn more about the boarding school program at Foxcroft Academy click here.