Back to School 2016

Welcome back to school (again)! It seems we had just gotten into a groove with the start of school only to be interrupted by weather. Such is life in Florida. 

It is so good to be back now with our students and really have the school year underway.

Throughout this year, I will use this forum to concentrate on the true nature of what any school should have as its central core - its academics. Academics are the strength of Brandon Academy and our past accomplishments of our school as a whole and our students speaks for themselves. Over the years we have seen our school grow from its humble beginnings as a part of the University of Tampa to the full, all encompassing learning institution we have today. We have watched our students go on to be high school valedictorians, being accepted by the likes of MIT and Penn among many many others and becoming nationally recognized for academic accomplishments like the Scripps Spelling Bee and the National Geographic Bee. 

The completion of our new Student Life Center and new classroom building has brought our campus to the forefront of all Brandon schools. And, of course, the birth of our new High School has finally given our students the option to continue their education at BA. 

So what about this year? What is on the horizon for the academic accomplishments of our students this year? Those will be the topics of this forum throughout this school year. 

Fast approaching is what promises to be several historic days for Brandon Academy. First, on Sept. 15 the students of Brandon Academy High School will be visited by Florida Atlantic University. This will be followed by visits from Florida State University, Tulane University, Embry-Riddle University, Florida Gulf Coast University and many more.  The high school students will also be visiting the campuses personally of FAU, Florida Gulf Coast and Florida International. This is all taking place for our freshman and sophomores!!! One of the biggest weaknesses I have seen of other high schools is that the college conversation is not happening early enough to give students a realistic goal to aim towards. To that end, in addition to all this exposure to colleges and universities they will receive at Brandon Academy, our students will also take the PSAT and the practice ACT in preparation for college admission. This will be followed by individual meetings, as we did last year as well, to help guide our students in their university selection.

What an exciting time for all of students! 

Next week, I will focus on what the International Baccalaureate program will mean to BA as a full school community. I will discuss what IB is and how our youngest students all the way through to the high school Class of 2019 will greatly benefit. This academic growth will have give tremendous academic benefits to all of our students.

Have a great rest of the week!

Robert Rudolph

Head of School

Brandon Academy