by Brenda Sapanghila

It’s November, and we‘re excited to welcome Fredericksburg Academy as this month’s featured expert!

This private school has changes since we last spoke (Spoiler alert: They have a new tutoring program that’s open to the public!). We were eager to catch up on everything new to Fredericksburg Academy (flexible learning spaces!) and learn a little more about what they offer.

We understand there have been several changes and additions since we last spoke with you. Can you share them with us?

Absolutely! We updated our visual identity to better reflect our mission and began to bring it to life on campus, beginning in our Lower School. The palette was selected with color psychology in mind to give our students and teachers a more inspirational learning environment. Additional resources to support differentiated learning were incorporated into classrooms, walls were removed and replaced with handcrafted whiteboard barn doors, and our fifth grade became the region’s first truly flexible learning space at the elementary school level. You’ve got to check it out! We also began Talon Tutoring to lend Fredericksburg Academy’s unmatched faculty and state-of-the-art facilities to help any area students who want to take their learning to the next level in a variety of areas.

How does Fredericksburg Academy prepare kids for college? What impact does your tutoring program have?

Fredericksburg Academy equips students with the knowledge, confidence and character they’ll need to find success and happiness in college and throughout their adult lives—beginning in our 3-year-old program. Throughout early childhood, lower school, and middle school, students are immersed in a seamless tapestry of experiential learning that culminates in our acclaimed upper school. Small classes foster independence, accountability, and promote close student-teacher bonds that mirror the relationships they will form with college professors and, ultimately, in the workplace. Talon Tutoring is an opportunity for students to enhance their college admissions profile by helping them maximize scores on standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT and AP exams, or by strengthening their academic effort in regular courses.

Why did you feel it was important to open Talon Tutoring to the public?

Our school leaders have an outward approach toward education and are passionate about sharing what we call “the FA difference” with as many people, and in as many ways as possible. Most of our programs, musical and theatrical performances, and special events are open to the public—Talon Tutoring is no exception. You won’t find more dynamic summer or winter camps, or after-school enrichment classes, anywhere else. You can even rent our pool, theater, gymnasium or classrooms!

Tell us a little about what sets Fredericksburg Academy apart from other schools.

FA has students from age 3 through grade 12 on a shared 44-acre campus, which creates meaningful connections that exist at any other school. We put students first in all we do, which creates an individualized learning experience that exist at any other school. We have master teachers who love the flexibility of teaching at an independent school, which ignites curiosity in students and creates authentic learning that does not exist at any other school. One of the special opportunities open each year to Fredericksburg Academy students in eighth through twelfth grades, is the chance to travel to foreign destinations with their teachers and peers. The international travel program highlights Fredericksburg Academy’s belief in the place of global awareness in all parts of the Fredericksburg Academy curriculum.

What are you most looking forward to this school year?

We most look forward to following the journey of where our mission, “to inspire and empower our students to discover, to engage, and to imagine the limitless nature of themselves and the world,” leads throughout the year. Each day is a unique adventure! We’re also thrilled to have the opportunity to share this with students attending other schools through Talon Tutoring, on a smaller scale.

What are 3 things our readers might not know about Fredericksburg Academy?

- Fredericksburg Academy’s student body is more diverse than the average Virginia or U.S. independent school. - Fredericksburg Academy graduating classes have more college acceptances from which to choose and receive more college merit scholarships, on average, than any other local school. - Fredericksburg Academy awarded over $2.2 million for the 2018-19 school year through our Indexed Tuition program, which determines the level of tuition a family can pay based on its individual financial picture.