City: Fort Lauderdale, FL

Category: Education

Telephone: (754) 321-0000

Address: 600 SE 3rd Ave.

Description: There are about 160 private elementary schools in Greater Fort Lauderdale, and some 60 private high schools ranging from college preparatory to religious. In the elementary school category, there are a number of private schools with kindergarten-only programs, while some have only kindergarten and pre-K, some go up to specified grade levels, and still others go up to grade eight. For example, Broward County has three branches of the prestigious North Broward Preparatory School, with students from prekindergarten through twelfth grade. These schools focus on providing students with a multifaceted experience that extends far beyond the classroom, involving the arts, athletics, community service, technology, travel-study programs, and environmental studies, with the goal of better preparing them for college. Greater Fort Lauderdale also has a private religious-based school that has achieved fame for its excellent balancing of both academic and religious studies. St. Thomas Aquinas High School, in Fort Lauderdale, has been named to the National Catholic High School Honor Roll as one of the top-50 Catholic high schools in the United States. It’s the only high school in Florida to achieve this ranking. And, incidentally, its athletic teams are often among the best in the state, and many of its student-athletes go on to win athletic scholarships at major universities. Another excellent private school is the American Heritage School in Plantation, an independent, nonsectarian school for grades pre-K through 12, with approximately 2,400 students. The school was founded in 1965 to serve the fast-growing communities west of Fort Lauderdale, and it sits on a wooded 40-acre campus. It has an award-winning fine arts program. The college preparatory curriculum at American Heritage serves students of bright to gifted intelligence. Fort Lauderdale’s Pine Crest School is another school that is considered superb by educators. Pine Crest School is dedicated to academic excellence, as well as developing other aspects of a student’s personality and talents. Toward that end, the school provides its students with a wide range of academic, social, community, and athletic opportunities. Its graduates go on to some of the finest institutions of higher learning in the country. And one of them, Brandon Knight, was the best high school basketball player in Florida during the 2009–2010 season. The University School at Nova Southeastern University is another place that emphasizes preparation for higher learning. And that’s an attitude that makes sense as it’s located on the campus of Broward’s largest institution of higher learning (and one of the largest private universities in the country). Three-quarters of the teachers here have graduate degrees, and the atmosphere is one of innovation and experiment.