Wellington The Magazine – June 2016                                                       American Heritage School Provides Its Students With The Resources That They Need To Succeed

By Deborah Welky

The American Heritage School is a college preparatory school where students from PK3 through 12th grade receive a rigorous and well-rounded education that prepares them for college and beyond. The school’s college guidance program is extensive and begins in the ninth grade.

American Heritage was founded in 1965 in Plantation and opened its Delray Beach campus in 1999.

Melanie Hoffman, public relations director for the school, noted that students at American Heritage receive more personalized attention than in a public school setting.

“The resources available to them are tremendous,” Hoffman said. “Students and parents both appreciate the ability to design a course load that meets their needs.”

At American Heritage, the curriculum is rigorous, providing the Stanford Math Program for high-achieving students in the Lower School and more than 40 Advanced Placement and honors courses for high school students.

In the Lower School, students learn how to write and communicate at an early age. In the Upper School, the curriculum has honors courses in literature, journalism, economics, psychology and history, as well as business/entrepreneurship, speech and debate, and pre-law classes.

Pre-law classes are taught daily by attorneys practicing in their fields. It is a pre-professional curriculum for students who want to pursue the possibility of a career in law. Courses are offered in business law, criminal law, criminal procedures, constitutional law, juvenile law, corporate law, current legal matters, homicide law, evidence, trial advocacy, mock trial, moot court and law internships. American Heritage boasts the top mock trial team in Palm Beach County and the top two moot court teams in Florida.

Some of the more unique courses are e-commerce, computer science, marine science, environmental health and a pre-medical honors program. That program includes the study of medical terminology, embryology, physical exam, anatomy and physiology, pathology, forensic science, organic chemistry and medical internships. Like in pre-law, pre-med classes are taught daily by doctors and specialists practicing in their fields, offering a firm grounding for students who want to explore the possibility of a career in medicine.

“We are proud to be the number one public or private high school in Palm Beach County in math competition, the number one private school in Palm Beach County in the science fair competition, the recipient of first place at the Brain Bowl, and home to robotics teams that have qualified for the Robotics World Championship for two consecutive years,” Hoffman said.

Three foreign language courses are also available. “Our students choose between Spanish, French or Mandarin Chinese,” Hoffman said. “We are the number one private school in Palm Beach County at the French Congress Championship.”

American Heritage opens at 6:30 a.m. for students who need to arrive at school earlier, and the lights rarely go out until long after the sun sets. There is something for everyone with more than 70 clubs and organizations, created and headed by students with a faculty adviser, as well as enrichment classes for younger students such as yoga, Zumba, karate, robotics and iMacs. Students can also join one of the school’s many competitive sports teams.

“We have a ‘no cut’ policy that allows every student who wants to participate an opportunity to play on the Stallion team of his or her choice,” Hoffman said. “Our coaches provide a high-quality level of instruction, enabling students to further develop their skills and build good character, leadership and respect for others.”

In addition, the fine arts program is recognized internationally.

“We welcome students with all abilities in the arts, and our low student-to-teacher ratio gives each student the chance to develop skills at his or her own pace,” Hoffman said. “We feel that a student should be well-rounded, so we teach performance techniques and hands-on application, combined with theory in all disciplines of study.”

In 2016, American Heritage had the highest number of National Merit Scholars in Palm Beach County, and the Class of 2016 was offered $14 million in college scholarships. It has a nationally ranked student television network and is the top private school in Palm Beach County for student government competitions.

American Heritage’s Delray Beach campus, which serves many students from the Wellington area, is located at 6200 Linton Blvd. just east of Jog Road. For more info., call (561) 495-7272 or visit www.ahschool.com.

Wellington The Magazine – June 2016                                                       Renaissance Charter School At Wellington Offers A Unique And Personalized Approach To Education

By Deborah Welky

Although it could be mistaken for a private school at first glance, the Renaissance Charter School at Wellington is actually a public school, one of six in Palm Beach County (and 77 nationwide) run by Charter Schools USA. There is no tuition, although students do buy and wear uniforms. But that’s not all that distinguishes a charter school from a private school.

“A district public charter school has to apply to open, getting approval from, in some cases, the district and, in some cases, the state,” Colleen Reynolds of Charter Schools USA explained. “They must come to the table with a plan of education, and they must perform to a certain level or they get shut down. A charter school has to succeed.”

Charter schools must also define what is acceptable to parents in each region they serve, then meet those expectations.

“The advantage that Charter Schools USA has is that we have been managing charter schools for 20 years and have been able to establish an educational model that’s called ‘a guaranteed and viable curriculum,’” Reynolds said. “If the model is followed with fidelity, the curriculum is guaranteed — the students will grow and succeed. Each child is taught and learns until they reach mastery. We run benchmark testing and base the curriculum on this data. If a student is not reaching 80 percent mastery, the teacher goes back and teaches the subject again, perhaps in a different, more innovative way.”

This is because Charter Schools USA believes that a test score is not a reflection of the student as much as it is a reflection of the teacher.

“It really makes sense when you think about it. What sense does it make for a student to fail a test and keep on going?” Reynolds asked. “Another thing that sets our charter schools apart is the personal learning plan. It’s a collaboration of teacher, parent and student. We figure out where the student is and set benchmarks. If a student struggles in reading but aces math, we’ll provide enrichment programs for math to further challenge that student, but we’ll set more difficult goals in reading. We use the data to see what each student needs to do to achieve academic success.”

In addition to this data-driven instruction, Charter Schools USA uses a variety of instructional resources and software programs to meet the needs of its students.

“Some of the programs and resources might be the same as the district, but we use our own disciplined approach for innovations to review and identify the resources that our schools use,” Reynolds said. “There are some resources that would be consistent within all of our schools, but additional resources are identified to meet the needs of the specific students within each building.”

Helping students achieve is not always easy, particularly in areas where students have many challenges in addition to schoolwork.

“When we open schools, we open them in a variety of different places,” Reynolds said. “And what we have found is that in less-affluent or disadvantaged areas, the first-year grades are not usually very good. But that data is what helps us find our benchmark. We find out where to alter, change and tweak so that those students who came in below grade level can be brought up to grade level and then beyond. It takes one to three years to do that, generally.”

This brings students to a more equal footing across the socio-economic spectrum.

“What we do is lessen the achievement gap so that students who don’t have parents to help them with homework or who may be worried about whether or not there will be dinner on the table get the same opportunities as those students who do not have those same struggles,” Reynolds said.

Charter Schools USA prides itself on being the first corporate system to receive automatic, system-wide accreditation by AdvanceED.

“Because we have such high standards for all our schools, every school that we open will be accredited when it opens instead of needing individual review to be accredited,” Reynolds explained.

With before-care and after-care available, the Renaissance Charter School at Wellington serves grades K through 8.

The Renaissance Charter School at Wellington is located at 3200 S. State Road 7 in Wellington. Call (561) 228-5242 or visit www.palmbeachcharterschools.org for more information.

Wellington The Magazine – June 2016                                                                    The King’s Academy Offers Students A Well-Rounded Education  With A Distinctively Christian Perspective

By Deborah Welky

The King’s Academy, a private Christian school founded in 1970, offers its students an exceptional education on a state-of-the-art campus conveniently located for Wellington-area families.

TKA is one of only 50 private schools in the United States to have been designated a “National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence” by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for American Private Education. TKA was honored as an “Exemplary High Performing School” as measured by assessments referenced against national norms (student achievement test scores as they relate to national standards).

In addition, 100 percent of TKA seniors are accepted to four-year colleges and universities, with eight out of 10 students getting into the first university of their choice.

Understandably, the school’s leaders are quite proud. “Private schools traditionally offer a more personal level of education with tailored programs,” Director of Development Glenn Martin explained. “The King’s Academy offers excellence in education from a distinctively Christian perspective.”

In addition to basic academic curriculum for grades K-4 (junior kindergarten) through 12, TKA meets the needs of individual students through gifted classes, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programming, Promethean Classroom technology, an Explore program, Advanced Placement and dual enrollment classes. There is also a business track and a National Institute for Learning Disabilities-based program.

The STEM program encourages groups of students to utilize the VEX Robotics system to solve complex problems; a state-of-the-art television studio, “Studio 70,” features the latest in production equipment; and many teachers incorporate blogs, wikis and Moodle forums into their curriculum, assuring that technology has a central place at TKA.

“Our academic program prepares students for whatever level of college they desire, including the Ivy League, state universities, Christian colleges and more,” Martin said, noting that TKA graduates have been awarded more than $31 million in college scholarships since 2011.

The King’s Academy also offers championship athletics — everything from baseball and tennis in the spring to golf and football in the fall. The new Full-Page Aquatic Center opened just last year.

“Our athletic programs compete on a local and state level, boasting numerous state championships, with an emphasis on integrity and character,” Martin said.

For the arts-minded, TKA offers its nationally known fine arts programs, such as Meet the Masters, as well as dance, voice, digital arts, theater and the instrumental arts.

Students’ visual artwork is showcased on hallway bulletin boards, in local contests, in online galleries and in local businesses. At the end of the year, one chosen piece of artwork by each child is featured in a school art festival.

“Our fine arts programs are state and nationally recognized for quality of production and instruction,” Martin said.

The school serves approximately 1,300 students from preschool through 12th grade and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools/AdvancED, the Association of Christian Schools International, and the Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools.

“The King’s Academy offers a well-rounded Christian education that allows students to explore areas of interest and excel in areas of giftedness. The campus culture is second to none,” Martin said. “The number one reason parents choose private education these days is the safety and security offered, and TKA excels in this area. TKA’s community is one of family and encouragement, with a palpable sense of security and safety on our beautiful 60-acre campus.”

Aside from its main campus on Belvedere Road, TKA also operates four preschool locations throughout the county and anticipates opening two more in the coming year.

The King’s Academy is located at 8401 Belvedere Road at Sansbury’s Way. For more information, call (561) 686-4244 or visit www.tka.net.

Wellington The Magazine – June 2016                                                         Ashland Farms’ Emily Smith Brings Her Eye For Design To The Wellington Community

By Emily Riden

Pick any weekend during the Winter Equestrian Festival season, and you are likely to find Emily Smith standing ringside, looking right at home helping coach a horse or rider to success in the show ring. But pick an afternoon in April, and you are just as likely to find Smith studying fixtures, poring over fabric samples or reviewing design plans.

The talented, Wellington-based riding instructor has adeptly transformed what started as a passion and love for interior design into a second career. Today, she seamlessly juggles life as a trainer — alongside her husband, Ken Smith, at their successful Ashland Farms — with life as the lead interior designer of her own Ashland Designs.

“I’m a horse person, but I’ve always helped friends decorate,” Emily said. “I officially started out with interior design about five years ago. I had a partner from Europe, and we bought a house in Wellington and totally gutted it and redid it. That was my first real project. That was the beginning of it all. That was just me doing it myself, and then somebody bought the house. She ended up calling me when she bought the house. She wanted to do some more things, so I’m always working on that house, still, five years later.”

From that initial project, Ashland Designs was officially born. And while the added job may make for an additional piece in the already busy equestrian lifestyle puzzle, Emily finds that the two are the perfect fit.

“I largely only decorate for horse people, because that’s who I know,” Emily explained. “I’m really grateful to the horse people because I’m a horse person. I know how busy they are and the time constraints. Because of their busy schedules, many people want to be able to come into the home and have everything done, right down to the plates and the silverware, and we’re able to do everything.”

Since launching Ashland Designs, Emily has focused her work throughout Wellington, with a few additional projects in Lexington, Ky. Ashland Designs also now operates a west coast branch based in California.

“It’s busy, but I have enough people who help me that we can get it done,” Emily said. “I run Ashland Designs eight months of the year, and then during [the WEF] circuit, I really concentrate on the horse shows. It works out well, because that’s usually how I meet people, or people end up needing me because at the end of circuit they’re buying a new house.”

One of Emily’s most recent projects included the complete design of the newly constructed Palm Beach Polo home of Mason Phelps Jr., president and founder of Phelps Media Group, and Ron Neal of Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Emily helped design the details of the home from the ground up.

“Ron and I would go shopping quite a lot,” Emily said. “We did everything — the flooring, the paint colors, the hardware, the kitchen design, the kitchen cabinets, all the landscape and pool design, exterior colors, trim — just everything. Then we also focused on taking their old pieces that they already had and making them compatible with the new space. And we had some fun lunches in there, too!”

Her clients speak highly of Emily.

“We’ve known Emily for a long time in the horse world, but we really enjoyed being able to now work with her in this capacity as well,” Phelps said. “We could not have asked for a better, detail-oriented designer, and we love what she has been able to do with our new home. We’ve had quite a number of dinner parties here already, and everyone has raved about her work and the look and feel of the house.”

While Emily caters everything specifically to clients’ wants and needs, her own personal style incorporates whites and clean lines with an open and airy feel, all while combining some old and some new. She hopes to continue to bring that personal style to homes throughout Wellington, which she has called home for the past 23 years.

“I love being able to live and work here,” Emily said. “I love the weather. I love the people and the community and the horse show — it’s just my favorite place to be.”

To learn more about Emily Smith and all that Ashland Designs has to offer, call (561) 371-1510 or visit www.ashlanddesignsfl.com. To find out more about Ken and Emily Smith’s Ashland Farms, visit www.ashlandfarmsfl.com.

Wellington The Magazine – June 2016                                                Wellington’s Education Committee Provides A Crucial Link To The      Local School System

Story by Ron Bukley  •  Photos by Abner Pedraza

Members of Wellington’s Education Committee provide an essential service as liaisons between local schools and the village to help everyone work together.

The panel also helps dole out $25,000 grants to the elementary schools, plus additional funding for students in middle schools and high schools. The committee closely monitors the spending to get the best uses from the allocations.

As the committee’s liaison, Director of Community Services James Poag tries to provide structure to that interchange.

“I was kind of instrumental in the framework, the guidelines and the process for submitting for payment, and verifying that the money was used for what it was submitted for,” he said, adding that the committee also works to address other educational issues that take place in Wellington.

The committee is the guiding voice for the Wellington Village Council regarding issues that take place in Wellington schools.

“They provide consultation on these issues, and they are a liaison between the council, our schools and the school system itself,” Poag said.

Although grants to the schools may be the most visible work of the committee, they are only a portion of what the committee does.

“They also provide us guidance and direction in terms of my department when we say we’re going to roll out a new youth program,” Poag said. “They provide us with guidance and direction in terms of how effective they feel that program would be, and they help us in terms of recommending individual schools that would benefit most, and put us in the right direction. They can put us in touch with the right people to talk to in order to get students to participate in those programs.”

The committee also provides insight to village leaders on individual issues within the schools.

“The council members are not educators,” Poag said. “So these individuals, with their background and their interaction with the different schools, provide the council information on how we can better support schools so those students can be successful and achieve their goals.”

Looking into the future of Wellington, Poag said that the school system is one of the most important factors to continue to draw individuals to raise their families here.

“If we are going to remain a viable and sustainable community, we have to focus in on education,” he said. “We have to provide additional support to our school system so it remains attractive to individuals looking to move into our community.”

Poag is assigned to help develop strategies to provide support to the schools in areas that may be lacking.

“No community can handle their issues in terms of educational success alone,” he said. “That’s why the partnership between the Village of Wellington and the Palm Beach County School District is so important.”

Wellington’s Education Committee is the lynchpin that keeps that partnership growing.

“The committee has the opportunity to discuss those issues, provide that information to me, the liaison, then I can take those issues back to the council to consider how we provide additional support, or what other strategies can we look at to try to help resolve issues in the school system.”

The committee spends considerable time deciding how money to the schools will be spent to be most effective, on non-consumables such as computers and additional tutoring, rather than paper and pencils.

“I think the committees plays a vital role not only in providing information to my department, but to the council in terms of day-to-day issues,” Poag said. “Without them, we wouldn’t be aware of those issues, and we wouldn’t be able to formulate strategies to help provide the necessary support that the school system needs in order to ensure that our children in Wellington are getting a quality education.”