The Wellington Preparatory School Offers Students Strong Academics And Much More
The Wellington Preparatory School is a private school serving children in pre-kindergarten through grade five. Located on Lake Worth Road, it is affiliated with and shares a campus with its sister preschool, Planet Kids at Wellington.
The facility opened in 2005 as a preschool only, but parents soon asked for a strong, academically focused private school to continue the academic success provided in the preschool.
As demand continued for a prep school alternative for the Planet Kids preschool graduates, the administration opened the Wellington Preparatory School in 2012, and the school grew rapidly to its current enrollment of approximately 400 students. The school’s mission is to provide accelerated academics, in small classes, with exceptional co-curricular classes.
The Wellington Preparatory School offers curriculum developed by Columbia University and the University of Chicago as the core of its academic offerings. It also has a robust science and robotics program, violin lessons twice a week, “Meet the Masters” art, Spanish, karate and physical education.
Each area of instruction has been researched and selected to provide the best in education. For instance, during the development of the school, the music curriculum specialist selected violin lessons due to the unique characteristics of the unfretted instrument. Students must learn the mechanics of playing the instrument as their ear must learn the sounds of each note.
“Meet the Masters” introduces students to 10 master artists throughout the year with more and more detail about the artists and what makes them special. By the end of elementary school, students have a detailed understanding of 10 great artists and have emulated their work.
In addition, the Wellington Preparatory School provides classes after school that include art, French, chess, robotics and science. The school offers before care starting at 6:15 a.m. and after care from 3 to 6:15 p.m.
“Our small student classroom environment allows for our teachers to meet the needs of every student,” Principal Sandy Montoya said. “If a student has mastered a specific subject, we will enhance their assignments. We focus on each individual student’s academic achievement, along with their social and emotional development.”
The Wellington Preparatory School strives to find the most qualified teachers available to enhance the school environment.
The pool of qualified applicants is smaller than at other schools, since the Wellington Preparatory School does not hire inexperienced teachers and requires faculty with experience in its curriculum. National searches are the norm.
“Our teachers have taught at some of the best schools in the country, and we have had to go out of state to find the perfect fit,” said Jeff Altschuler, the school’s founder and president.
The school is also looking to expand in the future. The Wellington Preparatory School sits on a five-acre campus and has four buildings, including a business office and caretaker’s residence.
The original expectation was that the elementary building would have enough capacity through fifth grade. However, the private school grew faster than anticipated, so a second campus will eventually be needed to meet the demand.
Students Emily Sarria and James Hamilton are typical of the accelerated academic environment at the Wellington Preparatory School, which prides itself on teaching a grade ahead at all levels. Sarria and Hamilton were spelling bee finalists and, when they went on to compete in the regional competition, Sarria was the only second-grader to participate in the entire competition.
The Wellington Preparatory School is located at 9135 Lake Worth Road. For more information, call (561) 649-7900 or visit www.wellingtonprep.org or www.planetkidsworld.net.we
