The Wellington Preparatory School Offers Students Strong Academics And Much More By Deborah Welky
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 Co-
lumbia 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 stu-
dents 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.” wellington the magazine | june 2017
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