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Curriculum | Schedule a Visit | Watch the Video
Click on a question below to see the answers.
To set up a time to visit or to ask for further information about the Seabury 6th grade experience, please call Admissions Director Jacquie Krueger at 785-832-1717 (ext. 121) or write to jks@seaburyacademy.org.
What makes the 6th grade curriculum at Bishop Seabury Academy unique?
Does Bishop Seabury Academy offer an environment that is safe and age-appropriate?
How many students are in each grade and each classroom at Seabury?
What standards does the Seabury curriculum follow?
What are the qualifications of Seabury teachers?
What sports programs are available at Seabury for 6th grade?
Does Seabury have arts?
What does it mean to be an Episcopal school?
What sort of student thrives at Seabury?
Is there diversity at Seabury?
To what schools do graduates go?
Can I afford independent education?
How do you justify the expense of independent school education?
How is Bishop Seabury Academy unlike other schools?
What makes the 6th grade curriculum at Bishop Seabury Academy unique?
• The 6th grade year will offer a solid foundation to a college-preparatory education.
• This primary year will provide a solid grasp of fundamentals in core subjects and in the arts, with an emphasis on writing & reading skills and mathematics.
• Students will develop effective learning tools and habits and will enter 7th grade with an advanced skill set that will prepare them for the highest level of academic success.
In general, Bishop Seabury Academy develops confident, mature, and independent students who are competitive with college-bound students from other prestigious secondary schools. Small class size and individual attention is crucial to an effective education and is central to the Bishop Seabury Academy mission.
• We have a unique culture that fosters strong rapport between students of different ages under the guidance of an engaged faculty.
• Thanks to our small class sizes, a carefully structured curriculum, daily morning meeting and family-style lunches, our students come to know and respect one another regardless of age.
• Lower school (6-8) and upper school (9-12) students are separated for age appropriateness in classes and school activities.
• Our expectations for student behavior are clearly known and reinforced, resulting in fewer
disciplinary problems.
• Parents send their children to Seabury because of the safe and supportive environment.
• Grade size is presently capped at 35 students. Average class size is 12-15 students. We offer a 6:1 student to teacher ratio.
• We are accredited by ISACS (Independent Schools Association of the Central States), a well-respected accreditation organization in the Midwest.
• Seabury offers a challenging academic program that reflects a format and level of rigor that is consistent with independent education throughout the country.
• Our students score very well on standardized testing—on average, 200 points above the national average on the SAT and 5 points on the ACT—but the faculty do not simply “teach to the test.” Our goal is to develop confident and mature life learners.
• Eighty percent of our faculty have advanced degrees and many have received state and national recognition for their work.
• Our teachers are hired based upon considerable experience, breadth of knowledge and passion for their subject, ability to make subject matter accessible, and rapport with students.
• Seabury has an inclusive sports program. All students make the team and all students have playing
time.
• Fall: Boys Football, Girls Tennis, and Volleyball, and Co-ed Cross Country
• Winter: Girls & Boys basketball
• Spring: Boys Tennis and Golf, Girl’s Soccer and golf
• Seabury additionally offers cheer squad.
• We have an exceptional program with theatre, music, and visual arts.
• All 6th grade students will participate in curriculum in all three of these arts.
• Seabury has three full theatre productions for lower school and multiple annual choral concerts.
• The Episcopal school tradition emphasizes both strong academic preparation and character development.
• The Academy encourages students to develop a strong moral foundation and to understand the value of their lives, relationships, and studies within a larger context of spirituality and humanity.
• As an Episcopal school, Bishop Seabury Academy includes a weekly chapel with a Christian framework that respects and encourages the various beliefs of its students.
• Bishop Seabury Academy was founded to provide a supportive and engaging environment for students who want to learn and who want to be themselves. It is common for parents and teachers to say, “It’s cool to be smart at Seabury.” And though Seabury attracts intelligent and motivated students, we believe that good character and family support are equally important in applicants.
• Twenty-six percent of our students are from minority backgrounds.
• We also have diversity in the economic backgrounds
of parents.
• Seabury Graduates receive acceptances to a wide range of colleges and universities across the country and even universities abroad. Grinnell College, Macalester College, Vanderbilt University, and KU are among the many colleges that are popular with our students. Seabury graduates have also received full-tuition merit-based scholarships to schools such as Washington and Lee University, Duke University, and DePauw University.
• Seabury’s college counselor helps students gain acceptance to the schools that they want to attend—schools that are a good fit for that individual.
• No family should ever assume that independent education is out of reach financially. The cost of attending Bishop Seabury Academy varies because 25% of our families receive financial assistance, and an award depends upon each family’s particular financial situation.
• The Board of Trustees commits 10% of the operating budget to financial assistance and also offers other discounts and scholarships to make a quality education available to all families.
• Interested families should talk to the Admissions Director and can fill out a financial aid application. Parents can choose to make payments by month, semester, or year.
• In material terms, our graduating seniors have significant success in college acceptances and scholarship offers. In this way, a Seabury education can more than pay for itself. But more importantly, one cannot put a price tag on a parent’s assurance that their children are in an environment that helps them to become the best people that they can be.
• You have a good sense of Seabury when you walk into the school and see morning meeting, lunch, classes, or just student life in the hallways.
• There is a familial quality to the school—a strong, positive rapport amongst students, a sense of purpose and joy in studies and in student relationships, and a fondness between students and faculty.
• One visitor, prompted to articulate what is unique about our students, noted that our young people are defined by a “goofy goodness.”
• The school’s curriculum and activities have been developed with an important assumption in mind: when young people are challenged and believe that adults care about them and have high expectations, only then will those young people begin to understand and actualize their true capabilities—their potential as human beings. In a culture of responsibility, intelligence, creativity, honor, and faith, students will become healthy, happy, and responsible citizens.
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