Private PK-12 School in Winter Park FL

The Crenshaw School, Orange County:
The Crenshaw School is an accredited private school located in Winter Garden, 5 miles north of Windermere and 14 miles west of downtown Orlando, with education programs for students in Pre-K through to Grade 12. Founded in 1999, The Crenshaw School encourages learning and self-discovery in a collegial atmosphere that provides academic challenges and personal rewards. Inspiring thinkers and developing leaders. The Crenshaw School engages students in a rich and invigorating educational experience of the highest quality, opening their minds to new possibilities while providing outstanding preparation for the next steps of their lives. Our students regularly attend colleges and universities in Florida, as well as Columbia University and Princeton University, to name a few.

Academics:
The Crenshaw School is made up of a Lower School (Prek4-5th), a Middle School (6th-8th) and a High School (9th-12th). We encourage you to learn more about the academic core of our mission by exploring this site's pages for each division - Lower, Middle and Upper.

Crenshaw is committed to helping the students do more than acquire basic facts and skills. Crenshaw provides a child-centered environment which is properly focused on every child as a learner. Our goal is to give students the means by which they can think, understand and apply their knowledge in intellectual and practical problem-solving. We recognize the value of utilizing multiple approaches to learning; therefore, our teaching methods vary from traditional to innovative. As students come to understand and adapt to their own learning styles, they develop the capabilities to become lifelong learners.

At Crenshaw, teachers begin by expecting more from students. With a low faculty/student ratio, they are able to personalize instruction to foster the learning necessary to meet rigorous expectations.

Crenshaw curriculum aims to:

• Foster intellectual growth through creative and critical thinking
• Promote, value, and respect a diversity of cultures and perspectives
• Identify a variety of learning styles and incorporate a variety of teaching styles
• Provide students with research and technological tools for the twenty-first century
• Assist students with college counseling once they enter the Upper School

* Lower School Program:
Young children develop attitudes about learning based on their earliest experiences in school. With this in mind, Crenshaw offers a nurturing, safe environment and a distinct, sequenced program specifically designed to meet the needs of its Lower School students. Our developmentally appropriate curriculum inspires children to love learning by instilling positive attitudes and motivation, teaching strong basic learning skills, introducing a wide variety of disciplines, and fostering early social skills.

From the age of four, Crenshaw guides each child towards self confidence and independence in a supportive and challenging environment. The Lower School believes in the benefits of a classroom centered on a "learn by doing" philosophy. This philosophy ensure that the student acquire high-level skills rather than move through a fact-based curriculum. Students explore within a small, nurturing environment. Curiosity, questions, and creativity will ignite your child's journey at The Crenshaw School. Your child in the twenty-first century will possess knowledge of mathematics, science, language arts, history, world languages, technology, and the fine arts.

Knowledge will be augmented by a wide array of skills. Skills, such as the ability to write creatively, to manipulate number for the purpose of extrapolating patterns, or to formulate hypotheses and design science experiments are essential elements of your learned child.

Your truly educated child of the new millennium will move beyond knowledge and skills to cultivate priceless habits of mind. Habits of mind include one's desire to craft provocative questions born out of curiosity, to reflect on the nature of one's own thinking, to synthesize old concepts into new ones and to weave together diverse perspectives into one coherent idea. These habits of mind support lifelong learning, learning that transforms our understanding of the world.

* Middle School Program:
Designed to meet the varied needs of the early adolescent, the Middle School integrates subjects, study skills, community service, athletics, and social and personal growth activities into its program. It offers a challenging and enriching experience, preparing students for the Upper School's rigorous college preparatory curriculum. The curriculum combines the core subjects - math, English, science, social studies, and foreign language - as well as fine arts, technology, and physical education to develop the six potentials of each student. Students have the opportunity to choose courses that stimulate and challenge them academically.

Crenshaw's Middle School builds upon the academic foundation laid in the earlier years. In grades six through eight, basic skills are solidified as students expand their knowledge of literature, social studies, mathematics, science, computer, health, and performing arts. It is at this time, after interdisciplinary exposure to Spanish in the Lower School, that students begin formal instruction of modern language.

The demanding course of study exposes students to a broad knowledge base and readies them for the scholastic commitments expected in our college preparatory Upper School. All classes are small and discussion-based. Middle School curriculum is interdisciplinary, multicultural and is designed to stretch students' thinking from the concrete to the abstract. Our approach keeps enthusiasm high, while helping students use facts and techniques, and apply concepts creatively to both individual and group work.

Crenshaw attends to the developmental needs specific to adolescents by addressing and supporting the increased need at this level for good organization, routine study skills, responsibility for one's work and mature social behavior.

* Upper School Program:
The Upper School offers a strong and varied program that provides numerous opportunities for students to demonstrate their individual strengths and develop their potential. The rigorous college-preparatory program, which includes Honors and Advanced Placement courses in each discipline in addition to a diverse selection of electives, prepares students for the college and university setting.

The curriculum is designed to inform, challenge, and stimulate students as they are being prepared for college and lifelong learning. The focus is not only on the content of the liberal arts, but also on the acquisition of skills that will enable young people to solve varying problems in an ever-changing world. Courses are designed to actively engage students in the learning process, to build ongoing relationships with faculty and peers, and to achieve academic independence as a hallmark of their endeavors. Crenshaw presents Upper School students with the challenges in all disciplines while encouraging them to pursue individual interests and community relationships.

The curriculum -- taught in small, seminar-style classes -- emphasizes methods of inquiry as well as written and oral expression necessary to the study of mathematics, the physical and social sciences, the humanities and modern languages. Students continue to develop and refine their skills and knowledge in the arts. They are also required to complete a computer science requirement and engage in community service. In an atmosphere and physical setting that promote both independence and responsibility, students can elect to take Honors and independent study.

* Dual Enrollment Program:
11th and 12th graders are encouraged to participate in Dual Enrollment at Valencia Community College or University of Central Florida for one or two classes per semester. Students must have a B average or above in order to register and apply to this program. This experience enhances their college admissions process and ensures their capacity to meet the challenges of future schooling. Crenshaw has utilized this Dual Enrollment program with great success for juniors and seniors. It is always awe-inspiring to watch how our students grow and are instilled with confidence and maturity during this time.

* Visual Arts Program:
Art is presented as an integral part of the educational experience at The Crenshaw School. The goal of the art department is to help students develop skills and discipline in the arts. We provide exhibit and display opportunities for the appreciation of the visual arts and encourage students to seek new areas of investigation with a variety of mediums.

We strive to promote an appreciation for self-expression and an understanding of the arts as an integral part of the human experience. In a safe and nurturing environment, students develop the capacity for imaginative thinking and self-confidence by using artistic processes in a unique and creative way.

The art curriculum stresses individual growth and gives students the opportunity to explore, express and develop their creative talents in a non-competitive, informal studio atmosphere. An array of art media, cultural references, technical skills and design theory are introduced.

* Music Program:
In the music program, children gain the knowledge to understand, participate in and enjoy the art of music as a lifelong activity. They develop skills in memory, discovery, self-expression, observation, concentration, and risk-taking. Students are offered appropriate musical opportunities that correspond with the various stages of their musical growth and development.

The music curriculum, which emphasizes individual growth, provides opportunities for all students to understand, participate in and enjoy the art of music as a life-long experience. The study of the creative process and self-expression in music fosters self-confidence and develops an appreciation of the historical and cultural aspects of music.

* Theatre Arts Program:
Theatre is integrated into everyday life in the classrooms, as well as in music classes when students are preparing for performances. The theatre program strives to help students develop an appreciation for self-expression through theatre and to understand theatre as an integral part of the human experience. Students study and practice theatre as art form and gain an understanding of the performance arts that enhances their future roles as audience members and / or patrons.