Head of School Letter: Standing on Strong Shoulders

Recently I had the chance to reconnect with a group of Emeritus Trustees at a gathering hosted by seven former Chairs of the Board of Trustees. Emeritus Trustees are former members of the Shorecrest Board who are granted this honorary title in recognition of their distinguished service to Shorecrest. Being with these leaders from different Shorecrest eras reminds me of what an amazing and strong community Shorecrest has always been and continues to be. 

I used this opportunity to provide an overview of the School to this special group who stewarded Shorecrest through so many years. My focus was on the current state of our enrollment, college matriculation and strategic planning. While much of this information is frequently shared among our current families, it is powerful information that bears repeating, and I'm proud to share those highlights with you below: 

I want to start by celebrating the strength of our community. There is incredibly strong demand for a Shorecrest education, and our enrollment currently sits at a robust 1,006 students. Last year, interest was so high that we were able to add a section of PK3 Alphas to accommodate our growing families. Currently, we have reached full, optimal capacity in the Experiential and Lower Schools—from Alpha through 4th grade—with four sections at every grade level. While being fully enrolled speaks to the value of our program, it does mean that admission in these grades is currently limited to spaces that may open unexpectedly. We also continue to see solid demand for spaces in our Middle and Upper Schools. As we look toward the future, our enrollment funnel numbers for this admissions season are already up in every category, signaling another strong year ahead.

Next, I want to talk about College Matriculation. As many of you are aware, the college landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years. But despite these changes, Shorecrest students continue to be accepted into and attend highly selective institutions around the country. In just the last five years, we have sent one or more students to prestigious private universities such as Harvard, Princeton, Columbia and Barnard, Cornell, Duke, Brown, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, and NYU, as well as top liberal arts colleges like Williams, Bowdoin and Davidson. 

We are also seeing incredible success with selective public universities such as Georgia Tech, Michigan, UVA, and UNC—including students enrolling as Morehead-Cain Scholars.

And of course, we have to talk about Florida. UF has seen a meteoric rise in rankings; it is now considered a top-5 public university and had over 90,000 applicants for the freshman class last year. Despite this rise in selectivity, Shorecrest students continue to be accepted at an impressive rate. In fact, nearly 75% of our senior class apply to Florida public universities, with strong interest in UF and FSU.

I also want to highlight a tradition we are very proud of: almost every year, we send a graduate to a U.S. Service Academy, including West Point, the Air Force Academy, and the Coast Guard Academy, and we are so proud of our Shorecrest alumni who go on to serve our country. 

We have been busy with Strategic Planning. In our most recent strategic plan, there were six key initiatives, with specific emphasis on academic excellence, co-curricular programs and safety and security. 

Academically we offer 27 Advanced Placement courses in the Upper School. Last year, 92% of our students scored 3 or higher on their exams. Our curriculum also includes honors classes in most subjects, providing a challenging academic program for all. 

Upper School Students have the option to participate in our signature academic programs: STEAM, Medical Sciences, Global Scholars and our newest certificate program, the Ross Roeder Institute for Financial Literacy, Economics and Entrepreneurship. Many students also pursue their academic passion through independent study courses.

Of course, academic excellence means that we focus on attracting and retaining the best faculty. One way we have done this in The Teachers Fund, created through the generosity of many donors. The Teachers Fund provided $3,500 grants to each and every classroom teacher to use for professional development or classroom equipment, meant to enhance the learning experience for our students.  

Our co-curricular program is a critical part of the student experience. With 48 athletic teams schoolwide, 70% of our students participate in Athletics. In recent years, we have won state championships in football, volleyball, soccer, sailing, swimming and track & field. With our beautiful new turf field, we just introduced varsity lacrosse for boys and girls last spring, and started a flag football program for girls as well.

The Visual and Performing arts remain very strong, with expanded opportunities for students to perform in musical theatre, participate in thespians, forensics, band, and pursue intensive work in the art studio. Our artists and actors continue to receive state and national recognition. Shorecrest graduates go on to pursue majors in visual and performing arts, including at highly recognized schools such as the Tisch School of Arts at NYU.  

Competitive Robotics has exploded in popularity at both the Middle and Upper School levels, where our teams compete regularly in the First Lego League and Vex Robotic Competition league. We field multiple teams and have found success at the state, regional, national and even international level! 

Safety and Security is always on our mind. In recent years, we created a dedicated staff position for this purpose, in addition to the two armed security guards who are always on campus when students are present. We instituted access-control locks for each building with key card entry. We recently upgraded our camera system with over 200 sophisticated cameras, along with license plate readers positioned at the entry and exit of campus. We were the first school in Pinellas County to implement the CENTEGIX emergency response system. And we work closely with the Pinellas County Sheriff's department to coordinate regular safety drills for our community.  

As you can tell, there is no shortage of activity on campus.

Connecting with these former leaders was a powerful reminder that we truly stand on the strong shoulders of those who came before us. Their dedication laid the groundwork for the thriving campus we enjoy today. Thank you to our Emeritus Trustees for paving the way, and thank you to our current community for ensuring Shorecrest’s future remains just as bright.

All the best, 

Nancy