Lake Ridge Academy started in Elyria's neighborhoods when a stranger knocked on the door of an area businessman and wondered if they could create a better place to educate children. Soon they, and a third founder, were opening their homes to invite neighbors, friends, strangers, and whoever would come to hear the dream of an independent school. This dream to start a school, not for the affluent, but for those parents that desired an exemplary learning environment where their children would be known became a reality because of these families' efforts.
The school that emerged from these meetings and opened its doors in 1963 has gone through many changes. So has our world. Though we talk about living in an increasingly small world, the truth is that though our world may have "shrunk," many of us have lost touch with the neighbors next door. While our sense of community is being lost in our neighborhoods, we begin with a community at Lake Ridge Academy.
We are a diverse community of families who seek an outstanding educational experience for our children. We are a community of students who thrive in a learning environment where we are known, loved, and held to a high standard by our teachers. We are a community of mentors, scholars who value an intense intellectual debate as much as we cherish a child's smiling face. We are also a community that embraces our cultural differences and believes that understanding and appreciating those differences makes us better world citizens.
Within this caring community of learners, we offer an educational experience that few schools can match. From the time our students start kindergarten, they are immersed in an inquiry-based education to pique their innate curiosity. Beginning with the youngest, our students learn to ask the right questions and how to find answers, essential skills in an ever-changing world. This approach to education helps us develop independent learners and fulfill our mission of developing confident young people who think critically and creatively.
We have followed the wishes of our founders by offering an exemplary developmentally appropriate college preparatory curriculum. We are a school where hard-working students excel. Our graduates are known for their outstanding communication skills and ability to think and work independently. While we offer several unique programs, like our graduate certificate programs in scientific research, fine arts, and global citizenship, along with our K-12 foreign language program, we ground our students in the basics.
Understanding the importance of math and science in the 21st Century, we continue to be a math and science education leader in the Cleveland area. Beginning in kindergarten, our math program lays the foundation for understanding algebra, geometry, and calculus. Our high achieving math students begin taking algebra in sixth grade. Our advanced Upper School students are offered independent studies in Multivariable Calculus and Differential Equations. Taking advantage of a 93-acre campus with woods and pond that serves as an outdoor laboratory for our K-12 students, our environmental program begins with labs in kindergarten. It ends with our Upper School's Honors Environmental Studies class. Our Upper School offers honors and AP classes in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. We also offer our students unique courses like Anatomy and Physiology and Developmental Biology and Embryology for students interested in the medical profession.
Our Fine Arts program is one of the areas best. Believing that each student at Lake Ridge Academy possesses their own unique set of artistic talents and skills, our arts programs begin in the earliest grades. From kindergarten through eighth grade, we engage our students in many art media, musical arts, and regular performances. Students enjoy a wide range of offerings from AP Art to Musical Theater Lab in the Upper School. Our newly developed jazz program hosts visiting professors from area colleges to work with our young performers. Our Thespian Society has produced incredible musicals and dramas like our award-winning state production of The Imaginary Invalid.
The accolades our academic programs have received do not stop there. Our graduates will tell you that the outstanding education they received at Lake Ridge Academy more than prepared them for the rigors of college. They will tell you that the opportunities they had in and out of the classroom gave them an advantage over their college classmates. They will also tell you that what they miss most about Lake Ridge Academy is the love and support that they felt within this community, a community with the values of integrity, respect, scholarship, and personal best at its core.
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