When I arrived to Royal Palm Academy a few months ago, I introduced myself to the school with a presentation that talked about my "big audacious goals".
Here's one of my big audacious goals:
It's my goal to complete a permanent brick & mortar campus in 10 years, by the year 2031.
I shared this goal publicly for the first time yesterday at my "Coffee and Conversation with the Head of School". I made a short presentation talking about this goal in the context of the next 27 years at Royal Palm Academy. Why 27 years? Because in the year 2048, Royal Palm Academy will be celebrating 50 years of providing extraordinary academics and faith formation. Wow!
What kind of school will Royal Palm Academy be in the year 2048?
• Strong enrollment of 425+ students, 2-3 sections per grade
• Vigorous Faith formation & School life program
• Best-in-Class program of the Highest Academics
• Competitive Athletic programs • Highly trained and competitively compensated Faculty & Staff
• Robust Student-led and fully-integrated Leadership Program
• Purposeful Student Support programs for all learners
• Strong Endowment & Scholarships keeping RPA affordable
If you would like to see my powerpoint slides with some additional information regarding these goals, please click here.
It is good to think this far in advance, because knowing where we want to go as a school helps us understand what kind of decisions need to be made now in order to get there. The year 2048 may seem far away, but in order to get there and achieve our goals, I need to get to work immediately laying the foundation for the next phase of our school's history. (Yes, pun intended).
This is where I am pouring my energy now - getting us ready to be the kind of school we want to be tomorrow. And in order to make this work possible, I need your help in the short-term in two very meaningful ways.
How can you help?
First, please consider making a gift now to our Royal Palm Academy Annual Fund. This is the fund that directly supports our academic programs and enables us to provide the best Catholic education at the most affordable tuition possible. A gift of any size makes a tremendous difference! Please review our Kings Campaign Giving Circles and make a one-time or monthly pledge to our campaign. Please click here to make a gift electronically, or mail a check to our school.
Second, I am in need of a few more donations to our website project. Developing a new website will enable our school to get our message out, improve our communications platform, expand our local brand awareness, and ultimately attract more students to our school. Increased enrollment helps us to keep our tuition affordable, expand our programs, hire additional teachers and staff, and improve the competitive compensation for our teachers. These are all necessary ingredients in order to move to a capital campaign phase within 1-2 years, and soon, begin a build phase on our campus. If you would like to contribute to our Website Appeal fund, please click here to make a gift and select "Website Appeal".
With your support, we can begin achieving our big audacious goals for the future of Royal Palm Academy!
Semper Altius!
Sincerely,
Michael J. Bussman
Head of School
mbussman@royalpalmacademy.org
Tuesday, September 28
MAP Testing 3-4
Curriculum Night (Virtual) 6-8 pm
Wednesday, September 29 Formal uniform day
8:15 School Mass (MAC)
2:15/2:30 Early dismissal all students
Chick-Fil-A Spirit Night 5-8 pm See flyer below!
Thursday, September 30
MAP Testing 3-4
Friday, October 1
MAP Testing 5-8
Important Dates / Coming Soon
September 29
Fall Fest t-shirt orders must be purchased by Wednesday, September 29 (see flyer below)
Congratulations to Brendan Barber (3) and Keegan Mulligan (3) on finishing in 8th and 10th places out of 115 student athletes at the Ave Invite 2021 Cross Country Meet. They are heading to States on October 24! Semper Altius!
Cross Country Update 9/25/21
Congratulations to our RPA Girls Cross Country Team, who came in 2nd place at the Seton Invitational Girls Race!
Rose O'Malley came in 1st place, and Ali Gorski came in 4th place.
St. John Neumann Catholic High School invites
Royal Palm Academy students grades K-8 to the
SJN Celtic Cheerleding Clover Clinic
Thursday, September 30th at 4 p.m.
St. John Neumann Catholic High School
Middle School Night and Homecoming
Friday, October 1 at 7 p.m.
Calling all golfers! It's time to register for the SJN Sports Booster Club Annual Celtic Scramble! We're teeing off on Saturday, October 16 at Arrow Head Golf Club to raise money for the Neumann athletic program. Grab your buddies for a round of fun and support the Celtic athletes!
This is an advertisement for the Neapolitan Family Magazine Cover Kids Contest. This contest is not run by or affilated with Royal Palm Academy.
If you are planning on entering your child in this year’s Cover Kids Contest, here are eight tips that will help you choose the best photo to enter. Best of luck to all entrants!
Face front. Be sure your child is looking directly at the camera. Eye contact is essential, and we want to see your child’s entire face in the frame. Let us see all of that adorableness – no sunglasses, hats, etc. that might block our view.
Keep it casual. Catch your child playing or when they are quiet and involved in an activity. Don’t try to dress them up, style their clothing, and still expect a relaxed photo.
Lighting is the key. Photos with dark shadows or with your child squinting into the sun won’t portray them in the best light (pun intended!). Photos taken during the “golden hour,” which is the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset, offer the best lighting. If you’re indoors, bounce light off walls or put your child near a window. Avoid back lighting, which results in a photo where the child is darker than the background.
Watch the background. The beach, open grass at the park, a hiking trail – all offer simple but beautiful backdrops for a good photo. Avoid busy street scenes, signs, or crowded theme parks. And definitely avoid a bunch of distracting people in the photo with your child. Make sure your child is the star of the show.
Your child’s personality should shine. A twinkle in the eye, a little bit of a smirk, or a huge grin – little extras make one cute kid stand out from all the other cute kids. Missing teeth, a mud-covered shirt, and a crazy outfit your kid chose themselves all can add up to a distinctive entry that we will notice.
In focus, please. Blurry and low-resolution photos are the worst offenders. We print photos out to 5x7 to choose the finalists. If we print your photo and everything is fuzzy, we have a hard time telling what your child looks like.
Limited or no makeup. Makeup makes it hard for us to see what your child looks like, and often masks their unique personality. Less is definitely more when it comes to makeup.
Don’t take it personally. Every year we have to make choices, and there are always kids we wish we could choose. If your child isn’t chosen, it’s not because they aren’t adorable. It may be because we have enough sibling groups or we need a child of a different age. We try to vary chosen models by gender, age, ethnicity, and sibling groups that will work for specific cover themes. We promise that your child is cover material – there simply aren’t enough months in the year for all of the kids who enter.
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:4-7
Prayers Requested For: Antonio Trigo
Repose of the Soul: Shirley Ann Baier
Jimmy Limb
If you would like to have a name added to our RPA prayer list, please contact Michael Bussman at mbussman@royalpalmacademy.org
Click on the image to be taken to the Lilly Pulitzer Fashion Show ticket page.
Interested in a sponsorship? Visit https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/22443/donations/new
Interested in purchasing a banner? Click on the image above or use the QR code.
For tickets, please click on the above image.
Are you interested in a tour or learning more about a Royal Palm Academy education? We still have limited spaces available for the 2021-2022 school year in Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and Elementary classes.
Click the "Schedule A Tour" button for
more information or a tour of a beautiful campus!
The mission of Royal Palm Academy is to partner with families to provide an education of rich academics with Catholic formation. We teach the mind, educate the heart, and form the character of tomorrow's leaders.
Making a gift to Royal Palm Academy is easy. You can set a recurring monthly gift or one-time gift from a bank account or credit card. Your gift is 100% tax deductible and your support makes a Royal Palm Academy education possible!
