St. Andrew's Episcopal Academy

Located in historic, downtown Fort Pierce, Florida, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Academy has a spectacular riverfront campus on the Indian River Lagoon. The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) is a unique, highly diverse, shallow-water estuary of national significance stretching along forty percent of Florida’s east coast. The IRL is home to a rich array of plants and animals whose existence depends on the quality of water within the Lagoon. More than 2,000 species of plants, 600 species of fish, 300 species of birds, and 53 threatened or endangered species inhabit the IRL for at least some portion of their lives, and scientists have shown the IRL to be one of the most biologically diverse estuaries in North America, St. Andrew’s uses its unique location to provide students an accelerated education in marine science and other vital STEAM disciplines.

Our students are connected to local environmental and scientific organizations, along with innovators in the area’s private sector. Our downtown area offers a thriving boating and marine industry, the Sunrise Musical Theatre and flourishing arts & culture scene. Our corporate partners support the Academy in a variety of ways and offer our students insights into entrepreneurship, civics and leadership.

At St. Andrew’s Episcopal Academy, our instructors take experiential learning seriously and understand we must prepare students for a global economy. Experiential learning takes various shapes and occurs in multiple settings. St. Andrew’s experiential learning includes reflection, critical analysis and synthesis, opportunities for students to take initiative, make decisions and be accountable for the results. It provides opportunities for students to engage intellectually, creatively, emotionally, socially, and physically. This learning model is infused throughout the Academy, from PreK-2 through 12th grade.

As part of a St. Andrew’s Episcopal Academy education, we are deeply committed to making our community a better place. We passionately believe that leadership involves making the lives of others better. We rise by lifting others. It is part our goal that our students have a profound understanding of volunteerism, not just for the required community service hours, but how they truly make a difference to those in need. We have formed enduring partnerships with a host of diverse, local nonprofits, such as Habitat for Humanity, Friends in Pink, Mustard Seed, Voices for Children of the Treasure Coast, The Boys and Girls Club of St. Lucie County, the Dolphin Research Center and St. Lucie County’s Oxbow Eco Center.

Our students and families stand ready to support communities that have suffered a hardship. When Hurricane Dorian swept through the Bahamas, St. Andrew’s students, families, faculty and staff raised over $6,000.00 for disaster relief in one single day. It was a shining example of our culture of giving back.

The Academy educates the whole child in mind, body and spirit. St. Andrew’s Episcopal Academy, like other Episcopal schools, was founded in 1970, not solely as communities for other Christians, like a parish church, but as inclusive and diverse ministries of educational and human formation for people of all faiths and backgrounds. Episcopal schools are populated by a rich variety of human beings, from increasingly diverse religious, cultural, and economic backgrounds as described by the National Association of Episcopal Schools. Our weekly chapel services are performed at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, located next to our Lower School. We invite our parents and families to attend our Academy services with our students.

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Academy instructs students in the Episcopal Tradition. Like other Episcopal Schools, we are populated by a rich variety of human beings, from increasingly diverse religious, cultural, and economic backgrounds. We are intentional in our purpose of reflecting the remarkable diversity we have in our community. We seek to integrate religious and spiritual formation into the overall curriculum and life of St. Andrew’s.

As a member of the National Association of Episcopal Schools, we include a weekly chapel service that is creative, inclusive, draws fully upon the liturgical resources of The Episcopal Church, and is a regular part of school life for all faculty and students. Community Life, in which reflection, prayer, and matters of the spirit are honored and cultivated and the physical, mental, and emotional health of all are supported and nurtured. Religious Formation and Study that is meaningful, academically substantive, and age-appropriate; and in teaching the Christian tradition, fosters dialogue with other faith traditions. Social Justice, which is the integration of the ideals and concepts of equity, justice, and a just society throughout the life of the school; the embracing and honoring of diversity; and the inclusion of community service and service-learning as an integral part of the life of the school.

The Episcopal Tradition draws upon our foundational principles to help students navigate today’s world. Purpose, ethics and empathy are character traits that will always be valued now and in the future. Today, as an independent school, we balance our instruction. Academy students are provided competitive academics, along with the skills of intellectual curiosity, tenacity, open-mindedness, thoroughness and the confidence to be good thinkers and learners.

Our Physical Education and Sports programs are both traditional and unique. Our students participate in basketball, volleyball, soccer, swimming and a host of other opportunities. Our Middle School athletic teams participate in the Mid-Coast Athletic Conference, consisting of six local private schools. Our High School athletic teams compete as members of the Florida High School Athletic Association, where we participate in District, Regional, and State competitions. We ensure that all our students get plenty of physical activity every day, whether it’s through our partnership with Ignite Sports, on our Lower School playground or the ability for our Upper School students to kayak off our distinct and beautiful shoreline.

We are honored to be accredited by the Florida Council for Independent Schools (FCIS), Advanced Ed and the Florida Kindergarten Council. St. Andrew’s Episcopal Academy is a proud member affiliate of the National Association of Independent Schools, National Association of Episcopal Schools, National Elementary Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Honor Society, and the National Association of Student Councils. By implementing the high standards and best practices required to earn the distinction of our accreditations, we ask nothing less of our administration, faculty and staff.

We ask our students to reach higher, work harder and be their very best. To attract and keep the kind of team that helps our students achieve, we have worked hard to create an engaging work environment and the capacity for true success. This has been recognized for the last two years in a row as St. Andrew’s Episcopal Academy has been awarded as a Best Place to Work in St. Lucie County, the only private, independent school to achieve such a distinction. The continuing education and professional development of our faculty and staff ensures that your child receives the kind of innovative instruction they need to achieve.

As a private, independent school, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Academy has a Board of Trustees that oversee the strategic and financial goals for the academy. The school’s governance is led by this deliberative group with clearly defined roles and responsibilities that are key to the sustainability of the academy. The governing body attends to new policy and changes in existing policy, all within the spirit of the mission of the school, and consistently exercises its fiduciary responsibility while delegating the operational and educational functions of the school to the Head of Schools. This vital oversight ensures St. Andrew’s Episcopal Academy remains true to our mission. None of our Board of Trustees are compensated and they fulfill their roles on a volunteer basis.

We invite you to learn more about St. Andrew’s Episcopal Academy. Our Admissions Department is resolute with ensuring new families a transparent and informative experience. We understand that each child and family have unique requirements and strengths. We provide a customized tour to each new family and a comprehensive explanation of our enrollment process. We can include a shadow day for your child to fully experience a day with our teachers and other students. This is all designed to ensure a great fit for you and for the academy.

Contact us for more information at 772-461-7689 or continue to navigate our website to learn more about us and how you can become part of the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Academy family.