Franklin Road Academy

Infobox School
name = Franklin Road Academy


motto = "Building scholars with integrity and balance."
established = 1971
type = Private co-educational college preparatory
grades = PreK-12
enrollment = 935
ratio = 10:1
head of school = Dr. Margaret "Sissy" Wade
conference = TSSAA - Division II (Beginning 2009-10)
colors = Blue and White
mascot = Panthers
newspaper = "Panther Tales"
yearbook = "The Blueprint"
address = 4700 Franklin Road
city = Nashville
state = Tennessee
country = USA
homepage = http://www.franklinroadacademy.com

Franklin Road Academy is a Pre-K-12 private, non-denominational Christian school located in Oak Hill, a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee, with approximately 1,000 students. It was established in 1971. Its Head of School is Margaret W. ("Sissy") Wade.

History

Beginnings

In 1971, Franklin Road Academy was created in coordination with First Christian Church as a "white flight school". In order to build the school, over $300,000 in mortgage bonds were sold to church members, parents, and the community at large.

With construction still ongoing, Bill Bradshaw, Head of Franklin Road Academy, tested students in the office of Howell Hardware Store on Twelfth Avenue. Soon after completion of the new building, students began classes on September 7, 1971.

The next school year, many more students applied for enrollment at FRA. In order to meet the demand, Sunday School rooms at a nearby church, First Presbyterian Church, were leased. Students were ferried between the two buildings, First Christian Church and First Presbyterian Church, in an old six door limousine.

In 1973, FRA added additional classrooms and Lower School library. This addition was built not only through monetary donations, but also through gifts in-kind, such as labor, materials, and "know how" (such as plumbing, brick laying, electrical, etc). In that same year, FRA also received approval from the Tennessee Department of Education and became accredited by the now non-existent Mid-South Association of Independent Schools.In 1975, FRA decided to establish a high school. The first class of 9^th graders were housed in a building known as the Burke House. The following year, additional land was purchased in order to construct a formal high school building. In the Fall of 1976, both 9^th and 10^th graders began in the new building despite the lack of a fully completed roof. Each year, an additional grade was added until, in 1979, a class of 40 12^th graders graduated from Franklin Road Academy. [Citation
title = Franklin Road Academy History
url = http://www.frapanthers.com/about%5Ffra/history/index.cfm
accessdate =2007-02-18 ]

The 1980s

In 1981, Bill Bradshaw retired and was replaced as Head of School by William L. Campbell.

On June 3, 1982, Franklin Road Academy became its own separate organization incorporated under the name Franklin Road Academy, Inc., thereby achieving its goal to become an independent, denominational, Christian , co-educational, college-preparatory school. Following its incorporation, FRA received accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

In 1983, an anonymous donor provided funds to add a second floor to the high school for the creation of a middle school. Four years later, FRA raised $3 million through a capital campaign for the construction of a separate lower school (conventionally known as an elementary school). In 1988, the new lower school was dedicated as Danner Hall. [Citation
title = 1980s
url = http://www.frapanthers.com/about%5Ffra/history/eighties.cfm
accessdate =2007-02-18 ]

The 1990s

In 1994, the George A. Volkert Athletic Complex was completed. Referred to as "The Hill" by students and faculty, the complex houses a Football stadium, Baseball stadium, Tennis courts, a track, and a Softball field.During the 1990s FRA's middle school partnered with IBM to give students laptop computers. This was a ground breaking project, as laptops were relatively new at the time, and were very rarely used outside of the business sector. However, the project became a burden on IBM and the school, so it was ended several years later.

In 1999, FRA completed a $7 million middle school and fine arts building. The 3 story building houses approximately 300 students grades 5^th through 8^th in one building. The same building also features a state-of-the-art theatre as well as 2 art rooms, a drama room, a band room, a choir room, 4 practice rooms with pianos, and a dance studio. [Citation
title = 1990s
url = http://www.frapanthers.com/about%5Ffra/history/nineties.cfm
accessdate =2007-02-18 ]

The 2000s

In order to bolster its image as a diverse school, Franklin Road Academy decided in 2000 to change the school mascot to a Panther. Its previous mascot, the Rebel, was decided to be politically incorrect and insensitive to African-Americans due to its connotations to the Civil War and slavery. Although many students initially disliked the change, the panther has become accepted by the majority of students.

In 2001 in an effort to create a friendly rivalry among students, FRA instituted a high school-wide competition dubbed "Alpha-Omega" whereby the high school students were split into two teams, the "Alphas" and the "Omegas". The two teams compete in a year long competition with events ranging from Basketball and Powderpuff Football to Lip-Sync and Homecoming skits. Points are awarded to the wining team for each event. The year-end competition, called May Day, is an all day event with Soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, Three-Legged races, and many other games. The event culminates in the awarding of the trophy to team with the most points. Currently, the "Alphas" are the reigning champions, although the omegas have an overwhelming lead in the overall series. [Citation
title = 1990s
url = http://www.frapanthers.com/about%5Ffra/history/new_millenium.cfm
accessdate =2007-02-18 ]

Starting in 2005, Franklin Road Academy began an unprecedented roll out of Tablet PCs to every high school student. The tablets, which are purchased by the students, allow for classes such as Math, Science, English, and Music (Band and Choir) to conduct classes with greater ease.

Ed Zaborowski says his Advanced Placement Calculus class finished its curriculum weeks ahead of schedule because of the computers, giving him more time to review for the Advanced Placement exam.
"When you can expose (students) to material much quicker because you have better access to it and can get immediate feedback, you can take them much further than if you're using a paper and pencil and textbook," he says.
...For example, students in Zaborowski's class don't fall behind if they miss a day of school, because the class' Web site has links to the downloadable homework, worksheets and lesson explanations from that day. [Citation
last1 = Lawley | first1 = Erin
title = Franklin Road Academy takes class technology up a notch
newspaper = Nashville Business Journal
date = 2006-05-19
year = 2006
url = http://nashville.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2006/05/22/focus1.html ]

In Fall of 2006 FRA expanded its Tablet PC Program to include 7^th and 8^th graders as well.

Campus expansion

In January 2006, FRA broke ground on its new South campus expansion. The expansion was made possible through the unexpected purchase of the First Christian Church property. The purchase of the land increased FRA's campus to a total of 55 acres. [Citation
last=O'Brien
first=Erin
title=Franklin Road Academy breaks ground on new facilities, quad
newspaper=Green Hills News
pages=14
year=2006
date=January 26, 2006
url=http://www.frapanthers.com/about_fra/history/greenhillsnews/ ] ). Moving the books into the new Library and Technology Center from the old library took a total of 4 days and the involvement of approximately 600 students. [ cite news
title = Library Books Touch Students at Franklin Road Academy
publisher = News Channel 5, WTVF
date = 2006-12-18
url = http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=5678012
accessdate = 2007-06-06 ]

The total cost of the expansion, including the purchase of the First Christian Church property, is approximately $12 million. [Citation
title = Franklin Road Academy going for college look, feel
newspaper = Nashville Business Journal
date = 2006-01-20
year = 2006
url = http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2006/01/16/daily35.html ] In order to raise money for the expansion, Country Music star Alan Jackson donated his 2005 Ford GT to be given away in a raffle.

Technology upgrade

The renovation and expansion of the high school facilities allowed FRA to dramatically upgrade its technological capabilities. With the expansion came campus-wide Wi-Fi, an intercom system in the high school, the implementation of a campus-wide VoIP system, networked projectors in every room, and keypad enabled exterior doors for greater security. Over convert|32000|ft|m of networking cable was used in the expansion/renovation of the high school. [ Citation
title=School Graduates to 10-gig Cabling
newspaper=Communications News
volume=44
issue=1
year=2007
date=January 2007
url=http://archive.comnews.com/stories/articles/0107/0107coverstory.htm ]

The Wi-Fi expansion, which had already been implemented in both the high school and middle school buildings, expanded connection to the lower school and outdoor areas such as the new quad and the cafeteria patio.

The intercom system was a necessary addition since the high school hadn't been updated since its original completion in 1975. The beginning and end of classes were marked by the ringing of an actual bell and not electronic buzzers as were available in the lower and middle schools. The new high school system allows for quick, efficient communication between administrators, faculty, and students on a day to day basis, and in the event of an emergency.

The networked projectors allowed for every teacher to have a projector in their room, as well as eliminate the need for televisions carts that were wheeled to classrooms as needed, since each room is equipped with DVD and VCR players connected to the projectors. Teachers are able to wirelessly connect to the projector in order to display notes, PowerPoints, or anything else to the entire class.

The keypad-enabled exterior doors provide greater security by limiting the avenues of access to the buildings for visitors. The doors are accessible by students and faculty alike through the use of special codes entered into the keypads. Doors that are not secured with keypads remain locked at all times however.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.frapanthers.com Franklin Road Academy Official Website]
* [http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/tn/private/1778 Greatschools.net review of FRA]