MCA Academy

When we moved to Miami, I knew I needed to find a small, nurturing environment for my kids. My older daughter had been bullied in the past; I wanted to put her in a learning environment where she could concentrate on her work and feel supported and safe.
Both of my children love their teachers and their classmates. One thing I really appreciate about the school is that all the kids hang out together – girls and boys, and older kids and younger kids. Because the school is so small, there are no cliques and no one is ever left out.
My children came to MCA from a rather strict and formal school. They just love how the teachers at MCA interact with the kids and parents on a personal level. The teachers email the parents at least once a week to update on the kids’ progress. It’s a cozy environment. My kids actually want to go to school every day and they come home with lots of stories about their school day. It’s really a nice feeling to know that your kids are excited about school and about learning. Because of the small class sizes, they get a huge amount of one-​on-​one attention. They both tell me that they feel like they learn more, understand more and are able to process more information in a shorter period of time than at their former school.

Our daughter is now just finishing her first year at MCA – 1^st grade. The whole approach is based on educating each individual student. The children don’t go from daily lesson plan to daily lesson plan, on to the next piece the next day regardless of how much they grasp they day before. Instead, they monitor kids individually and go from benchmark to benchmark. Consequently, our daughter does not go on to new concepts until she has mastered the previous ones. This is building on granite. Considering that there are only 5 or 6 kids in her class, it has meant for us that so much more gets accomplished in the classroom than in the 30 kid zoo we ran from the year before. It also means homework is gone. No fighting all afternoon to start homework and there is always time to play! I strongly suggest that any parent considering MCA go see it during a school day. I told my wife after she asked me to go see for myself that it felt like Narnia. Our daughter fought us every day on the way to her charter school kindergarten class before we found MCA. Now, the reverse. We hear similar stories from other school parents and students. We also can see how our child’s teachers love their jobs. This matters to us. We get weekly progress emails. There is usually some comment about how happy our teachers are to have our child in their lives. We give the highest possible recommendation.

My niece is a student at the MCA and I love what I see happening in her classes. Beautiful, strong bonds form between the children and the teachers there, partly due to the small student teacher ratio. .. about 4 to 1, which is amazing, partly due to the passion these devoted young teachers bring to their subjects. Very cool. I believe my niece will grow up to become a very different person because of the unique, warm, individualized experience she is having. Very hard to find these days.
She was attending an «A» public middle school before but it was a very poor match for her nonetheless. We quickly realized it doesn’t matter how good the school is if it doesn’t work for your child. My niece is now flourishing at the MCA. She looks forward to going to school and, most importantly, she has regained her self confidence and love of learning. We are all delighted.
I recommend the Mca for anyone looking for a small, nurturing environment that does Not teach to the FCAT and allows families to breathe and have quality time together again. The kids get their work done IN class and NOT at home! Simply Wonderful. Two thumbs up!
They have lots of open houses. .. go take a stroll through this beautiful school and check it out for yourself.
.
Hope Blinski

MCA Academy is a private school in Coconut Grove that allows students with talents beyond school to excel academically. If your son or daughter is a talented athlete, dancer, musician, actor and needs lots of time to practice this is your solution to providing a quality education! They offer flexible scheduling so students can travel, train, and develop their special gifts. MCA Academy is an intensive learning experience with no FCATS or g hours of homework. Students have gone on to Ivy League Schools and to careers in sports and the arts after graduation.