Saint Andrew's School (Florida)

Saint Andrew's School was founded in 1961 by the Episcopal School Foundation as a boarding school for boys.^[1][2] Fifty acres of land was donated by the ARVIDA Corporation and the Butts family on condition that a Christian school be established there,^[3][4] and early financial support came from Alexander D. Henderson Jr. and his wife, Lucia Maria Henderson.^[3] The Rev. Hunter Wyatt-Brown Jr. served as its first headmaster and the Rev. Raymond M. O'Brien as its first chaplain.^[1][2][5][6] The school opened on September 21, 1962, with 122 boarding and day students, including boys from as far away as Rio de Janeiro, Lima, and British Honduras.^[4][1]

By 1971, the campus had grown to 70 acres,^[7] and the school admitted its first female day students; the first female boarding students followed a year later, in 1972.^[2][8] Further expansion came in stages: a Middle School (grades 6–8) opened in 1994, a Lower School (kindergarten through grade 5) in 2000, and a Junior Kindergarten (pre-K) program in 2008. Together, these additions transformed Saint Andrew's from a single-sex boarding school into a coeducational pre-K–12 day and boarding school.^[2]

As of 2026, Saint Andrew's reports a total enrollment of 1,340 students, comprising approximately 420 in the Lower School , 275 in the Middle School, and 640 in the Upper School.^{[9][10][11][12]} The school's 110 boarding students come from more than 26 countries, and international students make up about 5 percent of total enrollment.^[9] Approximately 26 percent identify as students of color, and 18 percent of the student body receives financial assistance.^[9]

All three divisions of the school offer an International Baccalaureate curriculum, alongside Honors and Advanced Placement coursework in the Upper School.^[1] The curriculum spans STEM, humanities, world languages, and interdisciplinary studies.^[1] In 2010 the school joined Round Square, a network of schools focused on experiential learning, leadership, service, and international understanding.^[13][14]

The school offers performing arts (band, chorus, dance, guitar, orchestra, and theatre), visual arts (painting, drawing, ceramics, and multimedia), and media arts (film, multimedia communications, and broadcasting) across all divisions.^[15]

Saint Andrew's operates a College Guidance Office to support college admissions counseling; nearly all graduates enroll in four-year colleges and universities.^[15]

Saint Andrew's fields more than 20 interscholastic teams across the Middle and Upper School divisions, competing under the Florida High School Athletic Association. The school has won two national championships—in boys' tennis (1989–90) and squash (2023–24)—along with more than fifty state team championships and more than eighty individual state titles in sports including tennis, swimming, lacrosse, golf, water polo, cross country, track and field, basketball, and soccer.^[15]

Saint Andrew's occupies an 81-acre campus in a residential area of Boca Raton, Florida, about five miles from the Atlantic Ocean.^[1] The grounds feature tropical landscaping, banyan trees, and a central pond, with residence halls near the center of campus accommodating approximately 100 Upper School boarding students, supported by residential faculty apartments and common spaces.^[1]

Since the early 2000s, the school has completed more than $30 million in construction and renovation projects, including Justin Hall, Henderson Hall, Parker Library, the Dr. Albert Cohen Family Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, and the Kessler Digital Media Institute.^[16] Under the school's 2015 campus master plan, Henderson Hall was renovated and Parker Library was returned to the building where it was originally located when the school opened in 1962.^[17]

Academic and administrative facilities

Academic facilities include the Schmidt Family Science Center; the Dr. Albert Cohen Family Center for Entrepreneurial Studies; the Kessler Digital Media Institute; the Moabery Early Years Learning Center, which serves Junior Kindergarten and early-childhood programs; and Parker Library.^{[18][1][3][17]}

Justin Hall, completed in 2019, houses the school's Advancement Office.^[16] Suprenant Hall, built in 1963 as a student union, provides additional instructional and administrative space.^[2]

In 2025 the school opened Charles and Hagerty Hall, a 26,000-square-foot academic building constructed as an expansion of the former Rooks Hall.^[19] The $25 million facility contains 17 classrooms, specialized testing spaces, administrative offices, the Stern Family Learning Center, the Afsaneh Z. Siadat Faculty Collaboration Center, and the Shibe Flagler Macfarland Family Student Terrace.^[19]

Saint Andrew's School is accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS) and nationally by Cognia.^{[29][30][15][9][31]} It is also authorized as an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School.^[32]

The school is a member of numerous professional and educational organizations, including the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES), the College Board, and the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC).^{[31][9] [15]}

The school is also affiliated with Round Square and the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY).^[2]

Saint Andrew's lists 166 classroom teachers and 24 administrators.^[33][34] Sixty-two percent of teachers and administrators hold a master's degree and eleven percent hold a doctorate.^[33][1]

The school is governed by a Head of School (formerly called Headmaster) and a board of trustees, which oversee strategic planning, financial oversight, and institutional governance.^[1]

Saint Andrew's has had the following heads of school since its founding:

1. 1962–1963 – Rev. Hunter Wyatt-Brown Jr.^[2]
2. 1963–1964 – H. Proctor Martin^[35][36]
3. 1964–1971 – Eugene J. Curtis Jr.^[37]
4. 1971–1974 – Frederic L. Burr^[38]
5. 1974–1986 – John Pierce Cotton^[2]
6. 1986–1989 – Rev. William Posey^[2]
7. 1989–2007 – Rev. George E. Andrews II^[2]
8. 2007–2012 – Dr. Ann Marie Krejcarek^[39]
9. 2013–2016 – Peter B. Benedict II^[40]
10. 2016–2017 – Dr. James Byer^[41]
11. 2017–present – Ethan W. Shapiro^[42]

The Miami Dolphins used the campus as their training camp facility from August 7, 1966, to April 24, 1970, after relocating there from a prior training site in the St. Petersburg, Florida area.^{[43][2] [44]}

The campus was later used as a filming location for training-camp sequences in the 1968 film Paper Lion, based on George Plimpton's book of the same name.^[45]

The campus has also hosted notable summer sports programs, including the PGA National Academy of Golf for Juniors, a summer golf camp for youth aged 12 to 18 directed by Gary Wiren, which utilized the school's facilities while playing at the nearby Boca West Golf Club.^[46]

In October 2013, Saint Andrew's hosted the Round Square International Conference under the theme "Waves of Change," drawing roughly 500 students and 200 adult delegates from Round Square member schools worldwide.^[14][47][13]

Since April 2018, the school has annually hosted TEDxSaintAndrewsSchool, an official TEDx event series featuring live presentations.^[48]

In June 2026, Saint Andrew's School served as the inaugural Southeast U.S. host site for the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY), offering three-week advanced academic summer day programs for students in grades 2 through 8.^[49]

Saint Andrew's School has been tax-exempt as a 501(c)(3) organization since 1963.^[42] In its IRS Form 990 filing for the fiscal year ending June 2025, the school reported total revenue of $73.3 million against expenses of $62.7 million, for net income of approximately $10.6 million. It reported total assets of $182.3 million, total liabilities of $99.2 million, and net assets of $83.1 million.^[42] Program service revenue—chiefly tuition and fees—accounted for the large majority of total revenue, with contributions and investment income making up smaller shares.^[42]

The school's net assets grew substantially over the 2010s and 2020s, rising from about $11.6 million in the fiscal year ending June 2011 to $83.1 million by the fiscal year ending June 2025, a period that coincided with the campus master plan and associated capital fundraising.^[42][1]