American Heritage School - Boca/Delray

In response to the review dated 4/29/2012: The claim that Chinese students are being brought over on scholarships is entirely false; in fact, they receive no scholarships whatsoever and pay a higher tuition rate than American students.
—Submitted by a parent

My two children attend the Lower School, and they are thriving at AHS. I couldn't imagine a better environment for them. They love the school & everything about it-- the teachers, their classes, the special events, and the after-school enrichment. They don't even want to miss school when they are sick! I couldn't ask for a more well-rounded education for my children; from the academics to the fine arts programs to athletics, this is the kind of education every child deserves to have.
—Submitted by a parent

overpriced, quality of teachers are not so good, they only teach to let their kids go there for free
—Submitted by a parent

Pls, provide me the answer for this . My kid will reach 17 years and 11 months when he will finish grade 12 in this high school - what happen if he has no social number ? Does he can receive the certification of finishing high school ?
—Submitted by a parent

As a parent of two lower school children, I am very impressed with the education they currently receive at American Heritage School in Boca/Delray. Throughout the years my children have attended American Heritage School, I find the administration, teachers, and staff to be very engaged, compassionate, and truly invested in helping each child reach their full potential. American Heritage School provides my children with an exemplary education which is also enhanced with amazing opportunities within the visual and performing arts. As a parent, I am confident that the education they are receiving will help them achieve success in the future. In my opinion, American Heritage is an excellent school, and I would highly recommend it to any parent who wants the best for their children!
—Submitted by a parent

As a parent of two children at AHS (grades 6 and 4), I have found the teachers and staff to be both firm and fair. My children's teachers have been understanding of children in general while encouraging them to continue to grow as students and as people. I am confident that by the time my children graduate from AHS they will be prepared for the rigors of college.
—Submitted by a teacher

American Heritage is great experience academically and socially for my children.The curriculum is motivating and challenging. The teaching staff and the administration are professional and caring. But, best of all my children enjoy being there and are happy to learn in this amazing environment.
—Submitted by a parent

American Heritage School at Boca/Delray truly focuses on providing an excellent, well-rounded education to children in a technologically advanced setting. The lower school classes all have teaching assistants who are well-educated and really assist the teachers to ensure the students are successful. My fourth grader is in a special morning enrichment math program for advanced students who learn and compete with other students nationally. He also loves the science lab, where they do real experiments. My sixth grader loves the fine arts program. She takes dance and drama as electives, and performs with the Performance Dance Team and Junior Thespian Society. I'm grateful to have them at a school where they can develop their passions and try different things. They also learn how to use technology at a deeper level, because students are trained to write research papers using research databases and Noodletools. Both of my children know how to use Google Docs to submit assignments digitally to teachers. It's just a great, enriching environment.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter has been a student at American Heritage since she was in Pre-K3. Through the years, she has had a variety of loving and nurturing teachers. Her teachers have not only taught her the curriculum, but they have also loved her and appreciated her as a unique individual. Through the special programs offered on campus, she performed as a munchkin in the high school production of The Wizard of Oz, she hula hooped her way through a song at a holiday concert, and she danced at half-time of various football games of as a part of the new middle school dance squad. American Heritage has allowed my daughter to try her hand at and flourish in a variety of activities. I am thankful for the American Heritage Family! We plan to be a part of this family all the way through graduation!
—Submitted by a parent

My son, a Junior and third year student at AH is excelling beyond anything we could ever imagine! Coming from public school, I cannot express enough the unbelievable quality of education he is receiving. Rigorous classes, taught by exceptional teachers equals a true college preparation. We just returned from visiting schools in Boston & 3 in NY. Everywhere we went the admissions reps knew the AH Counselors by name & they know AH students are prepared. We have 2 elementary students as well. My 2nd grader speaks Mandarin Chinese beyond colors and numbers, completes HW independently on Google Docs, and our 3 yr old navigates his way around our I- Pad by himself. Also, they have assistants in each room. The teachers can actually focus on the students and do what they do best-teach! The individual attention and excelled curriculum is amazing. The idea that they are already motivating them about college at such a young age is truly commendable! I cannot speak highly enough about the professional and family like atmosphere. Students never want to leave! There's always something happening on campus. School never closes! I will never move from this area!
—Submitted by a parent

I have had the pleasure of being apart of the American Heritage family for the past six years. I feel it is an extraordinary educational college prep school. When I think of adjectives that describe American Heritage, the words that come to mind are superiority, brilliance, and dedication. American Heritage staff and Administration has always gone the extra mile for me personally and for the my children in there needs. American Heritage is most known around our community for its excellence in our pre-law and pre-med programs as well as technology. To list the awards, honors, and accomplishments that AHS has received would take pages. Yet even with its intense commitment to their quality curriculum, AHS finds time to work with Student Government, Key Club, and athletic programs just to name a few. Attending American Heritage is an honor to anyone who has the privilege to do so.
—Submitted by a parent

Enrolling my two children at American Heritage for preschool was the best decision my husband and I made. Now thirteen years later they have journeyed from toddlers to teenagers and we couldn t be happier. Heritage provides a balanced environment of academics, athletics, fine arts, positive social experiences, community involvement, and leadership opportunities. My children receive guidance from their teachers, as well as from administrators. American Heritage teachers have invested their experience and energy into creating a challenging, yet nurturing environment. The best teachers remain at Heritage because they understand the ingredients to a child s success; commitment, vision, and excellence. As high school graduation approaches, my son and daughter are prepared to compete at top universities and are armed with the confidence to dream big. I really hope that their college years are as awesome as their years spent at American Heritage!
—Submitted by a parent

My boys have been at American Heritage Boca/Delray since they were 3 years old they are now in 8th and 11th grade. I continue to be very happy with American Heritage. It is a dynamic and vibrant community with great diversity and amazing facilities. My kids love school. They can't wait to go in the morning. They do well in school and score high on standardized tests. This is a clear reflection of the fact that they have received a fantastic education in every subject as well as study skills and test taking skills which will carry them forward through high school, college and beyond. I. The wide array of sports, extra curricular activities and clubs provides them with a lot of opportunities for personal enrichment and growth. In addition to their core curriculum they are proficient in a wide variety of skills which includes things as diverse as public speaking, painting, photography, community service and leadership skills. During the school year students spend so much time at school. The amazing teachers and resources that Heritage offers have surrounded my boys with an incredible amount of guidance, support and discipline.
—Submitted by a parent

As a parent, we wanted to send our child to a private school that excelled in academics, sports, the arts and most importantly, treats the needs of children individually. After visiting many schools in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, we found that perfect fit at American Heritage in Boca/Delray Beach. Not only does this school meet all of our criteria, it also has state of the art facilities and programs not offered by other private schools. Our expectations have been surpassed. At American Heritage, our son is academically challenged and emotionally nurtured.
—Submitted by a parent

My two daughters have been part of the American Heritage family for nine years. When we began looking at private schools, our goals were to find a school that not only offered the best education for our children, but one that would allow them to grow into well rounded and capable adults. American Heritage School is a multi faceted learning facility that offers the BEST in education, the BEST faculty, the BEST in cutting edge technology enhancements, the BEST in community service, the BEST in fine arts, the BEST in athletics, and the BEST in teaching my children INTEGRITY and COMPASSION. American Heritage is the BEST school for my children and for our family.
—Submitted by a parent

The American Heritage policy of refusing to release transcripts of graduating seniors, thereby effectively denying these students the ability to apply for and attend university, unless and until all outstanding tuition fees of his/her SIBLINGS, are paid in full, discriminates against families with multiple students enrolled at the school. After spending over $135,000 at the school in 6 years, my daughter's transcript was held for a balance of only $5,000. After many attempts to resolve the matter amicably by reaching out to the school owner, Mr. Laurie, the American Heritage CFO, Ms. June Walker, and the Delray Beach campus Business Office Manager, Ms. Marie DeFago and after exhausting all avenues of equitable and administrative relief, I made a complaint to the BBB. American Heritage never replied to the BBB complaint. Now, I have been informed by the American Heritage CFO, Ms. June Walker that due to the BBB complaint, she would not accept the re-enrollment of my children after 6 years of attending the school. The whole issue arose as a result of the callous enforcement of a discriminatory school policy. The policy is wrong and unethical, and should be changed.
—Submitted by a parent

This is our summation, all of which American Heritage has not established as of yet. A great school has: Excellent teachers-A small handfull Strong principal/school leadership-Absolutely Not at this campus Challenging academic programs-Only for a small % of children that qualify to AH terms.American Heritage is undoubtably concerned about the welfare of their bank account and this school is without a doubt a money making machine. The tuition at this school excels most colleges per year and does not give the advantages you would think your child should obtain when paying this amount of money. The Academics have Coaches as teachers, crude at best and simply baby sitters at this point. They will tell you your child needs summer school because of the very low quality of teachers throughout the academic school year that never taught your child properly and summer school is as high priced as their regular school year and lasts the entire summer.CaChing!$ Unimpressive, this school needs new leadership and to be internally revamped from the ground up. The American Heritage registrar has made headlines in the NEWS, the BBB will not accredit the school and it has an F Rating.
—Submitted by a parent

Came on an academic scholarship and was disappointed in the academics. Teachers were rude, and lazy. Sometimes they wouldn't even show up to class. Teachers discouraged me from bringing in outside knowledge into the class. Also, the students are not open to friends unless you've been attending since pre-k. The transition was awful, I was bullied and didn't have any friends. I would come home from school crying every day.

We have had our children at American Heritage for 5 years now and will not be putting them back in this coming 2012-2013 school year. The teachers and academics are just average. Granted some teachers do go above and beyond and are excellent, but the ones that are just there for the paycheck stands out more. We are not impressed with the atmosphere, its either you excel or you dont, its either you have money or your not up to their pay echelon. Parents make sure your of the same social stature that they are or believe me your child wont be their childs friends. Its pretty obvious also, I had one child come to my car door with his cellphone in his ear asking me what my first and last name was and how to spell it, obviously his parent was on the other end of that phone call feverously looking up our stats on Palm Beach County Records...Ugh if only these parents and this community wasnt so busy social climbing, your teaching your children the wrong messages. Case in point I think you know what this means. If you have the extra money and it will take quite alot, then have at it! We came away with not alot of friends at all and a snobby atmosphere, we can do without.
—Submitted by a parent

Really unimpressed, this school costs as much as a college per year! For that kind of money I would think there would be alot more on their agenda for the students and parents. Give us what we paid for people, we want more of this institution. Show us what our kids have accomplished and stop leaving them out of the loop just because they are not as fast, or intelligent. There are children being brought over from China by the hundreds on scholorships to attend American Heritage, but our children at the school are told we have been there more than a year so we dont get the scholorships. Makes NO sense at all.
—Submitted by a parent