Oxbridge Academy Foundation, Inc. is a private coeducational college-preparatory high school in West Palm Beach, Florida. Oxbridge Academy serves grades 9-12. Aimed at academically gifted students of all socioeconomic backgrounds, the school has physical therapist on staff, chef-prepared lunches, an equestrian club, a sailing team, a flight simulator, and a football team which caused some scandal in 2016.
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History
The school was funded with a $50 million donation from Bill Koch. Koch's goal was to create a school for his own children where academically gifted students of all socioeconomic backgrounds could do hands-on projects and learn by problem solving, a place where students ruled. Oxbridge was opened in under a year on a 45-acre campus that once held a Jewish community center. By 2016 he had spent more than $75 million on the school.
In 2011, Koch hired Robert C. Parsons to lead the school under titles president and chief executive. Parsons had previously been chief financial officer at the United States Naval Academy where he had been previously suspended for financial mismanagement. Parsons compensation package was worth $1 million, with an annual salary of about $600,000 per year.
By 2014, the school added a football team at the request of the student body. Admissions standards were changed for football players, notably an athlete who read at a third-grade level was given a full scholarship. The new head football coach earned more than $200,000 a year. Accusations arose of kickbacks, grade-changing, excessive spending and violations of the rules governing high school sports. In April 2016, Mr. Koch announced that Academic Dean John Klemme would serve as the School's president, placing Mr. Parsons on paid leave pending an investigation of harassment claims.
On May 27, 2016, Koch fired Parsons and declined to renew the contracts of Director of Athletics Craig Sponsky and the football coach Doug Socha; Koch noted that a "power elites group" in the school "ran the asylum".
In July, David Rosow was elected President and CEO of Oxbridge Academy.
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Athletics recruiting violations
In 2016, the school self-reported athletic recruiting violations and forfeited all athletic victories for the previous two years, including three FHSAA district championships.
Suicide and anti-bullying program
On January 28, 2012, a 16-year-old student with a history of depression committed suicide near the School's campus, with a gun that he brought from home. Since this tragedy, the School has instituted a bullying prevention program and hired counsellors for its students.
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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