Palm Beach Day Academy starts with third straight year of record enrollment

There was excitement aplenty as Palm Beach Day Academy welcomed students for the new school year on Tuesday.

The 580 students enrolled makes this “our third consecutive year of record enrollment,” Head of School Fanning Hearon III told the Daily News as he thanked the community "for their support and their trust in us to educate their children."

As with other private schools in the area, PBDA has seen its enrollment grow since the COVID-19 pandemic fueled a real estate and population boom on the island and in the county as a whole.

"This is a healthy number for us," Hearon said of the enrollment figure, noting that it would allow the school to do a lot of the things "we want to do ... in terms of the arts, athletics and academics."

To keep pace with the rise in enrollment, the school has increased the size of its faculty and staff, Hearon said.

"We’ve made some great new hires," he said, adding "we’re just really proud that so many talented educators want to come to Palm Beach Day."

Palm Beach Day Academy operates two campuses — an upper-school campus on Seaview Avenue in Palm Beach for grades four through eight, and a lower-school campus at 1901 S. Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach for students ages 2 through third grade.

More: End of an era: Palm Beach Day Academy graduates final class of ninth-grade students

For the first time in 56 years, there were no ninth-graders on campus when school started on Tuesday.

The last eleven ninth-graders graduated in June as the school shifted focus, citing the dwindling number of students in ninth grade and the need to improve the academic experience for students on the upper campus.

"We miss them," Hearon said, "but we’re just very excited to now focus on the eighth-grade experiences." He said the school had put a lot of time and effort into the ninth-grade that now will be shifted to the program for eighth-graders.

A brand new math and science center greeted students Tuesday at the Upper Campus. The "massive construction" project was a complete renovation of the building that now boasts all new classrooms and laboratories, Hearon said.

More: Palm Beach Day Academy celebrates 100th anniversary

"Hopefully this is the beginning of a complete renovation of the Upper Campus," Hearon said. "We’re very proud of our 103-year history but it’s time to renovate our academic space."

Hearon, who is in his fifth year leading the school, said he was looking forward to the year ahead.

"The school is in great shape and it’s only getting better and we’re very excited to continue building on our history and being the best version of ourselves."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach Day Academy sees third straight year of record enrollment