NFB Académie
Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Article Submitted by Jeff Welsh, Principal
In 2002, a unique collaborative partnership of the Okaloosa County School District and Northwest Florida Ballet (NFB) established the NFB Académie, to date-Okaloosa County’s only school of the Fine and Performing Arts. Today, NFB Académieoffers children who want to dance – regardless of their economic means–the opportunity to develop their natural abilities, and a strong academic program in a nurturing and supportive learning environment. With instruction in Ballet, Art, French, Music and academic studies based on district public school criteria, the Académie provides students in third through eighth grade a demanding academic curriculum in an artistic environment.
The first of its kind in Florida, the school is open to all public, private and charter school students in Okaloosa and surrounding counties. The school is funded on an identical basis as all Okaloosa district public schools, although no facilities or transportation are provided. Parents are responsible to provide transportation to the school and required uniforms for both ballet and academic classes. Based on a European model, students attend academic and artistic classes all day at the Académie, and certified academic teachers and support services provided by the public school district with support from Jeff Welsh, Academic Director, are enhanced by the ballet company’s professional instructors in classes held in NFB dance and classroom facilities. Under the artistic direction of CEO, Todd Eric Allen, NFB is the only professional dance company in Northwest Florida. NFB offers world-class ballet performances and training to the community, while reaching thousands of other school children through public programs and student performances.
The Académie currently serves 140 students. Each May, students are selected by audition for third grade. Selection is based solely on the student’s potential to learn to dance. Generally, no new students are admitted after the third grade, as the ten year syllabus for developing a ballet dancer is followed from grade three through twelve. Those students truly interested in pursuing dance at the highest level often remain with the program through eighth grade and then continue their dance training while attending local high schools. One local high school even provides a bus to bring NFB company members to their after hours classes.
Since the program’s inception, Académie students have consistently excelled academically, and received among the highest scores on the annual Florida Comprehensive Achievement Tests (FCAT). NFB Académie is supported in part by grants from the Sybil Smith Charitable Trust and the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs.
For more information visit www.nfballet.org/
