Families will soon have another option for schooling as Brightmont Academy, a fully accredited “one-to-one” private school, is making its Florida debut in the Shoppes at Yamato Corner in West Boca.

The school will take the place of a bank at the location, situated off Yamato Road and State Road 7, and is expected to open in the first quarter of 2024. Another Brightmont Academy is planned for Miami, too, said CEO and president Karen Buckner.

Unlike conventional schools, Brightmont offers an array of educational services all year round, including the summer, through what Buckner called a “one student, one teacher instructional model” where students may seek tutoring or enroll in one or multiple courses, choosing anything from core English to AP Chemistry as well as languages and electives, from financial literacy to agriscience.

“We can have kids start with us to take a class or all their classes as needed,” she said. “We don’t operate on a traditional school year.”

Brightmont offers 110 courses, including all the courses needed to graduate in Florida. Buckner said an example of a Brightmont student could be someone who takes all their classes at a traditional brick-and-mortar school but finds math to be incredibly difficult and has fallen behind the pace of their peers. That’s when Brightmont Academy could step in to assist the student and provide additional math instruction so they can catch up and fill in any gaps.

“We like to say, we meet students where they are, whether that is right at grade level, above grade level, below grade level, we will meet them there,” Buckner said. “Then we look to raise them up or continue to challenge them.”

Brightmont could also serve as a supplement to homeschool, Buckner said, where the student is taking all their courses with the academy. The services also work well for students who may want to pursue outside activities, such as theater or sports, more time during the week than what a traditional school schedule would allow, Buckner said.

Brightmont itself does not have assets like sports teams or cafeteria, however.

Tuition varies depending on a student’s grade level and how many courses they take with the academy. A high school program, which involves 10 semester courses and 330 one-on-one sessions, bills for $29,050. A middle school program, which involves less semester courses and one-on-one sessions is $24,500 while the elementary school program is $28,800.

Individual courses range in price depending on grade level, too. A high school core course, which includes 33 one-on-one sessions, is $2,970, but taking an AP course with the academy could be anywhere from $4,200 to $4,900 depending on the subject as it involves anywhere from 45 to 55 one-on-one sessions.

The academy doesn’t require an application form, Buckner said. Rather, students may be asked take a short reading and math assessment to see if the academy has what the student needs. “Nine times out of 10, we do,” she said. “Once we’ve met the family, met the student and they’ve taken that test, we’re kind of ready to roll.”

The academy has the capacity to enroll around 50 to 75 students at one time, she said, because every family’s schedule is different, but they still need to ensure every student is receiving one-to-one instruction. The other campuses in the country are open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, so Buckner said that will likely be the schedule for the Boca Raton and Miami locations.

The two new Florida locations will become Brightmont’s 17th and 18th locations in the United States, she said.

Florida’s growth drew Brightmont in, Buckner said, and West Boca’s family friendly environment created what seemed like a great market for the academy.

“There’s such a dense residential community, a strong demographic of families,” said Nicole Fontaine, the vice president of retail, leasing and sales with Katz & Associates, the real estate adviser representing the landlord behind the future Boca Brightmont building. “Young families live out there. So for them, it was a particularly attractive site.”

Buckner said she wants parents to know a traditional classroom environment is not the only option their children have for schooling.

“If they’re not succeeding, if they’re coming home miserable, depressed, have anxiety about going to school, have a medical condition that concerns them about being in a classroom with 20, 30 kids, there are other ways to have academic exposure,” she said.