HomeEducationBuchholz math teacher Will Frazer to open The Frazer School to focus on competitive academics

Buchholz math teacher Will Frazer to open The Frazer School to focus on competitive academics

April 15, 2024

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Will Frazer, the Buchholz teacher who has led the school’s math team to 15 national championships, has teamed up with James Schrader, the owner of Newberry Christian Community School, to open “The Frazer School,” a new private school for grades 3-12 that will focus on competitive academics.

The school will be located at 1520 NW 34th Street, which formerly housed the Cross Point Church of God and Cornerstone Academy, along with a preschool. 

Open houses will be held at that address on the following dates:

  • April 26, 7:00 p.m., grades 3-5
  • April 27, 7:00 p.m., grades 6-8
  • April 28, 7:00 p.m., grades 9-12

School calendar and hours

Frazer told us that the school hours will probably be 7:50 a.m.-2:34 p.m., but that may be adjusted. The school calendar will not follow the public school calendar but will match up with the University of Florida’s spring break. Frazer said the school will meet more than 180 days a year and will start on either August 5 or August 12, with May 22 as the last day of school for the 2024-25 school year. The school will also finish the first semester before the winter break so that students will not need to come back and take finals in January.

Applications and tuition 

Applications are available here, and paper applications must be submitted this year by May 18. Acceptances will be rolling, with responses expected quickly for students who are currently on competitive teams. Admissions will be based completely on merit, according to Frazer, with different criteria for younger students than for older students who have more of an academic and competitive record.

Tuition will be $2,000/year plus a state scholarship, and some financial aid will be available. 

Expectations of students

Frazer said that all students will be expected to be on competitive academic teams starting in 6th grade, although younger students and new students will have time to find their niche; students can be on as many teams as they want. Frazer emphasized that his school will not be a “STEM school”; the competitive teams are expected to include, as examples, the History Bowl, Quiz Bowl, Spelling Bee, and a debate team, along with math and science competitions.

Frazer said he expects to have about 525 students eventually, with about 120 in the elementary grades and about 400 in 6-12.

Extracurriculars

Regarding extracurriculars, Frazer said he doesn’t expect to have music or art classes, for example, but chess will be available. Frazer believes that students at the Frazer School will be able to participate in sports programs at any public school; Florida statutes say that students in private schools may participate if their school is not a member of the FHSAA and has an enrollment of 200 students or fewer in the corresponding grade levels.

The school intends to offer a summer camp to the community to provide opportunities for students to learn about competitive academics, although the camp will likely not start until the summer of 2025.

Faculty

Frazer said the school has hired 7 of 22 anticipated faculty members; job openings are posted here. The website also lists faculty members who have committed to the school:

  • Administration – Schrader, Frazer, and Mr. Fayiga
  • Math – Frazer, Ziwei Lu, and Fayiga
  • Science – Marc Moody and Kim Baxter
  • Social Studies – Frazer and David Geering
  • Elementary and Chess – Britt Ryerson

    • This is not a public competitive school as proposed by FL legislature. It will be a purely private school, and will not fall under FLDoE statutes.

      • If he draws from his current crop of students at Buchholtz, it will be competitive. Given the past 15 National Championships and his history – very competitive.
        I’m sure there will be many in the county, given it’s past history, of not listening to the state.

        • Insert “understanding…”
          Hate omitting those key words.

  • Wow, truly awesome, thank you both for your vision. I suspect this will be a big success.

    • I doubt it. Most students want a more well-rounded experience that this school seems to be offering. Going to this school and participating on a public school sports team is a very poor substitute for playing on a team at one’s own school. Also students should be strongly encouraged to develop all aspects of their brain, beginning with academic, of course, but also including aesthetic and creative, physical, moral and spiritual, as well as the impulse to serve and lead.

  • The math teacher is probably tired of working for Trigglypuff and the other insane school board members. On the bright side, this might help narrow the equity gap.

  • Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, Richard Feynman, Von Neumann, Enrico Fermi, Luis Alvarez, Neils Bohr, etc ALL played musical instruments. Several of them would play together. If you look into how the Hungarian “martians” were educated, their education included math, physics, etc but also music, art, etc.

    Having math all day and 0 art/music is a bad idea. Just a thought.

      • In many was this does not surprise me.

        Gifted people often have a creative outlet that inspires them in different ways.

        I say one can not dine on a diet of physics alone.

        The arts matter.

        But this may not be the space or time for my ideas.

        I’ll let myself out…seriously. I won’t say anymore jokes.

  • I would suggest they consider adding Latin to the curriculum. There are no dedicated Latin classes past Latin III I believe, in Alachua. Think the closest is Jax. There are competitions in Latin as well.

    So sad this didn’t come about before now.

    • Yes, they are planning on including the course. See the job listings.

  • Just went to their web page. I see they are looking for a Latin teacher. This is awesome!

  • Is this a joke? “You’ll know you’re accepted once we’ve cashed your check”.

    A first-draft application typed in a google doc?

    A curriculum?

    https://frazerschool.org/

    How about some real journalism?

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