Bolles School

Full Description

The Bolles School

Bolles students understand that pursuing excellence through courage, integrity and compassion is not only the School motto but the foundation for a successful life.

These themes help cultivate empathetic students with an All Things Possible approach to life, a passion for service and an awareness of global community.

The Bolles School is an independent, coeducational day and boarding school founded in 1933. One of the region’s most diverse institutions of learning, Bolles is home to more than 1,750 students in Pre-K through Grade 12 and postgraduates on four campuses.

The Resident Life program can accommodate more than 90 male and female students from around the globe. This year, boarding students represent 30 countries and 11 states. These students add their unique experiences to the day student body’s culturally robust environment.

Academically, Bolles offers courses in six languages (including Chinese, Japanese and Arabic) and 29 Advanced Placement courses. In 2017, the School established an academic partnership with Global Online Academy, an online course offering that complements Bolles’ existing curriculum in an international setting. Bolles also has educational partnerships with Mayo Clinic and Zimmer Biomet, as well as its own Anatomage virtual dissection table. Bolles offers a comprehensive fine and performing arts program with courses in drama, dance, visual arts, chorus, music and band. Among middle and upper school students, 70 percent enrolled in fine and performing arts classes this year, while 100 percent of lower school students are involved in art, music and theater instruction.

A global context is paramount to the Bolles experience. In addition to on-campus activities and language study, Bolles offers exchange programs with schools in England, Spain, Japan, China and France, and academic and service travel opportunities to Italy, Peru, Taiwan, Washington D.C., Colorado and Zion/Grand Canyon National Parks.

The School’s athletic successes are known worldwide with 24 sports in middle school and upper school. Most students, 90 percent, participate in one or more sports at Bolles. A total of 63 Bolles students, former students and Bolles Sharks have participated in the Olympics over the years, and 14 Olympic athletes from Bolles have won 29 medals. Bolles students play by the School’s athletic motto, “Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat.” Students from the Class of 2023 offered or qualified for more than $14.5 million for their four-year college careers. Of the 195 graduates, 188 are attending 98 different colleges, universities and military prep schools and were accepted to 250 different colleges.

The School has a bold vision for the future, which includes a 47,000-square-foot Center for Innovation opening spring 2024. The facility will feature numerous cutting-edge classrooms and 12 sophisticated specialty labs, including spaces for anatomy, biology and chemistry lab instruction. And it will also highlight the campus’ greatest natural asset – the St. Johns River.

At Bolles, students experience an All Things Possible approach to education that champions innovation, global awareness and service. With a foundation in courage, integrity and compassion students know how to be successful on the global scene as they progress into college and life.