Academic

ight choice
CURRENT PARENTS DISCUSS DECISION TO ENROLL THEIR CHILDREN AT THE ACADEMY
LONG COMMUTE WORTH EVERY MILE
“We began to think about other options and
focused more on the type of school we wanted
rather than the location of the school,” Fred said.
They remembered the lakeside school from their
days in Grosse Pointe and decided to check out the
Academy’s website, which piqued their interest even
more.
But it wasn’t until they visited the dignifiedlooking
school building that Pam and Fred became
more than just interested.
“...knowing your children
are getting the right
foundation...”
“We met with the Academy’s then-admissions
director, Molly McDermott, and took a tour of the
school,” Pam said. “We absolutely loved what we
saw. Then our kids visited the school and went
through the admissions process, and we were all
introduced to some of the fabulous teachers in the
lower school.”
The Rollins said that through the years they
had done many thorough interviews with other
schools, so they had a good idea of what they were
looking for. Apparently they found it on 171 Lake
Shore Road because they enrolled their children for
the following school year. For awhile, Pam and her
husband commuted with their kids the 45 miles
each way from St. Clair to the Academy before
eventually moving back to the Pointes.
“It might be different than how these things
usually go, but we were drawn to the school first and
then decided we wanted to be in the community
full time,” she said. “We are very pleased with our
decision and happy to be part of the Academy
family.”
Rollins said her children—now fully
matriculated at the Academy: Alexandra is in the
sixth grade, Jack is in fourth—are doing extremely
well.
“We were impressed with the school when our
kids first started here,” Fred said. “But since then
we’ve really discovered what the true value of a
Grosse Pointe Academy education is.”
“It boils down to knowing that your children
are getting the right foundation to prepare them for
what the world has to offer,” she said. “That’s it in
a nutshell. We landed at the Academy to give our
children the right supportive environment for them
to take risks, push harder and try new things. We
wanted to give them this chance before high school
when it may not be as
easy to do so.”
THE FUTURE
Fred and Pam Rollins,
like all parents, don’t
really know what the
future holds for their
still-young children. But
they both are sure they’ve
given them a good start
by bringing them to the
Academy.
“We are extremely
confident that The Grosse
Pointe Academy—with
its nurturing environment, its great teachers,
curriculum, culture and resources—is preparing
them to achieve their fullest potential.”
While a school can’t eliminate every sleepless
night as a parent, Pam said, the right choice can offer
a peace of mind in your children’s education.
“We truly believe we have given Alex and Jack
the opportunity to go further in their young lives
than we thought was possible,” she said. “We know
that when they leave the Academy, they will take
with them the academics and life skills necessary to
succeed in high school and then ultimately to thrive
in a world that gets more complicated every day.”
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 39