Excellence is not a skill. It’s an attitude.
OUR PROMISE TO EVERY AAE CHILD
We will know you.
We will challenge you.
We will listen to you.
We will encourage you to question, discover, and think differently.
We will celebrate your successes and help you learn from your mistakes.
We will teach you that kindness is strength, responsibility matters, and leadership begins with caring for others.
And above all, we will never underestimate what you are capable of becoming.
Not all elementary schools are created equal
Revolutionizing Student Success.
The mission of the Academy of Academic Excellence is to develop confident thinkers, articulate communicators, compassionate citizens, and future leaders through an intentionally differentiated, academically challenging, and relationship-centered educational experience.
We are committed to recognizing each child’s individual strengths, nurturing intellectual curiosity, fostering creativity and critical thinking, and cultivating the character, resilience, and leadership skills necessary for success in school and beyond.
Through high expectations, innovative teaching, meaningful family partnerships, and a culture of mutual respect, we empower students to discover their potential and develop the confidence to pursue it.
We do not simply teach children to succeed academically. We prepare them to think independently, lead with integrity, and make a meaningful difference.
An education that builds leaders
Every child possesses distinct talents. Our climate inspires creativity, encourages curiosity, and cultivates an insatiable love of learning.
Differentiated Curriculum
Programs customized to each child’s talents, abilities, interests, and potential, at the right level of challenge.
Multiage Grouping
Students learn as much from each other as they do from the teacher, growing together across ages.
Daily Enrichment Classes
Art, Music, Physical Education, Yoga, and Spanish promote healthy social and emotional growth.
Whole-Person Education
We instill leadership skills, good citizenship, and wise decision-making alongside academics.
Low Student/Teacher Ratio
Teachers know every child by name and identify the learning style of each student.
A Multicultural Community
The world is our classroom, embracing students from diverse backgrounds and the talents of our community.
What we believe about every child
Our Mission
The Academy’s purpose is to create an effective and collaborative learning environment that includes a variety of programs customized to enhance each child’s talents, abilities, interests, potential, and refinement areas; to maintain teacher accountability in selecting objectives to differentiate for the appropriate level of difficulty; and to monitor and adjust while inspiring within each child a life-long love of learning.
Our Vision
The Academy of Academic Excellence believes that every child possesses distinct talents. Its climate inspires creativity, encourages curiosity, supports thinking outside the box, exposes children to innovative ideas, teaches wise decision-making and problem-solving, instills leadership skills and good citizenship, empowers students to express their points of view, and cultivates an insatiable love of learning.
“Intelligence is not what you know but what you do when you don’t know.”— Albert Einstein
Academics balanced with the arts, movement & play
We balance our academics with an integration of Art, Music, Physical Education, Yoga, and Spanish to promote healthy social and emotional growth.
Pre-K–5Academics
A differentiated curriculum that strengthens high-level thinking skills.
TogetherMultiage Grouping
Not everyone needs to do the same work at the same time.
DailyEnrichment Classes
Art, Music, PE, Yoga, and Spanish woven into every week.
ThinkingGames & Strategy
There are many paths to an answer, and often many right answers.
A day in the life of an AAE student
Learning happens everywhere — in the classroom, at the chessboard, and on the playground.
Chess Club
Strategy, patience, and problem-solving in every move.
Outdoor Play
Fresh air, movement, and joyful discovery every day.
Discovery
Curiosity encouraged and thinking outside the box celebrated.
Graduation
Confident, articulate leaders ready for what comes next.
Thirty years of leadership and learning
Reflections on Leadership, Learning, and the Children Who Made It All Worthwhile
Thirty years is a long time to hold onto a dream. Businesses come and go, and many never make it beyond five years.
In 1997, I founded the Academy of Academic Excellence, a private PreK through 5th grade school in Richmond, Virginia, with one simple belief: children deserve more than an education—they deserve to become confident thinkers, articulate communicators, compassionate citizens, and future leaders.
Students’ Bill of Rights
- Not everyone needs to do the same work at the same time.
- Students will learn as much from each other as they will from the teacher.
- Students must take responsibility for their own learning.
- There are many paths to an answer.
- Often, there are many right answers.
- Mistakes can be valuable learning experiences.
- If it is easy, you are probably not learning very much.
Meet the educators behind the excellence
For nearly 30 years, Academy of Academic Excellence has been built by passionate educators who know every child by name and believe every student deserves to be challenged, encouraged, and celebrated.
Meet Our Faculty & Staff
10 Questions Every Parent Should Ask About Their Child’s Learning
Choosing the right school begins with asking the right questions. This complimentary guide shares ten thoughtful questions to discuss with your child’s teachers about learning styles, academic growth, problem-solving, confidence, collaboration, and individual strengths.
Joining the AAE family is simple
Academy of Academic Excellence is one of the few private elementary schools in Richmond, VA that accepts full-day Pre-K students and helps them grow in a nurturing and caring atmosphere.
- Schedule a Tour
- Submit an Application
- Student Assessment
Ready to see the AAE difference?
We’d love to welcome your family to our campus in Richmond, Virginia. Meet our teachers, see our classrooms, and discover why families choose AAE.
A Pre-Kindergarten through fifth-grade independent school in Richmond, Virginia, where excellence is not a skill — it’s an attitude.