A Letter from Rita T. Busch
Thirty Years Is a Long Time to Hold Onto a Dream
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. Many never make it beyond five years. Even among those that succeed, founders often step aside, allowing someone else to carry the vision forward.
But some dreams are never handed off.
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.
Thirty years later, one thing has never changed.
Every morning, I still walk through our doors with the same excitement, purpose, and belief in what children are capable of becoming. Educational trends have changed. Technology has transformed our classrooms. Thousands of children walked through our halls. Yet the mission has remained remarkably constant.
People occasionally ask me what it feels like to devote thirty years of your life to one dream.
The truth is, I don’t spend much time counting the years.
I spend my time counting the lessons.
Over three decades, children have become my greatest teachers. They have taught me that confidence grows before achievement, that mistakes often become life’s greatest classrooms, that leadership begins long before adulthood, that conversations build belonging, and that there are many paths to an answer—and often many right answers.
Perhaps the most important lesson I have learned is that children often borrow our belief in them long before they believe in themselves.
Every child enters school with unique gifts waiting to be discovered. As educators, our responsibility extends far beyond teaching reading, writing, and mathematics. Our calling is to help children discover who they are capable of becoming. When adults choose to see possibility instead of limitation, confidence instead of fear, children begin to see those same qualities within themselves.
Along the way, I discovered another truth that transformed my understanding of leadership. Simon Sinek wrote, “Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.” Those words reminded me that leadership is not measured by authority, but by responsibility.
At the Academy of Academic Excellence, this philosophy has shaped every decision we have made for the past thirty years. Taking care of children means far more than keeping them safe. It means truly knowing them—their strengths, their challenges, their interests, and the unique ways they learn best.
Together, our faculty has thoughtfully designed every stage of the PreK through 5th grade journey to meet children where they are while encouraging them to reach just beyond where they believe they can go. We recognize that every child learns differently, so our teachers present lessons through oral, visual, and hands-on experiences, creating multiple pathways for understanding and success.
Just as importantly, we believe children deserve to think deeply.
Every day, our classrooms are filled with thoughtful questions that invite students not merely to memorize information, but to comprehend, analyze, synthesize, create, and innovate. We have never believed that young children should simply learn what to think. We believe they are capable of learning how to think.
Leadership also means refusing to place ceilings on children.
When we care deeply for those in our charge, we challenge them with confidence, support them with compassion, celebrate their successes, and stand beside them through every obstacle. The result is more than strong academic achievement. It is a community of parents, teachers, and students who trust one another, pursue excellence together, and understand that genuine leadership begins with serving others.
After thirty years, I have learned that the very best leaders are rarely the loudest people in the room.
They are the ones who quietly help others discover just how capable they truly are.
Schools do not change the world because of their buildings.
They change the world because of the children who one day leave them.
Our responsibility, then, is not simply to prepare children for the next grade, but to prepare them to contribute meaningfully to the world they will one day lead.
As I reflect on thirty years, I feel less pride in the school we have built than gratitude for the thousands of young lives that have allowed me—and the remarkable faculty who have shared this journey—to be part of their story.
Thirty years is a long time to hold onto a dream.
And if these years have taught me anything, it is that the greatest dreams are never really about us. They are about the lives we help shape, the confidence we inspire, and the leaders we quietly send into the world.
For thirty years, that has been the promise of the Academy of Academic Excellence.
The greatest legacy we leave behind is that the future of our world will not be determined by the smartest children, but by the children who believe they can make a difference.
Rita T. Busch
Founder & Dean
Academy of Academic Excellence
Richmond, Virginia
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.
Special thanks to Peabody school for intellectually advanced students in Charlottesville, Virginia.
