They do things a little differently at Great Hearts Academies—for example, prom with a live band and ballroom dancing, as described in this earlier post—but it seems to work: Joel Malkin, a graduate of Veritas Preparatory Academy in Phoenix, Arizona, just graduated as a co-valedictorian at Dartmouth. (Text and video of Malkin’s valedictory.)
Great Hearts invited me to visit Veritas in April; here’s a post from Arizona. I’m looking forward to sharing more insights from my tour. Families in Arizona are familiar with Great Hearts Academies’ classical curriculum and reputation for producing college-ready graduates; I am happy when stories like this come along so I can share the news with Texas families.
For more information about Joel Malkin, see this June 12 news release from Great Hearts:
Phoenix student receives top honor at Dartmouth College: 2009 Class Great Hearts Academies Valedictorian and National Merit Scholar of Veritas Preparatory Academy Graduates with Distinction
Joel Malkin, son of Randy and Constance of Phoenix, Arizona was named co-valedictorian at Dartmouth College, the private Ivy League research university located in Hanover, New Hampshire. The commencement ceremony was June 9, 2013. Malkin also received his commission of second lieutenant with the United States Marine Corp and will train as a USMC pilot.
In 2009, Malkin graduated as class valedictorian and National Merit Scholar with a 4.0 GPA, an SAT score of 2350, and a an ACT score of 35 from Veritas Preparatory Academy. During all three years of attendance at Veritas Prep, Malkin received Veritas Preparatory Academy’s Academic Excellence Award for earning a high level of academic achievement in every subject. Malkin also wrote and defended an original Senior Thesis titled “The Morality of Equality: On the Natural Equality of Man.”
Flash forward to June 2013, Joel Malkin has now graduated as valedictorian from Dartmouth College with a 4.0 GPA. Malkin was also the recipient of numerous academic awards during his four years at Dartmouth, including an Academic Achievement Award for exceptional academic work in Linguistics, the Phi Beta Kappa Sophomore Prize for earning the highest GPA during Sophomore year and, for four years straight, Malkin earned the Rufus Choate Scholar merit-based award which honors students in the top 5% of their class for their sustained high academic achievement.
Dr. Daniel Scoggin, CEO of Great Hearts Academies, states, “We are deeply proud of Joel and his outstanding academic achievements. It is no surprise to us that such a great-hearted young man has accomplished so much during his collegiate career. We know that he will continue to achieve excellence in all that he pursues, and we wish him the very best.”
Veritas Preparatory Academy, the flagship school of Great Hearts Academies, ranked 3rd and 7th, in reading and math respectively, of all U.S. schools, on the recently released Global Report Card. Great Hearts Academies is one of the top charter school operators in the country. It currently manages 16 schools with over 7,000 students in grades K-12 and focuses on a classical, liberal arts curriculum with an emphasis on the Great Books and the Socratic teaching method. Great Hearts academies are comprehensive college prep schools, with competitive athletics and a variety of extracurricular activities, such as speech and debate, fencing, and music ensembles. Great Hearts typically receives 8-10 enrollment applications for every available spot.
Great Hearts’ schools rank in the top 1% of all Arizona public schools, and 95% of their graduates attend a 4-year college. Great Hearts has a track record of elite college placement that rivals all the local public and private schools.
