Franklin Road Academy inducted seven students into the state’s first – and only – International Robotics Honor Society chapter this week. The chapter is one of only 29 in the U.S.

The International Robotics Honor Society was founded to recognize individual students who meet specified criteria within the areas of scholarship, leadership, personal character, community service, and, of course, robotics. The Society aims to encourage more students to strive toward academic excellence in the STEM fields, provide service and character development opportunities and to encourage participation in robotics programs.

Congratulations to our Panther golf teams on an incredible season. The girls team won its third consecutive TSSAA Division II State Championship, with junior Tzunami Polito winning her first individual state title, and sophomore Emily Wilson finishing with her first state runner-up finish. 

The boys completed an unbelievable second-day comeback to take the third overall finish. The Panthers were led by Aidan Call and Alex Mick. 

Congratulations to seniors Ava Ackerman, Ryan Pierce, Campbell Jeffrey, and Stephen Hohnholt for being recognized as Commended Scholars by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. 

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships. Approximately 1.6 million high school students enter the program each year, and to be named a Commended Scholar, you must be one of the 50,000 entrants who have the highest PSAT/NMSQT Selection Index scores. 

The FRA varsity golf teams moved one step closer in their quest for a state title on Monday. The girls won their eighth straight TSSAA Division II Region Championship, led by junior Tzunami Polito, who won her first individual Region title to go along with her District championship last week. Sophomore Emily Wilson finished strong after a tough start to capture third place. 

The boys team, also coming off a District championship, finished second behind the steady play of junior Aidan Call, who finished third individually, and junior Alex Mick, who placed sixth individually. The Panthers sealed their return trip to the state championship on the strength of a late-round birdie by Aaron Schierbaum and great play by sophomore George Felker. 

FRA has collaborated with Nashville Dance Center to create the FRA School of Dance. NDC's Sarah Rigsby, who also happens to be an FRA parent, has been teaching classes for lower, middle and upper school students in an effort to expand the dance program as well as create a dance team that will eventually compete on a high level.

And now, with the new space in the Weicker Center, there are so many more ways to expand and grow in a more comfortable and purposeful space.

The FRA varsity golfers started the postseason with a bang as both the girls and boys captured the TSSAA Division II District Championships at Riverbend Country Club in Shelbyville on Tuesday.

The girls have won all four district tournament titles since the TSSAA Division II realignment in 2015. This year they were led by junior Tzunami Polito who beat teammate Emily Wilson by one shot with a five foot putt on the last hole.  Polito shot 75 to Wilson’s 76, and the 151 total was good for a 41-shot victory over CPA. 

The boys captured their first district title with a narrow four shot victory over BGA. The defending region champs were led by juniors Aidan Call and Timothy Pinkston, who both medaled with scores of 74. Alex Mick added a 76, and Aaron Schierbaum rounded out the scoring with an 84. 

At FRA, we believe service has an incredible power to transform lives - both those whom we serve as well as our own - and service life is woven into all parts of our school.

Students have the opportunity to serve others locally within our community and the greater Nashville area and globally through mission trips, and we hope these experiences will develop skills, leadership qualities, and passion for others that will last long after graduation.

Because of this, FRA has partnered with Bethlehem Centers of Nashville at Bethlehem Garden for the last three years. This part of Nashville has a rich history. It is also classified as a food desert. Produce from the garden is shared with Learning Academy Day Care Center, Meals on Wheels, and Bethlehem Center community members.

This summer, seniors Summer Vo and Campbell Jeffrey and juniors Caleb Huddleston and Olivia Maki got the opportunity to spend a week in Cambridge, Massachusetts, sitting in on classes taught by current Harvard students and professors at The Academies at Harvard.

Summer attended the pre-med academy, Campbell learned about coding, and Caleb and Olivia were both in the politics cohort. Their groups worked on projects that included topics of mental health, minimum wage, and disease case studies.

On Sunday, Franklin Road Academy unveiled its new 38,400-square-foot student life center with a naming dedication ceremony. The Weicker Center for Student Life, named by FRA’s capital campaign lead donor, The Cal Turner Family Foundation, for beloved teacher and coach George Weicker, features a dining hall, spirit store and coffee shop, collegiate-style formal and informal academic spaces, innovative classrooms, school-wide offices for the director of diversity, inclusion, and community, spiritual life, and the Center for Philanthropic Studies.