Clubs and Organizations

FRA is more than a school - we are a community. We encourage our students to be involved in all areas of school life and to participate in multiple activities. We have a variety of club offerings in each division, and we hope our students will hone their crafts and maybe even discover passions they didn't know existed.

Lower School Clubs and Enrichments

Clubs

Destination Imagination
Students work in small teams of three to six students and are inspired and equipped to become the next generation of innovators and leaders. They prepare and compete with local, state, and international teams in seven standards-based challenges, as well as instant challenge events. Student teams creatively use techniques in design thinking, engineering, improvisation, and problem solving.

Marathon Team
This group trains for and participates in the annual Kids Rock Marathon together. It is open to kindergarten - grade 4, and the team begins "training" together two to three afternoons a week from March through the end of April. The runner log 25 miles during practice/training, and the final event takes place on the last Sunday in April at Nissan Stadium. The kids run their final mile with runners from other elementary schools from Middle Tennessee, and they each earn a medal for competing.

Robotics After-School Club
This popular club/class meets once every two weeks and is open to students in grade 4. Children are exposed to a basic understanding of robotics using several platforms such as the Vex and Ozobot robotic system. In this club, students learn about how robots work and basic coding.

Robotics in STEM Lab
Students in kindergarten - grade 4 have the opportunity to learn the exciting hands-on work that goes into building and coding robots. Two robots are used to teach coding, which is used to control the robots to move in different directions, while another group of bots focuses on an engineering platform, allowing students to snap different robotic pieces together to create various machines and tools - objects such as cars and catapults.

Enrichments

Dance

Explorations in Art

A variety of techniques and media will be utilized to challenge young artists. Great masterpieces will be explored while learning how to create purely individual projects. Young artists will continue to utilize fine motor skills by working with and applying patterned paints with small brushes. Exploring a wide range of textures will allow children the opportunity to stretch their imagination further.

Jr. Aerospace Engineering

Karate

In this class, children are taught much more than self defense. They are taught success skills such as respect, confidence, discipline, perseverance, and self control; their concentration and focus will be improved; and they will work on coordination and flexibility. Conrad Jones, owner of two martial arts schools in Williamson County, makes this class fun for everyone.

LEGO Adventure Club

This class is designed for students kindergarten - grade 4 who are building LEGO sets independently with instructions. Themes for the class include: CITY, Star Wars, Nijago, Alien Conquest, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Atlantis, Monsters, and more! Students will learn useful LEGO building techniques that will help their minds grow and expand. Group projects, as well as individualized building, will be encouraged, and students will display weekly creations for parents to view.

Multi-Sports Enrichment

Pre-Building Blocks

This class is designed for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students who are not yet building LEGO sets with instructions independently. Through the use of LEGO bricks and other materials, children will engage in activities such as obstacle courses, construction centers, group games, circle time, and more. These diverse activities will help children become more able builders. Activities will increase spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, and hand strength. This class is taught by an occupational therapy graduate student from Belmont University and contains new, exciting, creative, and fun-filled activities.

Praise Team

Panther PAWS is open to students in grades 3 and 4 who want to use their leadership and music skills during Spiritual Emphasis Week, chapels, and other special events on campus. It is very important that students attend all rehearsals unless they are sick or there is a family emergency. There is no class cost, just a material fee to pay for T-shirts, CDs, and other items that will be used during rehearsals and/or performances.

Scrapbooking for Beginners and Scrapbooking

Small-Group Guitar Lessons

This course is a great way for kids to express themselves and stretch their minds in new ways. Reading and playing

music activates all regions of the brain, while studying music encourages self discipline and diligence. Studies show that learning music early significantly improves spatial-temporal scores that are useful for math and science. These are all traits that lead to effective study and work habits! Students are welcome to join John Jackson, talented professional musician, for fun guitar lessons that will have a lasting effect.

Tennis

The United States Tennis Association Kids Club of Tennessee is teaming up with FRA to offer exciting and affordable after-school tennis sessions! Students will learn the basics of tennis using specially designed equipment suitable for young players and will learn in a positive and fun environment. Sessions will aim to improve overall hand-eye coordination and create a desire to live a healthy life, while learning and enjoying a sport that lasts a lifetime. No prior experience or equipment is necessary.

TechKidz - Stop-Motion Animation

SPACE Camp

Middle School Clubs

Best Buddies
Best Buddies International is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

FRA offers a Best Buddies Promoters chapter. A promoters chapter empowers youth to become advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) by organizing and attending special events that promote advocacy and bring awareness to the disability rights movement. The FRA chapter hosts, organizes, and participates in Best Buddies events throughout the year, including the summer. The chapter has been recognized on the state and national levels as a chapter that goes above and beyond its call of duty. Chapters are offered from grades 3-12.

Competition Club

Three teams composed of middle school students will compete in the VEX robotics league alongside the upper school competition teams. Middle school students will build their own custom robots and code them. Ms. Ivy Montgomery is the coach of the middle school competition team.

Forensics Club
“Forensics,” which is competitive public speaking and dramatic performance, is a wonderful opportunity for students to gain public speaking experience, hone leadership skills, and stretch their performance muscles in a fun, safe environment. In FRA’s Middle School Forensics Club, students compete against local schools in eight categories: Original Oration, Declamation, Duet Acting, Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Poetry Reading, Prose Reading, and Duo Improvisation. Students work hard to prepare, memorize, and practice pieces before local meets.

Math Club
During the second and third quarter of every school year, students in grades 7 and 8 are invited to attend weekly Math Club meetings. In Math Club, students are exposed to a variety of math problems and contests that push their problem-solving skills to new levels. Students participate in the International Math Olympiad contest and the U.S. Math League contest. Additionally, students have the option of participating in the Math Counts Video contest each year.

Pen and Paper Club
The Pen and Paper Club is an after-school enrichment offered by the Extended Day Program. Graduates of this class possess the ability to plan and execute diverse writing styles such as short and long-form fiction, persuasive writing and critiques, all while developing grammar, word usage, and communication skills. At the end of the club, students will have not only a bookstore-quality anthology containing their work, but improved writing skills, team-building techniques, constructive editing ideas, and a ton of other like-minded friends!

Robotics After-School Club
This popular class/club meets once every two weeks for the yearand is open to 5-8 graders. Here, children are exposed to a more advanced understanding of robotics focusing on the VEX robotic platform. Students work on building their own VEX robot and learn the basics of how to code VEX robots.

Spelling Bee Club
All middle school students are welcome to join the Spelling Bee Club. We meet weekly in the fall to work on spelling strategies, hone our spelling skills, and enjoy the practice. We finish with our own FRA spelling bee to determine who will represent FRA at the Scripp’s Spelling Bee held in February.

Upper School Clubs

Alpha Omega
Once students reach the upper school grades, they are chosen as either an Alpha or an Omega. Throughout the year, these teams will compete for bragging rights in basketball, trivia, dodgeball, powder puff football, a cappella sing-offs, and many more events. May Day concludes the year of events and presents the trophy to the winning team after a fury of field day events. The winning team bears the trophy throughout the next school year and has their name engraved on the Alpha/Omega trophy.

Competition Club
The upper school Competition Club consists of three teams which compete in the Tennessee and Georgia area. This club is coached by Dr. James Weeks.

Emerging Leaders
The Emerging Leaders Institute offers students the opportunity to apply their passions to real world scenarios while developing their leadership skills. The students identify an issue that could be specific to our community or a global concern and design and implement a project to address it. Through the process, students gain an understanding of their personal leadership styles, strengths, and opportunities for growth while developing essential leadership competencies to include critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making.

FRAternity

The FRAternity is the FRA student body! The sole purpose of the FRAternity is to support and encourage FRA athletes, thespians, artists, and academics. Students in the FRAternity are expected to support their classmates with class, dignity, passion, and enthusiasm. Whether it is a Friday night football game, a basketball tournament, or the opening night of the play, the FRAternity shows up in full force ready to cheer on their fellow Panthers!

Honor Council

The Honor Council is an important collaboration among the students, faculty, and administration of Franklin Road Academy to support the goal of academic integrity. Service on the Honor Council requires meaningful dedication and time commitment from all members. Strict confidentiality and personal integrity are essential requirements for participating on the Honor Council. In addition to providing FRA students an opportunity to promote academic integrity, the Honor Council exists to help educate students. Honor code violations, though regrettable, are also learning opportunities.

Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad is an American team competition in which students compete in events pertaining to various scientific disciplines, including earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering. There are 21 different events, and most students compete in three events during the year.

Student Alumni Association
The FRA Student Alumni Association provides current upper school students with the opportunity to interact with alumni and to form beneficial relationships with them. Students tour with alumni who are visiting campus, assemble college care packages, have lunch with the alumni board, participate in thank-a-thons and write thank you notes to alumni donors and guests, assist in the preparation for alumni events and alumni weekend activities, and attend alumni speaker events through the college counseling office's emerging leaders series.

Student Council

The Student Council works to serve and provide leadership to the upper school student body. The members of this council help deliver the mission of the school to all students, Pre-K - grade 12, by organizing student events and promoting school culture. This council also serves as the voice of the student body, making suggestions and vocalizing concerns of the students, and bringing them forth to the administration in an organized, well-prepared fashion. Student Council is committed to the welfare and growth of student life at Franklin Road Academy, and all members of the student council are committed to promote school spirit, FRA values, and to act as stewards to the FRA Mission.