By Will Yeiser, Executive Director & Co-Founder This year the French Broad River Academy (FBRA) celebrates its fifteenth year of building character and integrity for a lifetime of learning, service, and leadership. FBRA has served over 1,100 students and families since we opened our doors in 2009. Whether we are in the classroom, performing on …
Lessons Learned After Operating a School During a Pandemic Will Yeiser, FBRA Co-Founder & Executive Director WE MADE IT!!! As the last group of 8th grade students left campus with their families on the evening of June 4th, 2021 after our final graduation event, I finally was able to repeat these words and internalize …
Welcome Dorrie Sieburg to FBRA as the new Admissions and Communications Director for the Girls School. Dorrie’s work and life experience over the last twenty years have pointed her toward FBRA all along the way. After graduating from Penn State University with a BS in Education, Dorrie worked for the Student Conservation Association and Padilla …
Meet Dorrie Sieburg, FBRA Girls’ New Admissions & Communications Director Read More »
“I didn’t realize that I was going to have to crawl through holes in the mud that were so small that we had to push our packs through ahead of us.” — Connor Schulz describing his sixth grade experience in Worley’s Cave A short conversation is all that is needed to realize that 2014 FBRA …
Will Yeiser, Executive Director The recent warm weather has been a welcome reminder that spring is just around the corner. After a long, dark, and cold winter exacerbated by the isolation and the daily stress of trying to manage family and work under the “COVID clouds,” a short burst of sunshine and sixty-degree weather …
John Douglas, Director of Development It’s hard to imagine that the 2020-2021 is shaping up to be a phenomenal year for the Development Department at FBRA. Thanks to the generosity of our amazing families and supporters, the Salamander Fund has crested $90,000 this year, surpassing our goal by $15,000. We had no idea what …
While skiing is a lot of fun, our primary goal in the FBRA ski program is for students to grow in ability and confidence as skiers by providing specific skill instruction and practice time. In order to provide appropriate instruction at every level, each year our staff members attend a one to two day ski …
Jack Pitfield, Director of Marketing & Technology The list of responsibilities and skills of any one teacher at the French Broad River Academy is long: some of our teachers hold advanced outdoor skills, many of our teachers are Spanish speakers, and all have a wilderness medicine certification. It is not uncommon to see the school’s …
Curriculum Discussion: Natalie Sayre & David Byers Read More »
John Douglas, Director of Development Had I known four years ago that my job at FBRA would include monitoring people’s health, reading medical studies in JAMA, and communicating with healthcare professionals, parents, and staff on a daily basis surrounding testing, quarantines, and vaccinations for a deadly virus, I probably would have passed. However, as stressful …
Jen Horshman, FBRA Girls Program Director Looking at the political landscape in the United States, most anyone would agree that there is a lot of discord and a large dose of ineffective communication. If only politicians had learned how to resolve issues and problems in Community Meetings at FBRA. Community Meetings are part of our …