Montverde Academy

The school was founded in 1912 as Montgomery Industrial School. The school president was Henry P. Carpenter. It underwent a major expansion in 1921, when two new buildings were built for a cost of almost $40,000, including a concrete block dormitory for 200 boys and a new dining hall. The expansion was funded by donations, including $11,000 from R. Jay Arnold of Groveland, Florida. This expansion brought the organization to a total of eight buildings on 200 acres and $150,000 worth of equipment. An observation tower above the new dormitory provided a view of Lake Apopka, Winter Garden, and Groveland. The dining facilities served 400 children.[3] In the 1920s, sports teams were established. The teams were nicknamed The Crackers. In 1930, a girls' dormitory was constructed with funds raised by the D.A.R.[4]

There were 1,188 K-12 students enrolled in 2015–2016 as the information is not compiled for Pre-K students. The breakdown was:[1]

• Native American/Alaskan – 1.4%
• Asian/Pacific islanders – 4.0%
• Black – 7.7%
• Hispanic – 9.3%
• White – 44.8%
• Multiracial – 32.8%

Montverde's athletic programs compete on a national level, rather than as a member of the Florida State High School Athletic Association. Sports offered include baseball, basketball, cross country, equestrian, golf, lacrosse, powerlifting, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. In 2017 USA Today named Montverde Academy the best basketball program of the decade.[5]

Montverde Academy has both music, and theatre conservatories. Auditions are held on an annual basis. Conservatory students split the academic day between core courses, and their chosen artistic discipline.

1972 advertisement for Montverde Academy

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Kasey Kesselring, Montverde's Headmaster until his retirement in 2022, violated the Horse Protection Act, which resulted in a temporary disqualification from participating in equine events and a fine of $2,500.[6]

In May 2017, Essence and Fox 35 Orlando reported on Montverde Academy's racially insensitive administration and outdated policies. The focus of the story was the harassment of a 16-year-old Black female student who was dress coded for her locks which the administrator claimed were against school policy.[7][8] Following the media coverage, the current headmaster Kasey Kesselring affirmed that the student handbook would be altered to remove the "dread lock" policy and that the rule was no longer in place.[8]

In May 2019, several Florida news stations published a story accusing Montverde Academy Dean of Students, Jerry Matos, of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a female upper school student. It remains unclear if she was a minor.[9][10] Matos stepped down from his position immediately. The terms of his departure and current legal status are unknown. The academy promoted an existing employee to fulfill Matos's responsibilities.

• Precious Achiuwa (born 1999), Nigerian professional basketball player
• Solomon Alabi (born 1988), Nigerian professional basketball player[11]
• Scottie Barnes (born 2001), American professional basketball player
• RJ Barrett (born 2000), Canadian professional basketball player[12]
• James Bell (born 1992), American basketball player
• Leaky Black (born 1999), American basketball player
• Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American professional basketball player
• Cade Cunningham (born 2001), American professional basketball player
• Oumar Diakhite (born 1993), Senegalese professional soccer player
• Joel Embiid (born 1994), Cameroonian professional basketball player[13]
• Kwame Evans (born 2004), American professional basketball player
• Michael Frazier II (born 1994), American professional basketball player
• Patricio Garino (born 1993), Argentinian professional basketball player
• Kasey Hill (born 1993), American professional basketball player
• Jalen Hood-Schifino (born 2003), American professional basketball player
• Dakari Johnson (born 1995), American professional basketball player
• Balša Koprivica (born 2000), Serbian professional basketball player[14]
• Christ Koumadje (born 1996), Chadian professional basketball player
• Francisco Lindor (born 1993), Puerto Rican professional baseball player[15]
• Moses Moody (born 2002), American professional basketball player
• Doral Moore (born 1997), American professional basketball player
• Sandro Mamukelashvili (born 1999), Georgian professional basketball player
• Luc Mbah a Moute (born 1986), Cameroonian professional basketball player
• Andrew Nembhard (born 2000), Canadian professional basketball player
• Ryan Nembhard (born 2003), Canadian professional basketball player
• Landry Nnoko (born 1994), Cameroonian professional basketball player
• Haukur Pálsson (born 1992), Icelandic professional basketball player[16]
• Ruslan Pateev (born 1990), Russian professional basketball player
• Micah Potter (born 1998), American professional basketball player
• Anthony Pérez (basketball) (born 1993), Venezuelan professional basketball player[17]
• Filip Petrušev (born 2000), Serbian professional basketball player
• Sherrexcia Rolle (born 1988), Bahamian attorney and singer[18][19]
• D'Angelo Russell (born 1996), American professional basketball player
• Matheus Silva (born 1996), Brazilian professional soccer player
• Simisola Shittu (born 1999), Canadian professional basketball player
• Ben Simmons (born 1996), Australian professional basketball player[13]
• Rejjie Snow (born 1993), Irish hip hop artist[20]
• Sean Stewart (born 2005), American professional basketball player
• Dariq Whitehead (born 2004), American professional basketball player
• Devin Williams (born 1994), American professional basketball player
• L. D. Williams (born 1988), American professional basketball player
• Pavel Zakharov (born 2001), Russian professional basketball player[9]

• Official website