Students file in and shake the recruiter's hand. Simply meeting him sparks ideas and dreams. She resolved to apply. The curriculum of FDA is geared toward college, with high school classes for everyone beginning in eighth grade. The school offers limited electives, requires physics and chemistry, and offers numerous advanced classes, which the school struggles to afford regardless of class size.
Students choose among Spanish, Latin, Japanese and French.
They all take PSATs beginning in sixth grade. They do community service, study music and play instruments. They take visual arts and dance - a growing part of the school. The arts, Hodge believes, teach students self-confidence, how to present themselves, how to compete better with students from other schools. The expectations are very high and they get a lot of opportunity.