Our Mission

The ancient Greeks knew the importance of fulfilling one’s greatest potential. So much so, they had a name for this endeavor: Arete.

Fern Creek’s Ivy Plus Academy is designed to connect high-achieving students with the nation’s top colleges to help them realize Arete.

 

Results

Fern Creek High School’s Ivy Plus Academy works with students throughout their four years of high school to prepare them to gain acceptance to, and succeed at, the nation’s premier colleges and universities. It has grown from an initial class of 11 seniors during the 2015-16 academic year to 139 students during the 2023-24 academic year. Our 215 Ivy Plus Academy graduates have been accepted to over 160 different colleges and universities. The list below shows the 70 selective/highly-selective colleges and universities our student have been accepted to.

 
  • American University

  • Bates College

  • Berea College

  • Boston University

  • Bowdoin College

  • Brandeis University

  • Brigham Young University

  • Bucknell University

  • Carleton College

  • Carnegie Mellon University

  • Case Western Reserve

  • Centre College

  • College of Wooster

  • Dartmouth College

  • Davidson College

  • Denison University

  • DePauw University

  • Dickinson College

  • Earlham College

  • Emerson College

  • Emory University

  • Furman University

  • Hamilton College

  • Hampton University

  • Harvey Mudd College

  • Howard University

  • Kenyon College

  • Lafayette College

  • Lawrence University

  • Lehigh University

  • Macalester College

  • Middlebury College

  • Northeastern University

  • Northwestern University

  • Oberlin College

  • Occidental College

  • Purdue University

  • Reed College

  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

  • Rhodes College

  • Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

  • Scripps College

  • Sewanee College

  • St. John’s College

  • Spelman College

  • Stevens Institute of Technology

  • Trinity College (CT)

  • Trinity University (TX)

  • Tufts University

  • Union College

  • UC San Diego

  • UC Santa Barbara

  • University of Chicago

  • University of Illinois

  • University of Michigan

  • University of Pennsylvania

  • University of Richmond

  • University of Rochester

  • University of Southern California

  • University of Virginia

  • University of Washington

  • Vanderbilt University

  • Villanova University

  • Wake Forest University

  • Washington & Lee University

  • Washington University in St. Louis

  • Wesleyan University

  • Wheaton College

  • Whitman College

  • Wofford College

Our Ivy Plus seniors have an average acceptance rate of 67% to these selective schools (nearly twice the national average).

This speaks to the great work Fern Creek High School does to prepare its students for these highly competitive institutions.

Our Ivy Plus graduates have an 88% retention rate and an 84% 4-year graduation rate.

78% attend private colleges/universities

22% attend public colleges/universities

65% attend out-of-state colleges/universities

35% attend in-state colleges/universities

73% of Ivy Plus Academy graduates are the first in their family to attend a four-year college (first-gen students)

70% come from low-income families

No one can tell us that public schools do not offer the same advantages and opportunities as private and/or charter schools. These 215 young men and women prove otherwise.

To say we are proud of these young men and women is an understatement in the truest sense of the word. None of these students would be where they are now without the phenomenal education, mentoring, and guidance each of them received at Fern Creek High School.

Get with the program.

Assistance & Information

  • Help finding the right school for the right student

  • Help arranging campus visits 

  • Help filling out admission and scholarship applications 

  • Help filling out financial aid applications

  • Rigorous advanced and AP courses

  • Standardized test preparation

  • College essay writing workshops

 

Access & Means

  • Access to elite college admission counselors and in-school visits

  • Financial aid to offset travel and applications costs

  • College campus visits to colleges/universities across the country

  • Outdoor leadership retreats

 
 

Mentoring & Guidance

  • One-on-one mentoring

  • Group lessons on preparing a solid application and character development

  • Informative parent and student meetings throughout the year

  • Individualized college search and access counselling for students and families

Ivy Plus Academy’s goal is to provide these students with the information, guidance, mentoring, and means to gain acceptance to these elite institutions.