About AAE
A unique elementary school located in Richmond, VA, serving Pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade since 1997.
Excellence is not a skill, it’s an attitude
At our independent school, excellence is not a skill, it’s an attitude. We welcome elementary students from Pre-Kindergarten to fifth grade. The inspiring atmosphere at our school provides students with a well-rounded education and an insatiable love of learning. The faculty implements multiage grouping, a customized curriculum, enrichment classes, wise decision making, and critical and creative thinking strategies.
Founded in 1997 by Rita Busch, owner and Dean, the school serves elementary students of varying abilities and cultural backgrounds. Our customized curriculum offers a challenging atmosphere for academically advanced children and support for those in need of academic strengthening.
Academy of Academic Excellence is one of the few private elementary schools in Richmond, VA that accepts full day Pre-K students and helps them grow in a nurturing and caring atmosphere.
Accredited byMSA-CESS
Member ofVCPE
What we believe about every child
Our Mission
The Academy’s purpose is to create an effective and collaborative learning environment that includes a variety of programs customized to enhance each child’s talents, abilities, interests, potential, and refinement areas. To maintain teacher accountability in selecting objectives to differentiate for the appropriate level of difficulty, and to monitor and adjust while inspiring within each child a life-long love of learning.
Our Vision
The Academy of Academic Excellence believes that every child possesses distinct talents. Its climate is one that inspires creativity, encourages curiosity, supports thinking outside the box, exposes children to innovative ideas, teaches wise decision-making and problem-solving abilities, instills leadership skills and good citizenship, empowers students to express their points of view, and cultivates an insatiable love of learning.
A wealth of learning strategies
The school fosters an environment that offers a tremendous wealth of learning strategies for Pre-Kindergarten to fifth graders. With a low student/teacher ratio, our school seeks to identify the learning style of each student and utilizes a variety of techniques such as Bloom’s Taxonomy, questioning, collaboration, and graphic organizers that strengthen high-level thinking skills and develop unique ways of looking at information.
The world is our classroom
The Academy of Academic Excellence embraces multicultural students from diverse backgrounds. The world is our classroom where academics, fine arts, foreign language, technology, physical education, and 21st century skills are expertly woven together by integrating talents of master artisans, students, faculty, families and our community.
“Intelligence is not what you know but what you do when you don’t know.”— Albert Einstein
At a glance
- Pre-K through Fifth Grade
- Richmond, Virginia
- Founded in 1997
- Low Student/Teacher Ratio
- Differentiated Curriculum
- Multiage Grouping
- Daily Enrichment Classes
- MSA-CESS Accredited
Students’ Bill of Rights
- Not everyone needs to do the same work at the same time.
- Students will learn as much from each other as they will from the teacher.
- Students must take responsibility for their own learning.
- There are many paths to an answer.
- Often, there are many right answers.
- Mistakes can be valuable learning experiences.
- If it is easy, you are probably not learning very much.
Keep exploring AAE
Ready to see the AAE difference?
We’d love to welcome your family to our campus in Richmond, Virginia. Meet our teachers, see our classrooms, and discover why families choose AAE.
A Pre-Kindergarten through fifth-grade independent school in Richmond, Virginia, where excellence is not a skill — it’s an attitude.