Where scholars
and athletes
become one.
The Preparatory Academy is where a student's academic and athletic lives stop competing and start building each other. One coherent day, designed around academics and athletics together, so neither learning nor training is ever sacrificed. Graduates leave ready for the world beyond school.
What we believe to be true
The Cardo Way at the Preparatory Academy begins with three beliefs that most schools have never seriously tested.
An exceptional scholar and an elite athlete are the same person. Both are shaped by discipline and resilience.
A school day that ends by 6:15, schoolwork done, training done, is what every student-athlete family deserves. We built our day to make it possible.
By the time a Cardo student graduates, they're ready for what comes next, whether that's college, sport, or both.
How the Preparatory Academy works
Four principles that run from the first week of 6th grade through the last semester of 12th, compounding with every passing year.
Cardo prepares the whole student for what comes next, whether that's college, a career, or something else entirely. It offers Advanced Placement and honors options. Every student builds an Individual Learning Plan, reviewed quarterly with their advisor, aligning academic and athletic goals. Dedicated college counseling begins in 9th grade: course selection, NCAA eligibility, application support, and test preparation.
The Preparatory Academy operates from 7:45am through 6:00pm for Grades 6–8 and 6:15pm for Grades 9–12, with optional before-care from 7:15am. Academics and training are sequenced through the day. Each morning ends with a mastery check, so schoolwork gets finished on campus and the day is done by pickup.
Beginning in 6th grade, students choose between two tracks built to the same standard of excellence. The Soccer Elite Track develops competitive soccer players through a curriculum led by licensed coaches. The General Athlete Track delivers a holistic fitness education. Training is tailored to each student's sport and goals. Nutrition is part of the program from 6th grade, with individual nutrition planning from Year 4.
At Cardo, teachers attend games and coaches visit classrooms. All faculty train together in the Cardo Way and hold joint planning sessions aligned to each student's academic and athletic progress. Every student is assigned a dedicated advisor who monitors overall progress across academics, athletics, and wellbeing. From Year 4, a naturopathic doctor joins our wellness team to guide nutrition and injury prevention for every student. Most athletes only get this kind of care at the professional or college level.
Two tracks. One commitment to excellence.
Every Preparatory student is an athlete. The track changes the focus. The standard stays the same.
This track is for students aiming for the highest levels of soccer, whether that means playing in college or turning pro. National team pathways are part of that picture too, for the players who reach that level. Led by licensed coaches, the Soccer Elite curriculum is built on the same periodized training principles used by top academies nationally.
The General Athlete Track is built for students who want an elite, holistic approach to physical well-being. Nutrition and recovery are planned alongside training. Students pursue a well-rounded fitness education grounded in functional strength, movement quality, and long-term athletic health. For students competing in a sport outside of Cardo, like a baseball player, programming supports the specific demands of that sport alongside their outside training and competition.
Both tracks share the same academic program and advisory culture, and both are grounded in the Cardo Way. The track shapes the training. The Cardo Way shapes the student.
Imagine your student's day
A picture of what a Preparatory Academy day is designed to feel like for a 7th grader in his second year at the Preparatory Academy.
Cardo Preparatory Academy · 7th Grade · Soccer Elite Track
He gets in early, grabs breakfast and is in his seat for Science Deep Immersion by 7:45. It's three hours on one subject. Today his class is analyzing heart-rate data from last week's training to see how the heart responds to exercise. The numbers are his own.
Twice during the morning the class breaks for water, a stretch and a few minutes of conversation. Each time they come back sharper. By late morning he's written his first real lab conclusion.
At advisory, his advisor asks how the science project is going, and he talks longer than expected. She adds a note to the shared system his teachers and coaches all use. That afternoon, his coach asks him about it during warm-ups. Every adult around him is working from the same picture.
After lunch comes project work, the real-world project that ties every subject together. Today's lens is science, so he's building charts from the data. On Thursday he'll write it up.
Training is midafternoon. His coach runs a tactical session on positioning in small-sided games. The plan was set weeks ago and gets adjusted with his tracking data. He's coached the way academy players are coached.
A short math check-in reviews Monday's skills, with no new material. Then it's recovery and open play with friends until pickup at 6:00. Schoolwork finished. Training done. The evening belongs to his family.
Imagine your student's day
A picture of what a Preparatory Academy day is designed to feel like for an 11th grader with one eye on graduation and the other on a college roster.
Cardo Preparatory Academy · 11th Grade · Soccer Elite Track
She arrives early and reviews her Individual Learning Plan before the day starts. This semester it's AP Calculus, AP Environmental Science, English Literature and a college counseling sequence on recruiting and financial literacy. Last week her counselor met with her about two college programs that are watching her. She has a plan for both.
Her morning is Calculus Deep Immersion, rigorous and in person. She's one of three students in her cohort who asked for the AP section. Two short Active Breaks of water and movement split the morning.
Late morning she's on the field. Her coach runs the session with the detail of a professional academy, pulling up clips from Friday's scrimmage. She gets individual feedback on her first touch under pressure. A GPS vest tracks her distance and sprint load. If the numbers show fatigue, the afternoon session changes. She's being developed for everything ahead, on the field and off.
Her advisor has already talked with her coach, so their conversation starts from the full picture. A world language check-in follows, with conversation practice built on the week's immersion day. In her elective block, a panel of college coaches explains what they look for in a recruit. She takes notes.
Her second training session closes the day with strength work and injury prevention planned around her position and workload. By 6:15 she's done. Application drafted. Training done. The evening is hers.
One day. Everything in it.
Here's a sample day for our middle schoolers. Each morning goes deep into one subject, with math on Monday, science on Tuesday, English on Wednesday, social studies on Thursday and world language on Friday.
- 7:15Breakfast (optional)
- 7:45–11:00Deep Immersion
Three hours in one subject. Teachers open with direct instruction, then students practice with guidance and on their own. The block ends with a mastery check, so the work gets finished at school. Two short active breaks for water, stretching and conversation fall inside the block.
- 11:15Advisory
Goal-setting, time management and a check on sleep and the week, with an advisor who sees how school and training fit together. Once a month, advisory is a performance mindset session with the school counselor.
- 12:00Lunch
- 12:45–2:15Projects and electives
Team investigation, labs, writing and critique on the current project, plus electives and teacher office hours. When a teacher sees a student struggling in a subject, they build extra work in that subject into the student's part of the project.
- 2:30–4:00Training
Soccer Elite students train with licensed coaches, alternating technical and tactical work, with small-sided games on Friday. General Athlete students work on functional strength and agility across a range of sports. Heart rate and GPS data from training often becomes material for class projects.
- 4:15Math or world language practice
Thirty focused minutes with no new material. Math gets three days a week and world language gets two.
- 5:00–6:00Recovery and open play
Students with evening club practice can head out at 5:00.
- 6:00Pickup
All schoolwork is done on campus.
Match weeks. Training and recovery follow each student's club season. When a weekend match is coming, coaches plan the week's training load around it. Academic mornings never change.
The Grade 6 year
- Three anchor projects: Origins, on who we are and how geography shaped early communities; Matter, Energy, and the Athletic Machine, on the science of how athletes train, eat and recover; and Civilizations as Systems, on why societies thrive or collapse.
- Two shorter sprints: a student-run weather station that briefs coaches on training conditions, and a year-end portfolio defense.
In high school, Soccer Elite students train twice a day, and everyone leaves at 6:15. Afternoons open into electives tied to college and career goals.
A program that grows with your student.
From 6th grade through graduation, the Cardo Way deepens at every stage, with more responsibility, more specialization, and a support model that expands as students do.
Track Selection
Students choose their athletic track, Soccer Elite or General Athlete, and begin the integrated academic and training schedule. Both tracks train to the same standard. Both can be changed annually.
Foundation
Three-hour deep work blocks, interdisciplinary project-based learning, and daily Advisory build the academic habits that carry students through high school. Athletic training is periodized and progressive. Every rep builds toward something.
The Full Support Model
When students reach high school, the advisory model expands. A sports psychologist joins the support team and works with students on focus and handling pressure, through advisory and the training week.
AP Coursework & College Counseling
A dedicated college counselor is assigned to each student starting in 9th grade. AP courses are introduced to offer college-level rigor, and each student's Individual Learning Plan is reviewed quarterly with their advisor. Course selection, college search, application support, and test preparation are all handled, so students and families can spend their energy on the work itself.
Capstone & College Placement
Seniors build athletic résumés, complete capstone projects, and receive direct support for college applications and recruiting outreach. The goal is 100% college acceptance for every student who applies.
Every door open. Every student ready.
Open every door.
The Preparatory Academy's founding class will be small by design. Founding families receive priority enrollment, early access to information sessions, and tuition assistance consideration.
Join the Founding ListLearn about Discovery Academy, PreK through 5th Grade →