A pioneering, merit-based, public magnet school is opening in Alachua County, Florida, based on the success of a former Wall Street bond trader-turned-teacher famous for winning math competitions and sending students to Ivy League schools.
The Frazer School for Competitive Academics (FSCA) will focus on rigorous and accelerated academics to prepare students in grades 6 through 12 for national, state, and regional competitions in all subjects.
Slated to open in August 2024, FSCA will accept students from all over Florida based on several academic and performance-based qualifications, school officials said.
There also will be residential housing for students after the 2024/2025 school year.
FSCA is named and modeled after F. W. Buchholz High School math team coach and teacher Will Frazer, who famously retired at 28 from his job as a Wall Street bond trader, leaving New York’s concrete jungle for the golf courses of Gainesville, Florida, his hometown.
But golf and relaxation were not challenging enough for Mr. Frazer’s analytical mind, he said. After volunteering in youth golf tournaments, Mr. Frazer became Buchholz’s golf coach and eventually a math teacher.
Mr. Frazer found a new love and passion in teaching mathematics to high school students. His initial attempt and failure to lead the school’s math team to a championship in 1998 inspired him to double his efforts in the following years.
Mr. Frazer led the Buchholz High School math team to 15 state titles in 18 years.
His team members compete in state and national Mu Alpha Theta competitions, with Mu for calculus, Alpha for pre-calculus, and Theta for Algebra 2 and geometry.
They have five divisions during the regular season—geometry, Algebra 2, statistics, pre-calculus, and calculus.
However, Mr. Frazer’s math team has become something much greater than a preparatory clinic for high school competitions.
He runs three different programs corresponding to varying grade levels.
Fourth and 5th-grade students interested in learning pre-algebra and competitive math can attend summer courses taught by the Buchholz High School math team.
“Some of the older physics kids run physics camps for young kids, getting them exposure at a young age,” Mr. Frazer said.
“And chances are somebody before they ran it, and they got older, and then they started running it. It’s a culture of giving back. I think culture is important.
“We want our kids to feel fortunate and privileged to be in this program. And you know, they should give back to the community.”
Fostering a Collaborative Community
Tests are given to incoming 6th and 7th-graders interested in riding a bus to Buchholz High School daily for upper-level math and science courses.There is also a summer program for middle school students interested in additional tutoring in their accelerated math classes.
Mr. Frazer automatically offers his middle schoolers a place in his high school program.
Hailey Lin, a senior at Buchholz and a member of Mr. Frazer’s Mu team started in his program the summer after 5th grade. She passed the test for the middle school team as an incoming 7th grader and started taking advanced math courses.
She said that many of the students in the high school program fill their freshman and sophomore years with as many math and science classes as possible to have the biggest edge in competitions.
For Ms. Lin, the best part about the program is obvious.
“It’s definitely the community,“ she said. ”You meet so many people who are all really amazing, but they’re not like competing and fighting it out. It’s definitely more of a supportive place.
“Everybody tries to help each other, and it’s really inspiring to see other people do amazing things because you’re on the same team as them. What they do inspires you to work harder.”
David Wei has three children in Mr. Frazer’s multi-level math program.
Nathan, the oldest at 17, is a senior at Buchholz High School and started early with Mr. Frazer in the 4th grade. He then attended Lincoln Middle School in Gainesville, where he rode the bus to Buchholz once a day to take accelerated classes.
His brother Michael is a 15-year-old sophomore on Mr. Frazer’s math team, and Daniel, 13, is an 8th-grader in the program at Lincoln Middle School.
Mr. Frazer “has the whole respect from my family regarding all the mentoring for the kids,” David Wei said.
“You know, his heart is not only for math—his heart is for all the education, actually. He really cares about the education for every kid.”
Support from Tallahassee
State Sen. Keith Perry (R-9th) attended Buchholz High School with Mr. Frazer in the 1970s.After reconnecting with Mr. Frazer years later, the two discussed ways to evolve the success of the Buchholz math team into a statewide program for students from all counties.
“We want to give everybody an opportunity. And so kids who can’t afford to go to elite prep schools or private schools don’t have to pay—it’s going to be free,” Mr. Perry said, adding that getting approval from Tallahassee was easy.
Mr. Frazer received bipartisan support from the legislature and was backed directly by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
They want the new school to treat academics like a competitive sport and to “show what public education can look like,” Mr. Perry said.
“If you want your kid to play Division One sports, you want them to be a college athlete, you don’t start in the 10th grade—you start really young.”
That’s why the program is accepting students as early as 6th grade.
But unlike Mr. Frazer’s current focus on science and math, the new school will be competitive in all academic areas, Mr. Perry said.
The only obstacles they have faced thus far are logistical—buying the land and the building that needs to be remodeled and hiring staff to fill the new school once it’s open to students.
“To get a building bought, remodeled, and ready is critical. But every day we’re working on that,” Mr. Perry said.
If everything goes according to plan, the Frazer School for Competitive Academics will open for students grades 6–12 in the 2024/2025 school year, forming an independent district.
Mr. Frazer will finish the 2023/2024 year at Buchholz High before teaching full-time at FSCA.
He said criteria for student admissions will be made public by December 2023.
