It starts with an unlikely partnership between our founder, John Scully, and Reverend Eugene Farlough in the late 1980’s – Mr. Scully the visionary benefactor and Rev. Farlough the visionary community leader from Richmond. Their vision for success was that young people from Richmond would attend college, graduate, give back to the community and be contributing members of the workforce and society. At its founding, Richmond was (and still is) one of the most educationally underserved communities in the country. Today, the spirit of this initial inspiration, idea, and commitment remains the same at Making Waves Academy: we are a vehicle to help young achieve their hopes and dreams.

Making Waves Academy is a fifth-twelfth grade public charter school whose focus is preparing our Wave-Makers academically and social-emotionally towards the goal of earning their college degree (or an appropriately challenging post-secondary degree). In 2014-15, our eighth year, MWA's first class of students (the 12th Wave) graduated from the Upper School. The 12th Wave applied to over 700 colleges and universities. 100% of MWA graduates enrolled in college: 70% in four-year colleges and universities and 30% in two-year programs.

The ticket to the American Dream, civic engagement and community stewardship is through education. While we live in a time when a very small minority of entrepreneurs have been able to start successful businesses and companies, the majority still need the exposure and training that will keep the windows of opportunity open to them through a rigorous, high-quality education. New research on the brain, how individuals learn, social-emotional intelligence, and resilience make it an exciting time to be in education.

While our goals are ambitious and anchored in academic rigor and efficacy, Making Waves Academy is also a place that focuses on developing thoughtful, responsible, and independent thinkers. We foster a sense of community in a variety of ways. You can see it, hear it, and feel it in our hallways, in our classrooms, on our athletic teams, at our parent meetings, and at the meetings of our School Site Council and Board of Directors. Making Waves Academy is a special place where students are supported to explore their interests and prepare for the next set of post-secondary challenges in their life journeys.