Full STEAM ahead: Amazing Explorers Academy to open in West Orange

A new preschool coming to the West Orange area has a STEAM-centric emphasis.

The Amazing Explorers Academy will be opening up a location in Hamlin and in Ocoee. The Hamlin location will be at 5796 Hamlin Groves Trail, Winter Garden, and the Ocoee location will be at 1651 Amazing Way. Both locations will be opening in August — just in time for the beginning of the new school year. The school also has locations in Lake Nona, Waterford Lakes, Winter Springs and Ponte Vedra, and out-of-state locations will be opening up in the near future.

The academy focuses on stimulating student minds through STEAM — science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. The programs offered at the Amazing Explorers Academy are tailored to infants through 4-year-olds. 

“Brain development is a lifelong process, and the first (few) years pretty much lay the foundation,” said Fabrizio Spinelli, who is the founder and principal of the Amazing Explorers Academy. “An important part of that brain development that occurs is experience dependent and defined by environment interactions. Our concept is: How do we create something that makes these kids successful in the future?”

In addition to being a preschool, the Amazing Explorers Academy also offers an after-school program and summer programs for children ages 5 to 12. Like the preschool, after-school programs also put an emphasis on STEAM and are implemented in a way that engages children beyond learning through memorization, Spinelli said.

“We created a STEAM curriculum that places an emphasis on fostering self-identity, forming relationships, collaborating intellectually — we want these kids to collaborate with each other — learning socially and promoting creativity all the time,” Spinelli said. “(We) do everything within the concepts of STEAM. We want them to get prepared for the careers of the future (and) the ideas of the future. In essence, we want these kids to grow, but learning through activities — something extremely engaging — so it’s not just a teacher standing in front of the room explaining (subjects) to them (and) just working with memory.”

Spinelli, who has lived in Windermere since 2005, said he’s excited to open up the Amazing Explorers Academy in the West Orange area. He said the academy will be more than just a preschool and after-school spot for children; it also will offer occasional events for the community.

“We know the potential of this area, and we understand the people of this area want the best education for their kids,” Spinelli said. “The public schools are very good, and the environment is very good for the kids growing up (here). … We feel like there’s a strong community here. That’s part of what we do: We partner with companies, we partner with the community, we partner with local schools. … We have a lot of relationships here, so we feel like this is a great place to do our best work. As soon as we open, we have a series of events that we’re going to hold during the year. We have farmers markets and other festivals, and all of them (will involve) partnerships with the community.”