CES Academy of Lakeland strives to accommodate gifted students like Aleksandar

Editor’s note: This story is published in celebration of National School Schools Week, which runs Jan. 26-Feb. 1.

LAKELAND, Florida – Aleksandar Kurilenko arrived at his new school as a seventh-grader backed by a family who wanted him to be challenged academically, including a mother who told administrators that her son was “so smart.”

It’s a familiar refrain to CES Academy of Lakeland Principal Lacey Sweet.

“I hear that a lot,” she said.

Then Aleksandar took his Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test and scored in the 99^th percentile.

Suddenly, the task of challenging Aleksandar academically became taller.

CES Academy, a private K-12 school with seven locations around Florida, originally catered to students with unique abilities. In recent years, it expanded its scope to students on the advanced end of the spectrum.

Sweet said after seeing Aleksandar’s scores, it was obvious that he fell under a “unique ability” category, but in a different way.

Aleksandar is the most academically advanced student Sweet encountered during her three years as principal of the Lakeland location.

“It does worry me that eventually we would lose him because he won't get challenged enough,” Sweet said. “So, it's a priority for me to make sure he’s challenged.”

Aleksandar attends CES Academy with the help of a Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO) managed by Step Up For Students.

Valentina Tsvetkova, Aleksandar’s mom, called the scholarship “a godsend.”

“It makes his education very affordable for our family,” she said.

Sweet credits Aleksandar’s arrival at CES Academy to House Bill 1, which became law in 2023 and opened education choice to all eligible K-12 students in Florida, regardless of family income.

“That was huge,” she said. “We enrolled so many new students, and it was students that do not have special needs. We started getting really academically gifted students. So, we realized we have to help these students. We have all these academic supports in place for students who have high needs, but we don't have anything in place for challenging and keeping these (gifted) students, because if they're not challenged or they're bored, they’re going to leave.”

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A native of Bulgaria, Valentina was a single mother when she and Aleksandar moved to South Florida when her son was 5. Two years ago, they moved to Lakeland, and Valentina began searching for a private school that could offer her son a challenging academic setting and a haven from bullies. She believed she found the right one after meeting with Sweet.

“I like the philosophy of the school, that every child is taught according to their ability, and they make sure every child grows,” Valentina said. “(Sweet) was very open to the idea of moving Aleksandar forward.”

That closed the deal.

In November 2023, Aleksandar joined the seventh grade. He didn’t stay long.

Once Sweet saw Aleksandar’s MAP scores, proving he came as advertised, he was moved to the ninth grade.

This year, the 13-year-old is in the 10^th grade and takes courses at Southeastern University as part of CES Academy’s new dual enrollment program. Southeastern accepted Aleksandar despite his age because of his “Extraordinary academic abilities,” according to Andy Uprichard, vice president of CES Academy.

“The dual enrollment program was the best way for us to challenge Aleksandar,” Sweet said, “because no matter how difficult we would make the curriculum or challenge him or make higher-order thinking type of assignments or projects, it was still not challenging for him.”

Aleksandar has a 3.83 unweighted GPA in his 10th-grade classes and an 83% average at Southeastern.

“As a dual enrollment student, Aleksandar demonstrates exceptional intelligence and maturity far beyond his year,” said his social studies teacher, Deborah Adebusuyi. “His ability to excel in advanced coursework while maintaining a strong work ethic and positive attitude is truly inspiring.”

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Aleksandar has shoulder-length black hair and speaks softly yet confidently. He loves to play chess and can solve a Rubik’s Cube in 60 seconds. He wants to pursue a career in information technology (IT), which is his mom’s area of expertise.

“He’s smart enough to see that is the future,” Valentina said.

Valentina has remarried, and Aleksandar has a brother, Gabriel, 19 months, whom he dotes on.

His teachers see Aleksandar as the ideal student: self-motivated, inquisitive, and eager to learn more. But you might be surprised to know that Aleksandar occasionally needs a little prodding at home to do his homework.

“I do like learning,” he said, “but I’m still a kid.”

His favorite subjects are math and science. He said he can detect patterns in math and science equations.

“Aleksandar’s capacity to think critically and analytically distinguishes him from his peers, making him a standout in any educational setting,” said Jessica Soto, his science teacher.

 Overall, Aleksandar said he enjoys learning in general.

“It can make my life easier,” he said. “It's also good to practice it to create a good habit for me to try harder, and hopefully, I'll succeed with more knowledge.”

Brandon Richard is Aleksandar’s math teacher. He’ll often challenge Aleksandar with a more demanding equation to solve after Aleksandar finishes the one assigned to the class.

“Aleksandar is driven to acquire knowledge,” Richard said. “He’s self-propelled and motivated to learn new and challenging concepts.”

Richard finds it refreshing that Aleksandar is willing to share how he solved equations with his classmates.

“He possesses a natural leadership ability and collaborates effectively with his peers,” said David Kendrick, who teaches English Language Arts. “He exudes a maturity that belies his age, giving him an ‘old soul.’”

An example of this is CES Academy’s chess elective. Aleksandar wanted to begin one, but no one on the school’s staff or administration knew the game well enough to run the class. Sweet wanted the class because chess can help students improve their memory, concentration, and problem-solving skills.

So, the chess elective has a moderator, but it’s Aleksandar who teaches his classmates.

“It’s a win-win,” Sweet said. “He gets to play chess, and he can teach others.”

And it’s yet another way to make his school day more challenging.

Roger Mooney, manager, communications, can be reached at [email protected].