Palm Beach Maritime Academy

One of the most meaningful gifts we can give a high school student is a head start. At PBMA, that head start is built right into our curriculum, and it's totally free of charge.

Through our Cambridge AICE Diploma Program, scholars take internationally recognized, college-level coursework that challenges them to think critically, write persuasively, and analyze problems from multiple angles. Cambridge AICE is not an elective or an honors track. It is a full diploma program — one that colleges and universities across the country recognize and respect. Students who earn an AICE Diploma graduate with the kind of academic credibility that opens doors.

We also offer dual enrollment through Palm Beach State College, which means PBMA students can earn actual college credits while still in high school — at no cost to their families. By the time our scholars walk across the stage, many of them are already college students in every meaningful sense of the word.

Class of 2026 Valedictorian, Miguelangelo T. graduated from Palm Beach Maritime Academy and received an Associates Degree from Palm Beach State College at the same time.

At a time when college costs keep rising, this is not a small thing. It is a real, measurable advantage — and it belongs to every student here.

We were founded by the Palm Beach Maritime Museum, and that connection to the water is not just our story. It is our curriculum.

At PBMA, marine science is a hands-on experience from the start. Our scholars do not just read about Florida's ecosystems — we explore them. We tag sharks alongside researchers from the University of Miami. We spend nights at a marine lab in Key Largo, learning to think like scientists in the field. We visit the Jupiter Lighthouse and board the Margaritaville ship as part of learning experiences that connect what happens in the classroom to the living world just outside our door.

For students who discover a passion for marine biology, environmental science, or ocean-related careers, these experiences are transformative. And for every PBMA student, they build something irreplaceable: the confidence that comes from doing something real, solving a real problem, and knowing the work mattered.

The jobs waiting for today's students will require them to create, design, code, and problem-solve in ways we are still imagining. We build that readiness through robust STEAM programming — science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics — woven throughout the PBMA experience.

Our Digital Media, Art and Theater programs develop creative thinkers who know how to communicate ideas across formats. Because at PBMA, learning is not something that happens to you. It is something you do.

With an average class size of 18–20 students — compared to 30 or more in traditional schools — our teachers and staff know every scholar by name, by strength, and by goal. Weekly school-based team meetings give our educators dedicated time to review individual progress, adjust instruction, and make sure no student falls through the cracks.

That is not a talking point. It is the structure behind every success story we get to celebrate.

When a student earns their first college credit, wins a robotics competition, stands on a boat in the Atlantic tagging a shark, or steps into a dual enrollment classroom for the first time — there is a team of people behind them who knew from the beginning that they were going to get there.