Pine Crest Private School is Expanding to West Palm

Palm Beach Post, June 8, 2026

The Pine Crest private school plans to open a West Palm Beach campus, marking its third South Florida location.

The exclusive K-12 school announced the move on June 2 in a letter to its community.

Helping make the move possible is a large but undisclosed gift from real estate developer Stephen Ross, West Palm Beach’s dominant developer and a major owner of offices, high-rise residences and hotels.

Ross, the billionaire owner of the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins, lives in Palm Beach, just across the bridges from West Palm Beach.

What is the Pine Crest School?

Pine Crest is an independent, nondenominational school.

The school has a Pre-K through 8th grade campus in Boca Raton, and a Pre-K through 12th grade campus in Fort Lauderdale.

Pine Crest is a leading private school in Florida. In 2023, it was ranked the No. 1 private school in the country by The Washington Post’s Jay Mathews Challenge Index.

Pine Crest is known for its academic rigor, regularly placing graduating high school students in top universities nationwide.

Pine Crest’s classes contain between 15 and 18 students. This year, the Fort Lauderdale school’s graduating class totaled 211.

Why Pine Crest decided to expand to West Palm Beach?

On and off in recent years, Pine Crest has considered but then rejected a West Palm Beach campus.

But school officials said this expansion was approved because of West Palm Beach’s recent growth.

Much of this growth was spurred by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and the migration of financial firms and new residents to the city. This expansion, in turn, has helped attract institutions eager to join this newfound center of entrepreneurship, wealth and philanthropy.

One is Nashville-based Vanderbilt University. The private university plans to build a private graduate business school in West Palm Beach. Another is Cleveland Clinic, which plans a new hospital in West Palm Beach.

Ross’ undisclosed financial gift is key to advancing Pine Crest’s new campus, the school said.

In addition, Ross’ donation also will boost the Pine Crest campuses in Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale. This includes helping advance academic programs, faculty recruitment and the school’s overall financial well-being.