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Florida school choice

For some Florida private schools, pandemic ‘may very well mean closure’

Ron Matus April 29, 2020

The 43 Catholic schools serving 15,000 students in the Diocese of Orlando began making preparations for the Covid-19 pandemic in February. It knew then, said Superintendent Henry Fortier, that “this virus posed, in some instances, potential extinction for us.”

By mid-April, a handful of families at virtually every school – maybe 150 total – were saying they couldn’t pay tuition for the remainder of the school year, creating uncertainty for re-registration for the fall. Since then, the numbers have risen into the hundreds, as parents throughout Central Florida’s tourist-dependent economy have been laid off and furloughed.

“As the storm comes in, the waves are getting bigger and bigger,” Fortier said.

Private schools throughout Florida are feeling it.

Some 73 percent of the 327 private schools that immediately responded to a survey sent out Monday by Step Up For Students (which hosts this blog) said they were experiencing a decline in re-enrollment rates compared to this time last year, while 75 percent agreed many non-scholarship parents were telling them they couldn’t pay tuition next year. Sixty-two percent said the response from parents was enough to make them worry about the school’s viability for the 2020-21 school year. (The survey was sent to nearly 2,000 schools, so these results should be considered preliminary.)

Fortier’s hurricane metaphor is apt. It’s impossible to tell, this far out, how strong the economic storm unleashed by Covid-19 will be when it makes landfall. At the same time, it’s clear the threat is real, the damage could be extensive, and some structures are more vulnerable than others.

Schools with strong majorities of students using choice scholarships have more of a financial buffer. But those with more non-scholarship parents may be in for an especially rough spell.

“You pull 30 to 40 kids out of a school with 200 to 250 students, that can be dramatic,” Fortier said. “If I can’t reduce my staff … where does the money come from? Pennies from heaven? This may very well mean closure for many non-public schools around the state.”

“This is definitely a very serious issue. And I am confident that some schools will not survive this,” Michael Burroughs, executive director of the Florida League of Christian Schools, said in an email. “Personally, I think REALLY small schools that are accustomed to living on shoestring budgets will eke this out. I think larger schools have the savvy to leverage capital to manage this crisis. I think the greatest risk is the average school with 100 to 300 students. I think those have the potential to be the hardest hit. And you know as well as I do, that is the majority of religious schools in the state.”

Florida has one of the biggest private school sectors in America, with 2,700 schools serving 335,000 students in K-12. About 160,000 of those students use choice scholarships for students disadvantaged by poverty or disability.

Economic slumps are always tough for private schools. During the Great Recession, the number of private schools in Florida fell from 2,304 in 2005 to 2,064 in 2008, a 10 percent reduction. This, even though the number of students using the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship for low-income families grew by 14,322 during that span.

Fortier said about a dozen schools in the Orlando diocese fit that smaller-school profile that may put them at risk if enrollment declines significantly.

All 43 schools in the diocese applied for forgivable loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, the federal relief stream for small businesses and nonprofits that appears to be the biggest source of federal help for private schools. The PPP is, at best, a Band-Aid that can help sustain a school for two months. And many private schools have yet to get that.

Three schools in the Orlando diocese were approved during the first round of the PPP, which got a second infusion of money, $310 billion, late last week. According to the initial results from the Step Up survey, 82 percent of the 327 respondents said they applied to the PPP. Thirty-two percent said their applications had been approved; 64 percent said their applications were pending.

To be sure, all education sectors are facing the strain. The Council of the Great City Schools warned Tuesday that nearly 300,000 teachers could be laid off in the biggest urban districts without more federal relief. At the same time, there’s a strong case to be made that big hits to private school enrollment will have negative repercussions on school districts, which will have to teach more students with less money in unprecedented circumstances (see here, here, here, and here).

Some private schools are doing everything they can to keep that from happening.

Many private school parents whose children were not using choice scholarships may not realize such scholarships are available, Fortier said. Schools in the Orlando diocese are working hard to make sure parents now in a bind understand they may have options like the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and Family Empowerment Scholarship.

April 29, 2020 0 comment

Courts Education and Public Policy Education Legislation Education Politics Family Empowerment Scholarship School Choice Tax Credit Scholarships Unionism Vouchers

Blaine amendments ‘discriminate against all religion’

Jon East October 2, 2019

Jon East

As religious and education interest groups furiously file amicus briefs in the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case on whether states can ban faith-based schools from voucher programs, a respected Catholic university professor is offering a remarkably dispassionate plea:

Don’t reject Blaine amendments because they were born of Catholic bigotry; ban them because they discriminate against all religion.

The argument posed by University of Notre Dame law professor Richard W. Garnett is part of an enticing new SCOTUSBlog symposium on Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. The case may determine whether no-aid-to-religion clauses in 37 states, known as Blaine amendments after a Maine congressman who pushed them in the late 1800s, can be used to exclude religious schools from government-supported scholarship programs that allow students to choose private schools.

Garnett writes, in part:

“To be sure, anti-Catholicism was, is and has been from the beginning real in the United States, and it has long skewed constitutional doctrines and public debates about school funding and education policy. Still, it increasingly seems unhelpful – and, indeed, unhealthy – to construct and apply judicial doctrines that invite mind-reading for malice and that make the legality of legislative, executive or other official acts depend less on the harms they cause than on the motives, or even the character, ascribed to their supporters.

“Our political and legal climate and discourse are not well served by a hyper-driven hermeneutic of suspicion, and perhaps the court could help by, in this and other contexts, moving to judicial tests that do not incentivize accusations of bad faith or reductionist accounts of others’ aims. It is appropriate, of course, to take judicial notice of historical facts. Indeed, some cases are probably better decided with deferential reliance on tradition and longstanding practice than by application of clear-cut rules and tests. Here, though, a straightforward application of what (Justice Neil) Gorsuch called the “general principle” that discrimination against religion, as such, is not permitted by the free exercise clause unless it is required by the establishment clause is the court’s best bet.”

The Montana case is particularly relevant to Florida, given that state teacher union attorney Ron Meyer has told reporters he plans to file a lawsuit challenging the new Family Empowerment Scholarship that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law in May. That K-12 scholarship aims to serve up to 18,000 students this fall with state-funded vouchers to private schools.

Though the Florida Supreme Court in 2006 overturned a direct-funded school voucher on the grounds that it violated a requirement that public schools be “uniform,” Meyer is certain to also argue that vouchers awarded to participating faith-based schools violate the state no-aid provision.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in 2002 that a Cleveland voucher program that included religious schools did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s church and state provisions, but it has not previously ruled on whether state Blaine amendments can be used to circumvent that decision. The court is expected to rule in the Espinoza case by summer 2020.

October 2, 2019 0 comment

Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Parent Empowerment Parent Voices Parental Choice Private Schools School Choice

A perfect school for a quirky girl

Special to redefinED September 28, 2019

Special to redefinED

Dawn Everly’s daughter Debbie.

Editor’s note: Each Saturday in September, redefinED is dipping into the archives to revisit a compelling story written from the perspective of a parent advocate. In today’s post, mother Dawn Everly reveals how she found a perfect fit for her daughter at a private school with help from a Florida Tax Credit Scholarship.

My daughter Debbie is a wonderful 7-year-old with an old soul.

She’s cooperative, creative, compassionate and loving. Debbie is intelligent, articulate, quirky, unique and artistic. She loves crazy knee socks. She doesn’t like crowds and can be very shy at times, especially in new surroundings and with people she doesn’t know.

She makes everyone she meets smile.

We’ve been very lucky in finding educational environments that suit her well. When it was time for Debbie to attend school, I searched everywhere. I did background research on every place we could find, both within our means and outside them for perspective. I am a single mom, and it is a rough go sometimes.

I was getting very discouraged. The places I knew would fit her had either a long wait list, or were so far out of my budget I couldn’t figure a way to make it work. I dreaded the thought of public school, not because the options were necessarily bad but because I knew it wasn’t the right environment for Debbie.

I have two older children, and have plenty of experience with the public school system. One child excelled and one struggled. I wanted an alternative for my youngest. I was afraid the public school system would swallow her, so to speak, and that wasn’t going to work for either of us.

Then a miracle (well, two really) dropped in our laps. We discovered a brand new private school was opening that I KNEW would be a perfect fit – For The Love of Learning. And if I balanced the budget and rearranged some things, it would be doable, no matter how tight. We went to check it out, and Debbie was a perfect fit. We HAD to make this happen.

And then we came across a scholarship administered by Step Up For Students.

I read through all of the information, took a deep breath and applied. When we were approved, I cried tears of joy and relief. My child was going to get the education she deserved.

I am excited to say this is our third year at For The Love of Learning, and we couldn’t be happier. Thanks to the school and Step Up for Students, my youngest daughter is happy, loves school, is learning and growing in a way that is perfect for her.

Debbie has loved every teacher, her environment, and makes friends so easily there. She has quite the following! Debbie is a special child (as they all are!) and we have found her the perfect place. For The Love of Learning has a wonderful mix of Montessori, Waldorf, and home schooling curriculum.

Looking back, I wish I had more knowledge of this type of school earlier, and just maybe my middle child would’ve had an easier time and received what he needed to excel.

We are so thankful for both Step Up for Students and For The Love of Learning private school.

Dawn Everly is a parent in Martin County, Fla. The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship is administered by nonprofits such as Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog.

September 28, 2019 0 comment

Education and Public Policy Education Research factcheckED Florida Education Revolution Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Know Your History Myth Busters School Choice Tax Credit Scholarships Vouchers

Busting myths of 20 years ago

Patrick R. Gibbons September 27, 2019

Patrick R. Gibbons

Florida’s then-Gov. Jeb Bush testifying before a U.S. House committee Sept. 23, 1999.

Twenty years ago this week, Gov. Jeb Bush spoke before the House Education Budget Committee about Florida’s recently passed A+ Plan and the state’s first voucher, the Opportunity Scholarship Program.

“It’s been fun, in all honesty,” Bush said with a smirk, “to watch the myths that have been built up over time when you empower parents.”

Those myths were shattered, Bush said, though he admitted the program was only just a few months old at that point. Nevertheless, two decades of evidence have proved him correct.

By the time of Bush’s presentation, the Opportunity Scholarship had awarded scholarships to 134 students at two schools in Pensacola. Seventy-six of those students used the program to attend another higher-performing public school, while 58 used the voucher to attend a private school, according to Bush’s testimony.

The first myth Bush called “the brain drain,” which occurs when only the high-achieving kids leave public schools. But according to Bush, the students on the program were no more or less academically advantaged than their peers who remained behind.

The second myth was that vouchers would only benefit higher-income students. “Eighty-five percent of the students are minority,” Bush said. “Eighty-five percent qualify for reduced and free lunch. This is not a welfare program for the rich, but an empowerment program for the disadvantaged.”

The third and final myth he called “the abandonment myth” — schools where students leave will spiral ever downward.

Twenty years later these myths remain busted.

Eleven years of research on the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship show the critics’ claims ring hollow.

• Students attending private schools with the help of the scholarship are among the lowest-performing students in the public schools they leave behind.

• Today, 75 percent of scholarship students are non-white, 57 percent live in single-parent households, and the average student lives in a household earning around $27,000 a year. Researchers at the Learning Systems Institute at Florida State noted that these students are also more economically disadvantaged than their eligible public-school peers.

• More importantly, scholarship students are achieving Jeb Bush’s goal of gaining a year’s worth of learning in a year’s time.

• Even the abandonment myth remains untrue. Overall, public schools with large populations of potentially eligible scholarship students actually performed better, as a result of competition from the scholarship program, according to researchers David Figlio and Cassandra Hart.

When Jeb Bush took office just 52 percent of Florida’s students graduated. Today 86 percent of students graduate. According to the Urban Institute, students on the scholarship are more likely to graduate high school and attend and later graduate from college. State test scores on the Nation’s Report Card are up considerably since 1998 too. And when adjusting for demographics, Florida, which is a majority-minority state, ranks highly on K-12 education compared to wealthier and whiter peers.

There’s still room for improvement. But the naysayers at the turn of the century have been proven wrong.

September 27, 2019 0 comment

Courts Faith-based Education Florida Education Revolution Know Your History Myth Busters Private Schools School Choice Vouchers

Florida’s Blaine amendment leaves many unanswered questions (Part 2)

Patrick R. Gibbons September 19, 2019

Patrick R. Gibbons

Florida’s First District Court of Appeal

This is the second of two posts on the judicial history of Florida’s Blaine Amendment with regard to public aid to private religious institutions. Part one can be read here. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on the constitutionality of state Blaine Amendments in 2020.

Lawyers defending Florida’s first school voucher program in Bush v. Holmes demonstrated the state historically allowed public funding to flow to many religious organizations providing public services, including through the McKay Scholarship for children with special needs. The First District Court of Appeal refused to acknowledge these programs.

Supporters of the Opportunity Scholarship program also cited several Florida Supreme Court cases which upheld aid to religious institutions as constitutional. But the appellate court found a way to ignore this precedent too.

Koerner v. Borck (1958) dealt with the last will and testament of Mrs. Lina Downey, who had donated a parcel of land to Orange County for use as a county park, but with the provision that Downey Memorial Church be granted a perpetual easement to access the lake for the privilege of baptizing members and swimming.

The court upheld the will, concluding,

“to hold that the Amendment is an absolute prohibition against such use of public waters would, in effect, prohibit many religious groups from carrying out the tenets of their faith; and, as stated in Everson v. Board of Education, supra, 67 S. Ct. 504, 505, “State power is no more to be used so as to handicap religions, than it is to favor them.”

In 1959 the Florida Supreme Court heard Southside Estates Baptist Church v Board of Trustees, a case in which the court ruled religious institutions could use public buildings (in this case a public school) for religious meetings.

The court was not persuaded that minimal costs associated with the “wear and tear” of the building constituted aid from the public treasury, and concluded there was “no evidence here that one sect or denomination is being given a preference over any other.”

In Johnson v. Presbyterian Homes of Synod of Florida, Inc. (1970), tax collectors for Bradenton and Manatee County challenged a law that gave property tax exemptions to non-profits operating homes for the elderly after a religious organization applied. Presbyterian Homes of Synod, a religious non-profit operating homes for the elderly, maintained a religious atmosphere, offered religious services and employed an ordained Presbyterian minister who conducted services every day except Sunday. Most residents were even practicing Presbyterians.

The Florida Supreme Court determined the tax exemption benefit was available to all, not just Presbyterians, and ruled:

“A state cannot pass a law to aid one religion or all religions, but state action to promote the general welfare of society, apart from any religious considerations, is valid, even though religious interests may be indirectly benefited.”

Nohrr v. Brevard County Education Facilities Authority (1971) dealt with the issue of government issue bonds potentially being received by religious schools. The Florida Supreme Court found no problem here either.

In all four cases the Florida Supreme Court held the law did not violate the constitutional prohibition on direct or indirect aid to religious institutions. In all instances, the court examined who benefited from the aid, and required that the aid benefit the general public and/or required that no religious group be favored over the other.

The appellate court majority brushed aside these arguments, noting that the Opportunity Scholarship was different because the financial aid came directly from the state treasury, making the scholarship “distinguishable from the type of state aid found constitutional.” In fact, it appears the appellate court restricted Florida’s “no aid” provision to “payment of public monies,” though it failed to consider other similar programs such as McKay.

Having crafted itself exemptions to prior state Supreme Court precedent, the appellate court cited cases in Washington (2002), South Carolina (1971) and Virginia (1955) where state supreme courts held that direct subsidies to students were, in effect, benefits to religious schools.

This directly contradicted the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002), which determined the benefit to religious institutions from school vouchers were merely “incidental.”

The Florida Supreme Court had even weighed in on whether these benefits were direct or incidental during a 1983 case, City of Boca Raton v. Gilden, which upheld the city’s subsidy to a religiously affiliated daycare provider. The court declared:

“The beneficiaries of the city’s contribution are the disadvantaged children. Any ’benefit‘ received by the charitable organization itself is insignificant and cannot support a reasonable argument that this is the quality or quantity of benefit intended to be proscribed.”

The appellate court in Bush v. Holmes failed to understand that the constitutional question hinged not on the method of aid, but who was the intended beneficiary of the aid. Though Florida’s constitutional language may appear clear, its longstanding history of neutrality in funding medical and educational services at secular and religious institutions, has muddied the waters.

September 19, 2019 0 comment

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Ed choice scholarship was ‘a Godsend’

Special to redefinED September 14, 2019

Special to redefinED

Editor’s note: Each Saturday in September, redefinED is dipping into the archives to revisit a compelling story written from the perspective of a parent advocate. Today’s post features a mom who utilized a Gardiner Scholarship to provide her special needs son with educational resources he would not have received otherwise.

We had become parents a second time. This time it was a boy.

Kevin was a vivacious, wonderful baby full of laughter and joy. His development took the usual course. He was a bit behind in language, but we were told it was of no concern yet. A littler later, however, we noticed Kevin had repetitive behaviors, was lining his toys up and, well, had a very strong “personality.”

When we sought the assistance of a speech therapist, she referred us to Early Steps, an organization to screen autism.

The day we were told our son was autistic, my husband and I were shocked by the words, but at the same time we knew.

We immediately began therapies to help his speech and decided to place him in a public school program for pre-schoolers with autism.

At the time, we were completely satisfied with his progress. We found that he adapted well to the learning environment.

However, with our move, we had to change schools. Furthermore, once he exited the pre-kinder autistic class, where there were only five children and two instructors, he was assigned to an inclusion class with 25 students and only one instructor and a “floating” inclusion teacher.

Kevin was left soiled, was not fed for over a month, and continuously eloped to the parking lot.

We finally decided to place Kevin in an ABA center to help him with his behaviors, which were seriously impeding daily life.

Since the ABA was six hours a day, we decided to register him in homeschool. At first, this was very difficult, but when I learned the Gardiner Scholarship helped families like us, we were immediately alleviated.

The Gardiner Scholarship is an education savings account for students with special needs such as autism and Down syndrome. It has been a Godsend to our family. Not only do I have the ability to choose homeschool for my son, I have resources that I would not have been able to afford to give him otherwise.

The public sector is not a good fit for Kevin, who is now 9 years old, as his needs extend beyond what it can provide.

Now I have the tools and resources to provide my son with diverse curricula, private tutors, sensory and physical materials, and technological devices.

I attribute the great strides Kevin has made in his development to the Gardiner Scholarship. It enabled us to help him not only become verbal, but fluent.

I cannot imagine a world without Gardiner.

Ana Garcia is a mother in Homestead, Fla.

September 14, 2019 0 comment

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SUFS president Doug Tuthill: ‘Get serious about this equity conversation’

Donna Winchester September 10, 2019

Donna Winchester

In a recent interview with WFSU Public Media news director Lynn Hatter, Step Up For Students president Doug Tuthill spoke about his first-hand experience with segregation as a student in the 1970s as well as his experience as an educator on the front lines of the magnet school movement in the 1990s.

While much progress has been made over the years to address the challenges faced by minority and low-income students, Tuthill told Hatter, there’s room for more progress.

Among the challenges that still need to be addressed: continued customization of education experiences and expanded equity for all students by expansion of scholarship options to ensure that money is not a barrier to a quality education.

“Choice isn’t going away,” Tuthill said. “The question is, can we manage choice in such a way that there’s not a have and have-not … How do we make sure that kids don’t get left behind?”

The new frontier in education choice, Tuthill explained, will be education scholarship accounts that allow parents to have their child’s education funding deposited into an account they can use to pay for private school tuition, online courses, tutoring, dual enrollment and after-school enrichment opportunities.

Tuthill sees these accounts as crucial for creating equity and opportunity.

“It’s not rational to think that schools are capable of dealing with generational poverty by themselves,” he told Hatter. “You can’t expect teachers working with kids six hours a day, 180 days a year to deal with all the inequities that are in society that kids are having to deal with.”

ESAs, Tuthill explained, help level the playing field not only by giving families more equitable access when it comes to choosing schools, but also by providing access to opportunities beyond the school day – opportunities such as after-school arts programs, tutoring and summer camps that typically are available only to middle-income and more affluent families.

“I’m hoping we can get serious about this equity conversation and that we get serious about making sure families have resources, not just in terms of school choice, but in terms of education choice,” he told Hatter.

In other words: creating and expanding opportunities that transcend schools.

To listen to a 5-minute outtake of the full interview, click here.

September 10, 2019 0 comment

Charter Schools School Choice School spotlight

Siblings find safety, inspiration and second family at charter school

Geoff Fox July 13, 2019

Geoff Fox

Dylan Stanton refers to educator Glenn Goodwin as “The God of Teachers.” Once bullied, Dylan has thrived at Renaissance Charter School at Tradition.

Editor’s note: Throughout July, redefinED is revisiting stories that shine a light on extraordinary schools. Today’s spotlight, first published in August 2018, relates how a third-grader who experienced bullying was able to thrive after enrolling in Renaissance Charter School at Tradition in Port St. Lucie.

Dylan Stanton was routinely bullied at his former school. A boy in his third-grade class hit him, pushed him off benches, stole his money. Once, he rammed Dylan face-first into a fence.

At the same school, another student once held a sharp metal file to the throat of his older sister Kaitlyn.

Not surprisingly, they did not thrive there.

But now, Dylan, 11, and Kaitlyn, 13, are safe and learning on an accelerated path, thanks to Renaissance Charter School at Tradition. It’s a K-8 charter school in Port. St. Lucie, Florida, which they’ve attended for two years.

“My friend kept telling me about this school, the tutoring and after-school programs and all the extra help,” said Jennifer Stanton, their mother. “I contemplated for a while, but the bullying at the other school helped me make up my mind.”

“We’ve been very happy here. They’re just easier to work with. They’re open to ideas and parent involvement.”

Accessing a new school did more than help the Stantons overcome bullying.

A few years ago, Dylan was diagnosed with dyslexia and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). At his former school, he struggled in math and was reading below his grade level.

Renaissance placed him in an online after-school reading program called Reading Plus, which develops a student’s silent reading stamina and fluency, while building vocabulary and comprehension, increasing their confidence and expanding their interests.

Thanks largely to his reading gains, Dylan’s grades have soared – along with his self-confidence. He loves science fiction and imagines a space-traveling future.

“I want to be the first person to step on Mars – to colonize Mars,” he said, adding he wants to pilot the rocket that takes him there.

Kaitlyn Stanton used to hate going to school, until she attended Renaissance Charter at Tradition, where her reading scores soared.

Kaitlyn, an eighth-grader, exhibited some of the same learning difficulties as Dylan, but not as severe. Her mother said the turbulent environment at her old school made her anxious. She, too, struggled most with reading, but Reading Plus has benefited her, as well.

But now “she’s now well above where she needs to be,” said reading teacher Andrea Ortega.

That has “made everything much easier” academically, Jennifer Stanton said.

“She used to hate school and hated to read,” she said. “I think this has given her the confidence to push herself in school.”

Kaitlyn is a dancer who specializes in ballet, jazz, acrobatic and lyrical dancing (but “hates” tap). While she hasn’t settled on a possible future career, she knows she wants a job that will someday enable her to buy a Range Rover.

This fall, she’ll attend St. Lucie West Centennial High School. It’s a district school where she was accepted into the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education Program, which offers challenging college-level classes for high school students.

Kaitlyn spoke of her future between classes, while students wearing red, white or blue polo-style Renaissance shirts passed by in orderly, single-file lines.

The charter school is located in a rapidly developing area of Port St. Lucie, on Florida’s east coast between West Palm Beach and Vero Beach.

The 64,466-square-foot, two-story facility opened in 2013. A tuition-free public charter school, it’s governed by Renaissance Charter Schools, part of the Charter Schools USA network. The district recently renewed it for 15 years. In 2016-17, the state rated it a B academically.

Principal Stacy Schmit said the school strives to make the personal connections with students and parents that are key to student success. She credited Stanton for having high expectations for her children and working in tandem with their teachers.

“She very much empowers the kids to be drivers of their own education,” Schmit said. “She’s a great mom and she pushes them.”

Renaissance also has a Cambridge program. It’s available to third- through fifth-graders and aims to develop critical-thinking skills and encourage collaboration. Last year, Stanton urged Dylan to apply, and he was accepted.

“There are more projects and it’s an accelerated class,” said Glenn Goodwin, Dylan’s fifth-grade teacher. “Dylan’s definitely in the upper range of where he needs to be. He’s gone up in (every subject) over last year, but he’s had the most gains in reading and science.”

Dylan calls Goodwin “The God of Teachers.” Stanton credits him for engaging Dylan’s interests.

At 5-foot-7, Goodwin, 42, is powerfully built, with a large tattoo on his left arm and an upbeat personality to match his youthful energy. He’s well-known for enhancing classroom studies with real-life stories from his globetrotting life. For years, he lived and traveled in Thailand, Ecuador and South Korea, among other countries, where he taught English with his wife.

During a recent lesson on animal behavior, he described what happened when he and his wife got off his motorcycle in Thailand to feed monkeys.

While Renaissance has helped Dylan and Kaitlyn flourish academically, it’s also helped with needs beyond the classroom.

Jennifer Stanton’s mother and uncle both recently died, and she was diagnosed with a heart condition. In December, as the family was heading to Renaissance for “Breakfast with Santa,” their car was totaled in a multi-vehicle crash.

A single mother who works as a nurse, Stanton couldn’t afford Dylan’s hyperactivity medication for a month as she searched for a new car. The other challenges made it difficult for her to juggle her kids’ schedules.

Kaitlyn has dance classes a few days a week and played on the school’s volleyball team. Dylan participates in wrestling, baseball, football and tae kwon do.

Stanton turned to her best friend, Karla Nelson, who’s also the school nurse. When Stanton’s mom was hospitalized for extended periods, Nelson and her husband, who have three kids of their own, stepped up to care for Dylan and Kaitlyn.

“It truly takes a village to help raise children,” Stanton said. “This school is like family.”

About Florida’s charter schools

Florida is home to more than 650 public charter schools, enrolling more than 280,000 students. Sixty-two percent are black or Hispanic; more than half qualify for free- or reduced-price lunches. As of September 2017, the state classified 171 charter schools as academically high-performing.

July 13, 2019 0 comment