Together, those parents cobbled together about 200 students, earning the faith of locals wanting to keep their kids closer to home.
“We had no academic record at that point, and the finances were like hand-to-mouth,” said George Abounader, the school’s current and founding principal.
Today, about 450 students attend the school, one of Florida’s best. It has received an “A” grade for 13 straight years, with its finances are in strong shape. And after nine years in portable trailers, students now learn in a sleek $17 million, two-story building on the same property where the temporary classrooms once sat.
Read Part 1 – Florida’s failed charter schools: Cracks in the system
Read Part 2 – Few dollars, little sense doom dozens of charters
Read Part 3 – Students fall behind at low-performing charter schools
