History of Clearwater Academy
In Clearwater Academy International (CAI) you find twenty years of experience and best practices that have come together to form one of the most unique and effective private schools in Tampa Bay.
Three distinct and successful private schools came together in 1997 and founded Clearwater Academy International. While those three schools had existed successfully on their own prior to the merger they found that coming together they were able to offer a more complete and comprehensive educational experience.
In 1985 Jefferson Academy, founded by Clearwater resident Sandy Mesmer, was born out of a group of home schooling families who decided to come together to provide the ideal academic environment for their individual children. The success of their program quickly attracted other parents and Jefferson Academy soon found themselves having to move from building to building, working to keep up with its expansion.
"Our philosophy was parents had the ulitmate responsiblity. We offered our expert opinon, but the parents were the boss," said Sandy.
A To Be School
In 1990, Pam Chipman, another Clearwater resident, launched a school based on her desire to create the ideal school and curriculum. She found other parents who shared her vision of how a school should operate for the benefit of its students and parents.
The school continued to grow purely by word of mouth for several years. The growth forced the administration to continue to work to find additional space for the growing student body.
The school continued to focus on its purpose of putting together the best and most complete curriculum possible. This project continued in the background while the school expanded and was eventually completed for all subjects ranging from pre-school to 12th grade.
Renaissance Academy
In 1992, Evan Matlock had her own unique vision for how she believed children should be educated. "My school was extremely odd," said Evan of her school. "We taught everything around art and games." This unique approach intrigued a growing number of parents with active children who needed additional extracurricular to capture their interest in school and learning.
Evan's school, like the others, was a success and quickly grew. More students came and, like Jefferson Academy and A to Be School, she had to continue to larger quarters to accomodate her growing student body.
The Merger
In 1997, the founders and key executives of the three schools met and determined that combining not only their individual financial efforts but the combined experience and best practices would actualize all of their individual dreams for the ideal school and Clearwater Academy International was born.
This merger was not only a melding of ideas and practices, but was also a merging of three student bodies. To accomodate the students and the ideal school, a brand new building was built and opened in 1998. This new facility not only provided for adequate space for all of the students but it also allowed the creation of the ideal facility to house this unique school.
When creating the new building the unique set up of the school was foremost in the plans. Therfore, space for a student programmer, to write individual programs was created and space for our qualifications personnel was created to make sure our students truly understand what they are studying. Also a full size gymnasium and large play yard were included in our ideal school.
Today, the "new" building is being used to its fullest extent. We are constantly upgrading and adjusting to our growing student body. Most recently professional quality field turf was added to our play ground and practical rooms for the upper students were added along with a completely new preschool playground.
Just like the first three schools that started Clearwater Academy, we are constantly growing and improving and by taking the best of the three original schools we have indeed created the ideal environment for helping each and everyone of our students reach their full potential.