Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Renaissance Academy says students will read at grade level or the school will refund tuition.
By JAMES THORNER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 17, 2003
NEW PORT RICHEY -- If Dr. Seuss doesn't trip off your child's tongue, if he stumbles over the words in Harry Potter, he could get his tuition refunded by a private school scheduled to open this year in Pasco County.
Renaissance Academy, the arts-oriented school scheduled to open Aug. 11 on Little Road, is wielding a marketing tool popular with retailers but rare among educators: money-back guarantees.
Here's the offer: Either your student reaches grade level in reading within one academic year, or the school will refund the full $5,900 yearly tuition.
As an extra incentive to enroll kids in the school, Renaissance high schoolers who don't graduate in four years get a free education until they pass.
Renaissance is so gung-ho on its product, it doesn't expect to have to fork over any cash. The school will serve grades 3 through 12.
"I don't ever expect to have to do it. Children do not leave my class without learning how to read. It does not happen," said school founder Janine Caffrey, a former public school teacher. "That is really a sacred obligation for me as an educator."
No other private school in Pasco offers such a deal. She said she couldn't provide the number of students who have enrolled for the inaugural term that starts in August; enough have signed up, she said, for Renaissance to provide grades 3 to 12.
But what's the chance of parents getting a refund when Renaissance controls the curriculum? Might the school set standards low enough so students couldn't possibly fail?
No chance, Caffrey said. She promises to use a "variety of proven assessment instruments:" the Stanford Nine reading test, computer-based exams and STAR reading tests. So students know what level they're shooting for by year's end, teachers are supposed to consult parents continuously.
"This is a real offer," Caffrey said. "We're not messing with the numbers."
One test Caffrey won't use: FCAT. She's down on the test, used to measure student and teacher performance in public schools starting with third graders. She complains even good readers and writers flop under pressure from the "high-stakes test."
"They know that if they don't do well, they fail the grade," she said of FCAT takers.
The school has moved into a 16,000-square-foot office building on the west side of Little Road, just south of Massachusetts Avenue.
Renaissance's specialty will be performing arts -- such as dance, music and theater -- but it won't skimp on other curriculum, Caffrey said. Artistic kids usually achieve more than their peers, she said.
Caffrey's business partners are Tim and Lori Erickson, who once led the drama department at River Ridge Middle/High School.
"It's not a gimmick," Caffrey said of the money-back guarantee. "There just should be no excuse not to make it happen."