NAPLES, Fla. – Florida Citizens Alliance, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to improving Florida’s K-12 education, has helped with launching two more Christian schools in Southwest Florida this fall.
Grow Christian Academy, which is a new ministry of Grow Church in Naples and Eagle’s Nest Microschool in Naples were both launched this September with the help of FLCA. With these two schools, FLCA has now successfully helped to launch eight new Christian schools around the state of Florida this year.
The launch of these non-traditional learning environments comes at a time of crisis, when roughly half of public school students in Florida are failing at reading and math proficiency, according to the latest data released by U.S. News and World Report.
“Year after year, public schools throughout Florida have consistently demonstrated failing grades when it comes to reading and math proficiency,” said Christy DeVigili, the program director for Alternative Education Solutions at FLCA. “We believe it’s paramount to create and offer superior education alternatives to these failing public schools. That’s why we launched our Microschool Initiative to help Christian parents and churches start schools where students can become proficient in these critical areas of learning.”
Since 2024, FLCA has helped launch a total of eight new Christian schools throughout Broward, Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade and Volusia counties with their Microschool Initiative. While these schools are hybrid, non-traditional learning environments, the tuition costs are covered entirely by Florida’s Personalized Education Program.
“This is the just the beginning. We have already had more than 50 more inquiries from individuals and churches to help start more of these microschools,” said DeVigili. “Our goal is to expand to every county in the state and to drastically improve education for the children of Florida.”
According to U.S. News and World Report 2023-2024 rankings, public school students in:
- Broward County had a 48 percent proficiency in reading and a 29 percent proficiency in math
- Collier County had a 58 percent proficiency in reading and a 56 percent proficiency in math
- Lee County had a 44 percent proficiency in reading and a 35 percent proficiency in math
- Miami-Dade County had a 51 percent proficiency in reading and a 38 percent proficiency in math
- Volusia County had a 46 percent proficiency in reading and a 30 percent proficiency in math
FLCA’s Microschool Initiative encourages Christian churches and families in Florida to adopt a God-centered approach to education and explore public school alternatives.
About Florida Citizens Alliance
Founded in 2013, Florida Citizens Alliance champions K-12 education reform in Florida. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, FLCA’s mission is to improve Florida’s K-12 education by uniting and empowering teachers, students, and parents. The three pillars of our mission are engaging local communities through our KIDS FIRST program, providing alternative education resources through our Microschool Initiative, and promoting legislative action.
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