Parents, staff banking on Cape Prep's success: Charter school has hands-on approach

A new charter elementary school is opening in Cape Coral.

Cape Coral Preparatory and Fitness Academy, 2103 Santa Barbara Blvd., will open its doors Monday for the new school year.

"We have done a great job getting our staff together," said Dr. Myrrha Satow, CEO of Performance Academies, the company in charge of the charter school.

The building underwent renovations to convert the former TIB bank into a school. Just a few finishing touches may still remain.

"(We're) trying to preserve the beauty of the prior building," Satow said. "It looks fantastic."

The main work done was to divide the building into classrooms.

The new academy is a public charter school and thus has no tuition.

Performance Academies runs two other schools in the Lee County School District, in Fort Myers and Bonita Springs, and company officials noticed many parents who lived in Cape Coral driving their students across the bridge. They saw a need for a charter school in the Cape with small class sizes and a hands-on approach.

"(Parents) really expressed a need for a school with a similar focus and we responded to that," Satow said.

Cape Coral Preparatory and Fitness Academy will likely have more than 100 students enrolled when it opens.

"As a parent, my whole reason to look at the school was to find a good fit," said Carla Goode, a North Fort Myers resident.

Her grandson Dedrick, 10, attended the Fort Myers academy and is transferring to the Cape location.

The new schoolhouse for Cape Coral Preparatory and Fitness Academy at 2103 Santa Barbara Blvd. is undergoing renovations. The building used to house a bank.

Goode said she liked the small classes and family atmosphere.

The school limits its classes to 18 students and has two hours of reading and writing, 90 minutes of math and 90 minutes of science and social studies daily.

"His teacher gave me her personal cellphone number - that is unheard of in public school," Goode said.

Teachers have also been visiting students' families at their home before school starts.

This K-5 school has an extended school day, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and offers one hour and 15 minutes of martial arts or physical fitness daily.

"Anybody can teach reading and writing," said Principal Theresa Kern. "But not everyone has the niche that we have of martial arts and physical fitness."

The daily fitness program sets the Cape academy apart from other elementary schools.

"The fitness obviously was a big thing for me," Goode said. "Kids get bored sitting around all day."

The academy also focuses heavily on academics.

"We have a strong back-to-basics curriculum," Satow said.

Their methods appear to work. Both academies in Lee County achieved an "A" rating.

"We're very proud of that," Satow said.

For more information, call 989-2807 or visit performanceacademies.com and click on the Cape Coral link from the drop-down menu.