Carrollwood Day School

An exclusive private school in Tampa is up and running this year thanks primarily to the school's parents. Earlier this year, the school faced the strong possibility of closing down.

In Assignment: Education.. Bill Ratliff takes you Carrollwood Day School, where some lessons were learned.. for all parents who send their children to private school.

--[Woman says:] "Today is a day we want to celebrate."--

Which is exactly what they did recently at Carrollwood Day School. There was a tree planting, and a flag raising ceremony. All of which was designed to symbolize a new beginning for the private school.. a school which looked like it was going to have to close its doors. Earlier this year, C-D-S's owner announced the school was 450-thousand dollars in debt. Head Mistress Mary kanter remembers the day well. She says it was a horrible shock.

--[Mary Kanter says:] "I was involved with the children, teachers and the parents, but I was never involved with the finances. So to find out we were in that situation was unbelieveable to me."--

And to the parents, as well.. who are unsually loyal. To understand their passion for the school, all one has to do is look around. The student-to-teacher ratio in the elementary level is about 18-to-one. In the sixth-through-eeighth grades, it's about 22-to-one. And on the 16-acre site.. small class buildings are nestle under large sprawling oaks.. creating a strong sense of tranquility and safety. To save the school, the parents rallied. They raised nearly a half-million dollars and formed a non-profit corporation to buy it. Parent.. and now board member.. Patricia Dunne-Fierstein.. says the entire school community came together.

--[Patricia Dunne-Fierstein says:] "A school this great just can't die, and we we're comparing it to the Titanic, which was a hot movie at the time. But we weren't going to let it sink."--

It didn't.. And now C-D-S is thriving. But through its crisis came a lesson.. For all private school parents. C-D-S Board Chairman and parent Tom Morrison...

--[Tom Morrison says:] "So, I would say that if you are going to a private school , one of the first questions to ask is what access do we have to financial reporting."--

The average tuition at Carrollwood Day School is about 65-hundred dollars. That's a lot of money. But Morrision says most the parents feel it's worth it, because of the individual attention their children receive.

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