WELCOME TO CENTRAL FLORIDA PREP
Thank you for taking the time to familiarize yourself with our learning community.
Our History
Humble Beginnings
In 1990, Central Florida Preparatory School was founded by Robert and Rowena Flanders as a co-educational, college preparatory school for students Kindergarten through Grade 12. As a lifelong educator, Bob believed that engaging curriculum, project-based learning experiences, and the teaching of strong character values were the foundations for developing joyful and well-rounded students. He and his wife Rowena founded Central Florida Community School (known today as Central Florida Preparatory School) in a converted warehouse in Gotha, Florida, and for the first few years, their five children made up the majority of the student body.
Foundations for The Future
By 1994, the word was out about CFCS, and the school body had grown to over 65 students and 15 staff members. With limited space and a growing school community, Bob and Rowena signed a long term land-lease with a local church on Citrus Oaks Avenue and moved the school from “the Warehouse”, as it had become affectionately known, to its new home a few short blocks away.
At the Citrus Oaks campus, CFCS continued to experience growth with the addition of a new Montessori Program. The school also began establishing many of the events and celebrations our families look forward to today, including International Night, the Fall Festival, and R.E.D. month. A strong sense of family and community was building at CFCS and the future was bright.
The Pursuit of Academic Excellence
In 2001, CFCS was renamed Central Florida Preparatory School. The new name better reflected the school’s focus on academic excellence, and made a statement to the educational community that CFP students were graduating as well-rounded young adults prepared to take on the most challenging intellectual endeavors.
Over the following decade, Central Florida Preparatory School would go on to establish itself as a leader in educational innovation. In 2009, CFP was the first private school in Orange County to adopt a 1:1 instructional technology model and digital curriculum component. By 2011, 75% of all CFP students were graduating with at least 2 AP courses or college credits as part of our dual-enrollment partnership with Valencia College.
Bringing Innovation to Education
In 2020, Central Florida Prep moved into its new permanent home, a 40,000 sq.ft., state-of-the-art educational campus in Apopka, Florida. The the campus includes two STEM Labs, a culinary kitchen, agricultural garden, and spacious student lounge.
Today, students continue to achieve academic excellence in their core subject areas, while also participating in world-class activities and programs such as BioMedical Technology, Robotics, Farm to Table Culinary, Entrepreneurship, Coding Aeronautics and more.
Central Florida Prep students have gone on to attend the top colleges and universities in the world, including Stanford University, Columbia University, Princeton University, Brown University, UCLA, and the United States Naval Academy.
Bob flanders, founding director
September 2, 1950 - June 27, 2002
Bob was a treasured husband, father, friend and mentor, and an avid golfer and sailor. Our school mascot is the Mariner in his memory.
