Missing the Grade

existing company is a good available workforce," says Regina Smith, executive director of Lee County's economic development office. "With our population growth, we have a lot of folks moving into our area that bring a wealth of skills to our marketplace, so we compete well with other areas."

Others agree. "This area seems to attract highly educated individuals because of the quality of life," says Tammie Nemecek, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Council of Collier County. "[Employers] don't rely entirely on locally educated workers because they know they can attract from out of the area."

That said, academic and business interests are busily collaborating in both counties to provide additional education opportunities and workforce skills. Lee County's Horizon Council and an education task force in Collier concentrate on ways to improve career education and stay current with related trends. Both counties are moving toward comprehensive high schools, which offer students the chance to focus on career options through academics. At Ida S. Baker High School in Cape Coral, the first to open in Lee, five academies emphasize different industries: medical and biotechnology, public service, business/technology, engineering and manufacturing, and building and construction. Collier County is also eyeing prospects for comprehensive high schools at the Lorenzo Walker Institute of Technology and in Immokalee.

"We're looking at how to get the word out to students and parents as to what kinds of education programs should be offered at the secondary level, so we can meet the needs of businesses

locally as well as regionally and nationally," says B.J. Lattanzi, administrator of career education for Collier County schools. "So we're preparing them both to stay and enter the workforce here with post-secondary education and workforce skills, as well as attain that high rigor required to enter post-secondary institutions, college or beyond."

The business community's input and active involvement is critical to success in career education efforts, and Source Interlink's Jackson has noticed a high level of involvement among the business community.

"Businesses are interested in trying to create better schools," she says. "I've noticed here a huge business commitment to partner with public schools and come up with strategies for improvement."

A current review of industry trends in Collier will help guide educational offerings, says Lattanzi. "For example, Web design five years ago was a hot ticket, and we put in a lot of Web design programs in our schools. But now the market is saturated. So what do we need to look for?"

Shimp believes that Lee County is on the right track, with county support and strong public-private partnerships such as the Horizon Council.

"I just wish we could get the next tier up-the state," he says. The legislature, governor's office, Department of Education and university system need to collectively focus on funding and on measuring the state's education opportunities against the rest of the nation.

"When you start to compete on a national level, Florida is, at best, a fourth-quartile state," says Shimp. "State legislators don't want to hear it, especially if it's going to get into wallets."

Well Prepped

Canterbury School's Mason Goss on private education

The steady stream of new students into Southwest Florida has boosted demand for private education. At Fort Myers' Canterbury School enrollment has more than tripled in the past two decades.

The son of Porter Goss, the nation's director of Central Intelligence, headmaster Mason Goss and his wife both attended the independent school, and their three sons are continuing the tradition.

Founded in 1964, Canterbury School's curriculum covers pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Goss, 37, recently spoke to Gulfshore Business about education, independent schools and Canterbury in particular.

Q: What kinds of colleges do your graduates attend?

A: Up until about 10 years ago, the norm for our students would have been to go to smaller liberal arts colleges, because that is what we are fashioned after-Amherst College, Rollins College and those types of schools. Because of the economics, frankly, more and more of our students are going into public universities. People always look to see the number of our students that attend an Ivy League school. Each year, out of a class of between 50 and 60, probably three to five are being admitted to one of those schools; we take pride in that because the Ivies are ridiculously competitive.

Q: Is your enrollment growing?

A: We've gone from a school of 200 over 20 years ago to 670 now. We will be building in the next few years to accommodate some of this growth. This goes hand in hand with any influx of people into our community.

Q: Do you see parents moving into the state taking a closer look at private schools because Florida's public schools have a lackluster image?

A: We do. Correctly or not, people reach conclusions about the public system. We've benefited from that. It's not anybody's fault, but the public schools have to deal with all abilities, and that affects the overall scores on the standardized tests.

With the SAT results, however, when you compare the average scores of Canterbury School or The Community School of Naples with the public schools' scores, there is a dramatic difference. Our class size is 17 for pre-K and grade school, and 12 in high school. With only 12 kids in a classroom, we're able to do a lot.

Q: For many parents, a private education-particularly at an independent school-is expensive. What do you have available for financial aid?

A: We will give out close to $1 million next year in need-based financial aid. We are very committed to diversity, so if a student has the ability and the desire to be here, we try to make it happen.

Q: What do you see as primary benefits of an independent-school education?

A: We are not held back by the bureaucratic encumbrances of a public school. If we want to offer Latin, we offer Latin. Teachers have more independence in creating curriculum. They use national standards in creating format, but there is a good deal of autonomy in the classroom. These days you hear a good deal about an emphasis in public schools on preparing kids for tests. Our students are not being taught to a test; they are being taught to think.

-Mary Lou Smart