The people behind the schools

Bob opened Central Florida Community School in a converted warehouse on Hempel Avenue in Gotha in August 1990, with seven students and a conviction that a school should teach children how to think rather than what to think. That school became Central Florida Preparatory School, and his standard still opens every conversation we have about a campus. The athletic and performing arts center that opened on the Orlando campus in 2026 carries his name.

Rowena co-founded the first school with Bob in 1990 and has led it, in one role or another, for thirty-five years. As President of Clear Direction Schools she sets the standard every campus is held to: small classes, teachers who know every name, and a program worth a family's trust.

Peyton leads enrollment, business development, and the company's legal and strategic work: where Clear Direction goes next and which schools and partners it works with. She built the enrollment engine that draws more than 500 qualified inquiries a year to each campus, and under it the two schools have grown 162% in five years to nearly 1,000 students.

Partnerships and new schools: Peyton is the person every partner, and every school that's considering working with us, talks to first. [email protected] or 407-625-6207.

Julia leads the Orlando campus, PreK through 12, and the academic and operational team behind it. She's the second generation of the family in the head's office, and the school's family-like culture is hers to keep.

Maria leads the Fort Myers campus, PreK through 8. She brings twenty-three years in K-8 education and an earlier career as a banking executive, which shows in how the campus is run: a clear plan, a clean budget, and a program that families can see growing year over year.

Sean leads campus development for the company and acts as the owner's representative on every project: site selection, permitting, design, budget, construction, and opening day. He's the person on site when a building goes up, and the one who makes sure the architect, the contractor, and the school are building the same thing. His current work includes the middle school expansion in pre-construction on the Fort Myers campus.

Dan leads finance for Clear Direction Schools and the schools it serves: annual budgets, audits, banking, cash management, and the reporting that boards, auditors, and lenders rely on. He was previously Chief Financial Officer of Charter Schools USA, one of the country's largest school operators, where he ran finance for a network of schools across Florida and the Southeast, and he founded and led Insight Analytics, a financial services and business advisory firm. At Clear Direction he oversaw the finances behind the company's Orlando campus and its athletic and performing arts center, and he's building the financial plan for the Fort Myers expansion.

Mary leads hiring for the company and the schools it serves: finding, selecting, and developing the teachers and leaders every campus depends on. She spent eighteen years at Marriott Vacations Worldwide, rising through sales and marketing leadership to become one of its first project directors, and then built the national talent acquisition team at Holiday Inn Club Vacations, which was named Recruiting Team of the Year by the American Resort Development Association in 2019. She's a former U.S. Army transportation officer.

Andrew brings fifteen years of enterprise sales leadership to Clear Direction's growth. He spent more than a decade at Gartner, rising from account manager to director of business development and leading education-sector sales for its large-enterprise business, and he now leads enterprise sales at Optro, an audit, risk, and compliance software company. He started his career teaching social studies and AP U.S. History at Central Florida Preparatory School.

Christopher brings a financial planner's discipline to the company's long-term decisions. A Certified Financial Planner, he's a Vice President and Senior Wealth Consultant at Charles Schwab in Orlando, where he has spent more than a decade helping families plan their finances.