# Clear Direction Schools A family company that builds and runs independent schools in Florida, and acquires for-profit independent schools anywhere in the United States. Growing minds and the schools around them since 1990. Works with two schools: Central Florida Preparatory School (Orlando) and Crestwell School (Fort Myers). Contact: peyton@cleardirectionschools.com, 407-625-6207. ## Pages - https://cleardirectionschools.com/ : company overview, philosophy, story, schools, partners - https://cleardirectionschools.com/acquisitions/ : School Acquisitions. For owners of for-profit independent schools across the United States who are thinking about selling. Clear Direction Schools acquires schools and keeps what makes them special: the name, the people, the program. A family that has run schools since 1990. What your school gains, how the transition works, and the questions owners ask first. - https://cleardirectionschools.com/management/ : School Management. Clear Direction Schools manages independent schools for their owners and boards under a management agreement: admissions and enrollment, finance, staffing, accreditation, facilities, academic programs, technology, student support, athletics, and international programs. Keep your school. Strengthen everything behind it. - https://cleardirectionschools.com/development/ : Campus Development. Clear Direction Schools plans and builds school campuses and facilities for independent schools: site selection, financing support, design, permitting, and construction management, from the first conversation to opening day. ## School Acquisitions: questions and answers Q: What kinds of schools do you acquire? A: For-profit independent schools across the United States: Montessori programs, preschools that have grown into elementary schools, K-5 and K-8 schools, and PreK through 12. Usually founder-led, with a program and a community worth carrying forward. Size matters less than the school’s character. If your school is a nonprofit, the path is a management agreement with your board, and that conversation starts on our School Management page. Q: What is my school worth? A: It depends on enrollment and where it’s heading, the program, the team that stays, the lease or the property, and how much of the school runs without you. We don’t publish numbers, and we won’t quote one before we’ve seen the school. If we go forward, we put a written proposal in front of you with the reasoning behind it, and we’ll tell you honestly if we think you’d do better with someone else. Q: What happens to my brand? A: In almost every case the name stays, along with the culture and the traditions families count on. Changing a school’s name tells its community the school they chose is gone, and that isn’t what we’re buying. If a change ever made sense, it would be decided with the founder, not announced to them. Q: What happens to the curriculum? A: The program is the reason families chose the school, so our starting point is to strengthen it rather than replace it. Where our own schools have something worth sharing, from STEM labs to agriculture and culinary programs, it’s offered, not imposed. Q: What happens to my team? A: We work to keep the teachers and leaders who make the place what it is, and every school we serve has kept its leadership through the years we have worked with it. What a larger team can offer them is a benefits program, professional development, career paths, and a central office that takes the paperwork off the school. Q: Can I stay on after the sale? A: Often, yes, and it’s one of the first things we talk about. Some founders keep teaching, some lead the school for a season, and some advise through the first year and then step away. We plan that with you rather than for you. Q: I own the real estate too. Will you buy it or lease it? A: Either can work. You can sell the property with the school or keep it and lease it to the school, and we’ll talk through which one fits your plans. Q: How do you tell staff and families about the change? A: Together, and from the school. We plan who hears what and when, starting with your leadership team, then staff, then families, with the founder’s voice first. The goal is that no one hears about it from a rumor. Q: Who finds out that we’re talking? A: No one, unless you decide otherwise. A first conversation is between you and us. We don’t share it with staff, families, or anyone else, and if the fit isn’t there, it ends there. Q: How long does a school transition take? A: It varies with the school’s structure and with who has to approve it, so we don’t quote a timeline. What we can tell you is that a transition is usually timed around the school calendar, so families see continuity instead of a change in the middle of a year. Q: What happens to a private school when the founder retires? A: It depends on what was arranged in advance. Some schools have a successor ready and a board prepared to hire them. Others drift for years while enrollment slips, and a few close. A third path is a transition to an operator who keeps running it as a school, and that’s the one we’re built for. Q: Who takes over a private school when the founder is ready to step back? A: It depends on how the school is organized. A for-profit school has an owner, and the owner decides who comes next: a family member, a long-tenured head of school, another school, or a company that runs schools. A nonprofit school has no owner. Its board decides who leads it, and the board may engage an operator under a management agreement while the school stays what it is. This page is about the first path; the second is our School Management page. Either way, we’re founders ourselves, so we start with what you want the school to still be in ten years. ## School Management: questions and answers Q: What does a school management company do? A: It runs the business side of an independent school on behalf of its owner or its board: admissions and enrollment marketing, budgeting and finance, hiring and benefits, accreditation and state reporting, facilities and vendors. An owner keeps the school. A board keeps governance and the mission. The head of school keeps the school. The management company carries the operations and reports on them. Q: Do we give up our board? A: No. The board keeps governance. A management agreement sets out what we do, what it costs, how we report, and how it ends if either side wants it to. Q: Can you fix our enrollment? A: That is usually where we start. Our enrollment team rebuilds the brand, the website, the advertising, and the admissions operation. Each campus we serve now sees more than 500 qualified inquiries a year. Q: Can you help with accreditation? A: Yes. Self-studies, site visits, standards work, and state reporting. Q: What does it cost? A: A management fee set out in the agreement and scaled to the school, structured as a percentage of tuition revenue or a fixed annual fee. We put the number in writing before anyone signs anything. Q: How does it end? A: The agreement has a term and a way out for either side. A school should stay because the arrangement works, not because it is stuck. ## Campus Development: questions and answers Q: Can a nonprofit school get a loan for construction? A: Yes. Lenders and bond underwriters look at enrollment history, cash on hand, and whether the school’s income comfortably covers the payments. A school with steady enrollment and clean financial statements has more options than most boards expect. Q: How much does a school building cost? A: It depends on the program more than the square footage. We plan the program first, what the building has to do for teachers and students, and let that set the size and the budget, not the other way around. Q: Do you build on our campus or find new land? A: Both. We have added to a working campus without closing it, relocated a whole school to a new site, and searched for land for a second campus. Each starts with the same question: what does the school need in ten years? Q: Do you manage the construction? A: Yes. Budget, schedule, and the daily decisions on site, with a school calendar to work around. Q: How long does it take? A: Planning and approvals often take as long as the construction itself, and permitting and construction schedules can move for reasons outside anyone’s control. We build that into the plan rather than promise a date. ## Policies - https://cleardirectionschools.com/privacy/ : Privacy Policy - https://cleardirectionschools.com/terms/ : Terms of Use - https://cleardirectionschools.com/accessibility/ : Accessibility - https://cleardirectionschools.com/ai/ : AI and machine readability ## Guides - https://cleardirectionschools.com/guides/what-happens-when-a-school-founder-retires/ : What happens to a private school when the founder retires. Most independent schools are built around one person. Here's what actually happens when that person steps back, the four paths a school can take, and what makes a school easy or hard to hand over. - https://cleardirectionschools.com/guides/how-independent-schools-change-hands/ : How an independent school changes hands. Some private schools are for-profit businesses and others are 501(c)(3) nonprofits run by a board, and that difference decides how a school changes hands. Here's how to tell. - https://cleardirectionschools.com/guides/options-for-handing-over-a-private-school/ : Who takes over a private school: your options compared. An owner ready to step back has four realistic options: an internal successor, a large operating group, a broker-led sale, or a management agreement. What each one gives you, what it costs you, and who it suits. - https://cleardirectionschools.com/guides/what-a-school-management-company-does/ : What a school management company actually does. A school management company runs the business side of a school for its board or owner: admissions, finance, staffing, accreditation, and facilities. Here's what's included, how the agreements are structured, and what it costs. - https://cleardirectionschools.com/guides/how-private-schools-pay-for-new-buildings/ : How private schools pay for new buildings. How private schools fund new buildings with construction loans, tax-exempt bonds, SBA and USDA programs, and capital campaigns, and what lenders look at first. - https://cleardirectionschools.com/guides/montessori-school-succession-planning/ : Succession planning for Montessori and small independent schools. Montessori and small independent schools are often built around a single guide or founder. What succession looks like when the program itself is the thing that has to survive. - https://cleardirectionschools.com/guides/how-to-grow-enrollment-at-an-independent-school/ : How to grow enrollment at an independent school. Enrollment growth at an independent school comes from a small number of things done consistently: re-enrollment, inquiry volume, and the speed and quality of follow-up. Here's the order to work in. - https://cleardirectionschools.com/guides/how-much-is-a-private-school-worth/ : How much is a private school worth?. What a for-profit private school sells for depends on enrollment, earnings after the owner is paid, the lease, the team, and the market. Here's how each one moves the price. - https://cleardirectionschools.com/guides/how-to-sell-a-private-school/ : How to sell a private school, from the first call to closing. Selling a for-profit private school runs in a set order: a confidential first conversation, a confidentiality agreement, the information a buyer needs, a written proposal, due diligence, the purchase agreement, a transition plan timed to the school year, and closing. What happens at each step, what it asks of you, and where sales tend to stall. - https://cleardirectionschools.com/guides/florida-independent-schools-2026/ : Florida's private schools in 2026: what the state's own records show. We read all 3,604 schools in Florida's private school directory and matched them to state corporate records. Here's how many are accredited, how many are for-profit, and where they are. ### What happens to a private school when the founder retires Q: What happens to a private school when the owner retires? A: It follows one of four paths: an internal successor takes over, another school or operating group takes it on, the school drifts without a decision, or it closes. Which one happens is usually decided by how much of the school runs through the founder personally and how clean the school's finances and governance are. Q: Can a founder stay involved after a transition? A: Often, yes. Some founders step away cleanly and some stay on to teach or to keep a role in the community. What matters is that the arrangement is written down, including who makes which decisions after the change takes effect. Q: How far in advance should a founder plan? A: Two to three years is realistic if the finances, governance, and day-to-day leadership need work, which they usually do. A school with clean books, a working board, and a head of school already running the building has more options and a shorter path. Q: What if enrollment has been falling? A: It narrows the field but it doesn't end the conversation. A few years of decline is a common and fixable problem. What changes is the terms, and how much of the recovery work the new operator is taking on. ### How an independent school changes hands Q: Can a for-profit private school be sold? A: Yes. A for-profit school is a business, and it transfers either as a sale of the company's shares or membership interests or as a sale of its assets, often including the real estate. Accreditors and the state expect notice of the change. Q: Does a nonprofit school have owners? A: No. A 501(c)(3) has no shareholders or members who own it, and its assets are held for its charitable purpose. That's why a nonprofit school doesn't change hands the way a business does. What changes is who leads and runs it: a management agreement with the board, a new head of school hired by the board, or a merger with another nonprofit. Q: Can a nonprofit school transfer to a new operator? A: Yes. The usual route is a management agreement, in which the board keeps governance and contracts out the operations. The board itself continues under its own bylaws. Q: Does a school keep its accreditation when it changes hands? A: Not automatically. Accreditors and state agencies expect notice of a change in ownership or governance, and they have their own processes. This is worth raising with the accreditor early rather than late. Q: What happens to the school's name? A: In most transitions the name stays, because the name is the thing families chose. A change of name is a separate decision and a much bigger one than the transition itself. ### Who takes over a private school: your options compared Q: Who buys private schools? A: Large operating groups that run many schools, other independent schools, families and individual operators, and occasionally private investors. For a nonprofit school there's no purchase at all, because a 501(c)(3) has no owners; it changes hands through a change in governance or a management agreement. Q: Is it better to use a broker or go direct to an operator? A: A broker creates competition and usually raises the price, and charges a fee for it. Going direct to an operator you already trust is quieter, faster, and gives you more say in who ends up with the school. Which is better depends on whether your priority is the number or the successor. Q: Can I keep my school and still get help running it? A: Yes. That's a management agreement. The board or owner keeps governance and the school, and a management company runs admissions, finance, staffing, accreditation, and facilities, reporting against a written plan. Q: What if I'm not ready to decide? A: Then don't. The work that makes every option better is the same: clean books, a working board, a leader who runs the school day without you, and steady enrollment. Doing that for two years costs nothing in optionality and improves every outcome. Q: How do I keep this confidential? A: Talk to as few people as possible and put confidentiality in writing before you share numbers. The more parties involved in a process, the harder it gets, which is one of the real trade-offs of running a competitive sale. ### What a school management company actually does Q: What does a school management company do? A: It runs the business side of a school for its board or owner: admissions and enrollment marketing, budgeting and finance, hiring and benefits, accreditation and state reporting, facilities and vendors. The board keeps governance and mission, and the head of school keeps the school. Q: Does a school give up ownership with a management agreement? A: No. Ownership and governance stay exactly where they are. The agreement sets out what the management company does, what it costs, how it reports, and how either side ends it. Q: What does school management cost? A: Usually either a percentage of tuition revenue or a fixed annual fee, scaled to the size of the school. The structure matters less than having the number and what it covers in writing before anyone signs. Q: Is a management company the same as an education management organization? A: The terms overlap. Education management organization, or EMO, is more often used for companies operating charter or for-profit school networks. In the independent school world, management agreement is the more common phrase for a board contracting out operations while keeping governance. ### How private schools pay for new buildings Q: Can a nonprofit school get a loan for construction? A: Yes. Banks, community lenders, and bond underwriters all lend to nonprofit schools, and rural schools may qualify for USDA Community Facilities loans. Lenders look at enrollment history, cash on hand, and whether the school's income comfortably covers the payments. Q: What are tax-exempt bonds for schools? A: Debt issued through a state or local conduit authority on behalf of a 501(c)(3) school, usually at a lower interest rate than conventional borrowing. The trade is more cost and paperwork to issue, so they tend to fit larger projects. Q: Can a for-profit private school use an SBA loan to build? A: For-profit schools can often use the SBA 504 program to buy or build the property they operate in, typically with a smaller down payment than a conventional loan. A bank that participates in the program can say whether a specific project qualifies. Q: Are there grants for private school buildings? A: Government construction grants for private schools are rare. Most grant money for school buildings comes from private foundations and is tied to a specific purpose, so it usually covers part of a project alongside borrowing and a capital campaign. Q: How much does a school building cost? A: It depends on the program more than the square footage, and on the site. The useful sequence is to decide what the building has to do for teachers and students first, and let that set the size and the budget, rather than starting with a number. Q: Should a school build all at once or in phases? A: Phasing costs more in total but lets the enrollment from the first phase help carry the next, and it protects the school if the new space fills more slowly than projected. On a tight balance sheet it's often the difference between building and not building. ### Succession planning for Montessori and small independent schools Q: What happens to a Montessori school when the founder retires? A: It depends on whether there's a credentialed guide ready to lead and whether the business side has been separated from the founder personally. Schools that develop a second credentialed leader and clean up their finances in advance have real options. Schools that don't tend to have one. Q: Can a Montessori school keep its program under a new operator? A: Yes, when the arrangement says so explicitly. The things worth putting in writing are the prepared environment, mixed-age groupings, the work cycle, and a commitment to credentialed guides in lead roles. Q: How small is too small for a school to continue? A: There's no single number, because it depends on the tuition, the cost structure, and the building. What matters more is the trend and the pipeline. A small school with a waitlist is in a strong position, and a larger one with no inquiries isn't. ### How to grow enrollment at an independent school Q: How do independent schools increase enrollment? A: By working in order: re-enrollment of current families first, then the speed and quality of inquiry follow-up, then the campus tour, and only then visibility and advertising. Most schools start with advertising, which is the most expensive step and the least effective when the steps before it aren't working. Q: What is a good re-enrollment rate for a private school? A: Strong independent schools generally retain the large majority of their families year to year, with the biggest drops at natural transition points. The useful exercise isn't comparing to a benchmark, it's looking at your own rate grade by grade and finding where families leave. Q: How quickly should a school respond to an inquiry? A: The same day, by a person, ideally by phone. Families inquire at several schools at once, and the first real conversation carries a large advantage. Q: Does advertising work for private schools? A: It works when the follow-up behind it works. Advertising into a school that takes three days to answer an inquiry mostly buys other schools' enrollment. ### How much is a private school worth? Q: How much is my private school worth? A: It's worth what a buyer will pay for the earnings the school produces after every real cost, including a market salary for whoever runs it, plus the value of the property if you own it. Enrollment trend, the team that stays, the lease, the program, and the local market move the number up or down from there. Q: Do buyers value a private school on revenue or profit? A: Profit, adjusted. Buyers start from earnings after all costs, add back personal expenses that ran through the school, subtract a market salary for the owner's role if it wasn't being paid, and apply a multiple to that figure. Q: Is the building included in the value of the school? A: It's valued separately. A buyer can purchase the property with the school or lease it from you, and the operating business is valued on its earnings either way. Q: What lowers the value of a private school? A: Declining enrollment, a school that depends entirely on the owner, a short or unassignable lease, mixed personal and business finances, revenue concentrated in a few families or one program, and deferred maintenance a buyer's inspection will find. Q: Should I get an appraisal before selling my school? A: For the real estate, yes, if you own it. For the business, a formal appraisal is rarely necessary; three years of clean financials and enrollment by grade let a serious buyer put a range on the school in a first conversation. ### How to sell a private school, from the first call to closing Q: How do I sell my private school? A: In order: a confidential first conversation, a confidentiality agreement, the information a buyer needs and a visit, a written proposal, due diligence, the purchase agreement, a transition plan timed to the school year, and closing. Each step is described above. Q: What documents do I need to sell a private school? A: Three years of financial statements, enrollment and re-enrollment by grade for the same years, the tuition and fee schedule, a staff list with roles and tenure, the lease or deed and any mortgage, licenses and accreditation status, insurance, and the school's major contracts. Q: Do I need a broker to sell a private school? A: Not necessarily. Brokers are common for childcare centers and preschools, where there are many buyers. For accredited K-12 independent schools, the buyer universe is small, and owners often deal directly. What you do need is an attorney and an accountant who have seen a school transaction. Q: When do staff and families find out a school is being sold? A: After the agreement is signed and before closing, in an order the owner and buyer plan together: leadership first, then staff, then families, with the owner's voice first. Nothing about a first conversation or diligence should reach them. Q: Can I stay on after I sell my school? A: Often, yes. Some owners step away at closing, some keep teaching, and some advise through the first year. Whatever the arrangement, it belongs in writing before closing. Q: What is the difference between selling the shares and selling the assets of a school? A: In a share sale the buyer purchases your company, with everything in it. In an asset sale the buyer purchases the school's assets from your company, which keeps its liabilities. The tax and liability consequences differ, and your accountant should weigh in before you agree to either. ## Free download - https://cleardirectionschools.com/checklist/ : The Succession Readiness Checklist, 28 points for independent school owners. PDF at https://cleardirectionschools.com/downloads/succession-readiness-checklist.pdf ## About the company - https://cleardirectionschools.com/company/ : Clear Direction Schools, at a glance. The facts about Clear Direction Schools: founded 1990, a family company, two Florida schools with nearly 1,000 students, and what the company does for other independent schools. - https://cleardirectionschools.com/people/ : The people behind the schools. The founders and leaders of Clear Direction Schools, the family company that builds and runs independent schools in Florida, and where to find them. - https://cleardirectionschools.com/news/ : News. What's new at Clear Direction Schools and the schools it serves: openings, expansions, guides, and company news. - https://cleardirectionschools.com/contact/ : Get in touch. How to reach Clear Direction Schools: partnerships and new schools, the company office, both campuses, and press. ## Company facts - Founded: 1990, in Orlando, Florida. The first school opened in a converted warehouse in Gotha with seven students. - Who we are: A family company. Founded by Bob and Rowena Flanders in 1990 and led today by the second generation. - Based in: Orlando, Florida. The company's people work from the two school campuses in Orlando and Fort Myers. - Schools: Central Florida Preparatory School, Orlando, PreK through 12, founded 1990. Crestwell School, Fort Myers, PreK through 8, working with Clear Direction since 2018. - The schools: Independent nonprofit organizations, each governed by its own board of directors. - Students: Nearly 1,000 across the two campuses. - For other schools: School acquisitions, school management, and campus development. - Contact: Peyton Flanders, Chief Operating Officer. peyton@cleardirectionschools.com or 407-625-6207. ## People - Robert A. Flanders, Founder - Rowena Flanders, President - Peyton Flanders, Chief Operating Officer - Julia Najera, Head of School, Central Florida Preparatory School - Maria C. Niebuhr, Head of School, Crestwell School - Sean Flanders, Director of Campus Development - Dan Rishavy, Chief Financial Officer - Mary West, Head of Talent Acquisition - Andrew Luciano, Strategic Advisor - Christopher Luciano, CFP®, Strategic Advisor ## About the company: questions and answers Q: Who is behind Clear Direction Schools? A: A family. Bob and Rowena Flanders opened the first school in 1990, and the second generation leads the company today. Q: Where is Clear Direction Schools based? A: Orlando, Florida, with schools in Orlando and Fort Myers: Central Florida Preparatory School and Crestwell School. Q: Who governs the schools Clear Direction works with? A: Each school's own board of directors. Each is an independent nonprofit, and its board is responsible for it. Q: What does Clear Direction Schools do for other schools? A: Three things: we acquire for-profit independent schools whose founders are planning what comes next, we manage independent schools for their owners or boards under a management agreement, and we plan and build campuses. ## News - https://cleardirectionschools.com/news/guides/ : September 19, 2026: Guides for school founders and boards, and a succession readiness checklist - https://cleardirectionschools.com/news/company-identity/ : September 17, 2026: Clear Direction Schools introduces its company identity and a new website - https://cleardirectionschools.com/news/crestwell-expansion/ : September 8, 2026: Crestwell School's middle school expansion moves into pre-construction - https://cleardirectionschools.com/news/flanders-center/ : August 2026: The Robert A. Flanders Athletic and Performing Arts Center opens in Orlando - https://cleardirectionschools.com/news/njhs-2026/ : March 11, 2026: Crestwell School inducts its first National Junior Honor Society class - https://cleardirectionschools.com/news/derby-royale-2026/ : March 6, 2026: Crestwell's Derby Royale gala supports STEM, the arts, and campus improvements - https://cleardirectionschools.com/news/surgical-robots-2025/ : February 19, 2025: Crestwell students get hands-on time with surgical robots at Gulf Coast Medical Center - https://cleardirectionschools.com/news/apopka-campus/ : July 2020: Central Florida Prep moves to a purpose-built campus in Apopka - https://cleardirectionschools.com/news/one-to-one-2009/ : 2009: Central Florida Prep becomes the first private school in Orange County to go one-to-one with technology - https://cleardirectionschools.com/news/renamed-2001/ : 2001: Central Florida Community School becomes Central Florida Preparatory School - https://cleardirectionschools.com/news/citrus-oaks-1994/ : 1994: The school moves to Citrus Oaks Avenue and launches its Montessori program - https://cleardirectionschools.com/news/founding/ : August 27, 1990: Central Florida Community School opens in a converted warehouse