September 19, 2026
Guides for school founders and boards, and a succession readiness checklist
Most of the questions we hear from founders and boards are the same questions, so we wrote the answers down. Read more
News
What's new across the company and the schools it serves.
September 17, 2026
Clear Direction Schools introduces its company identity and a new website
The family company behind Central Florida Preparatory School and Crestwell School now has a name families and schools will see more often. Read more
September 8, 2026
Crestwell School's middle school expansion moves into pre-construction
Crestwell School is at capacity, and the next chapter is a 25,000 square foot middle school expansion with a STEM lab, an art lab, and a music studio. Read more
August 2026
The Robert A. Flanders Athletic and Performing Arts Center opens in Orlando
Central Florida Preparatory School opened the center for the 2026-27 school year, named for the school's founder. Read more
March 11, 2026
Crestwell School inducts its first National Junior Honor Society class
Fourteen middle school students became the founding members of the school's first NJHS chapter. Read more
March 6, 2026
Crestwell's Derby Royale gala supports STEM, the arts, and campus improvements
The school's annual spring gala, held April 11 at Plantation Golf and Country Club, funds campus improvements and the STEM and arts programs. Read more
February 19, 2025
Crestwell students get hands-on time with surgical robots at Gulf Coast Medical Center
WGCU covered a field trip that put Crestwell students at the controls of Da Vinci surgical robots at Lee Health's Gulf Coast Medical Center. Read more
July 2020
Central Florida Prep moves to a purpose-built campus in Apopka
After thirty years in Gotha, the school moved to a new 40,000 square foot campus built for it on Marden Road. Read more
2009
Central Florida Prep becomes the first private school in Orange County to go one-to-one with technology
A device for every student and a digital curriculum, a decade before it was common. Read more
2001
Central Florida Community School becomes Central Florida Preparatory School
The name changed to reflect what the school had become: a college preparatory institution. Read more
1994
The school moves to Citrus Oaks Avenue and launches its Montessori program
With 65 students and 15 staff, the Flanders signed a long-term land lease and moved out of the warehouse. Read more
August 27, 1990
Central Florida Community School opens in a converted warehouse
Bob and Rowena Flanders opened the school on Hempel Avenue with seven students. Read more
In the news
Coverage of the schools and their students by local and regional press.
- WGCU (NPR and PBS) · February 2025Students introduced to surgical robots at Gulf Coast Medical Center
- Florida Weekly · 2024Meet the Youth of the Year: a Crestwell eighth-grader is honored by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lee County
- WINK NewsCrestwell students collect change for Southwest Florida cancer patients
- South Florida Hospital NewsRadiothon raises more than $75,000 for pediatric cancer, with Crestwell students taking part
- Heights FoundationChristmas outreach brings holiday cheer to 972 Harlem Heights kids, with toys donated by Crestwell students
- The News-Press · March 2019Lee County students dazzle at the spelling bee
- Naples Daily News · March 2016It takes 50 rounds, but Lee finally crowns its spelling champ
- The News-Press · January 2016Thomas Edison Science and Inventors Fair grand prize winners
About Clear Direction Schools
Clear Direction Schools is a family company that builds and operates independent schools in Florida. Founded in 1990, it works with two schools, Central Florida Preparatory School in Orlando and Crestwell School in Fort Myers, nearly 1,000 students in all, and with other independent schools on acquisitions, management, and campus development. Press and company inquiries: [email protected] or 407-625-6207.