TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

School Outlines Recruiting Plans

ADVERTISEMENT

By LENORA LAKE, Tribune correspondent

Published: October 20, 2007

NORTH TAMPA - Basic plans for recruiting students for the next school year at Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High were outlined this week to the school's board.

Board member Roni Costello, a marketing and public relations specialist with The Costello Group, said that the school should target specific ZIP codes where some current students reside. Those include the Valrico and Plant City area, she said, adding that it came as a surprise that students from those communities would travel to North Tampa to attend the school.

Opened in August, the charter high school is at 11602 N. 15th St. It is named for Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks, who founded the school, along with the DeBartolo Foundation. Charter schools are public schools that are privately operated and free of some regulations of traditional schools.

Costello suggested a direct-mail brochure focusing on the low student-teacher ratio, the collegiate aspect, its relationship with the University of South Florida and the near proximity of Interstate 275.

Costello also suggested marketing the high school to other charter schools, including the Downtown Partnership School, and to have school representatives speak at service clubs, including the Downtown Rotary.

'We have to get the word out,' Costello said at Tuesday night's meeting.

The school's executive director/principal, Phildra Swagger, said she is making contact with possible feeder schools, including Academy Prep in Ybor City, Terrace Community Middle School, Learning Gate School and Trinity Charter School.

This year, the school has 189 students in grades 9 to 11, Swagger said. It can accommodate 500, and the leadership had projected an enrollment of 300 in its first year.

Brooks said word of the school is spreading, and some Tennessee Titans football players asked him after Sunday's game with the Buccaneers about meeting with him to learn about becoming more involved in educational issues.

'Everywhere I go, people ask me about the high school,' Brooks told the board.

Swaggert also announced that the school's first dance, A Night in Hollywood, will be Nov. 3. It is being coordinated by a school club, Cabang, and board member Bonita Pulido, who is executive director of Derrick Brooks Charities Inc.

'This is a big morale booster for the students,' Pulido said.

Correspondent Lenora Lake can be reached at (813) 865-4851 or llake@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT