Given demand for private school seats and Florida’s generally private-school friendly regulatory and funding landscape, a number of new operators with new models are venturing here. “There’s definitely a lot of entrepreneurs that are trying to identify the problem and bring a solution,” says Miami real estate attorney Daniel Diaz Leyva.
Miami developer Fortec buys or invests in property and then builds on it or renovates it for microschool operators. Florida is ripe ground for microschools. The state already has more than 250 and legislation last year made it easier to open them. Some number a couple hundred students. Many are the equivalent of a one-room schoolhouse. In Hollywood in south Broward, Fortec converted a vacant building into an early education center with a 150-student capacity. It’s done $51.8 million in eight projects since 2020.
Related Ross, the West Palm Beach-based real estate firm founded by billionaire developer Stephen Ross, connected in 2024 with Karen Yung, founder of a private school group with 14 schools and 11,000 students from Singapore to Switzerland. Her ElevateEd plans to open its first U.S. school, a not-for-profit K-12 in equestrian area Wellington in Palm Beach County, in 2028 with a 1,700-student capacity, says ElevateEd president Marianne Rehn, who works out of Related Ross’ offices. Tuition will be comparable to Florida “tier-one” private schools but hasn’t been set, she says. Along with academics, arts and music, there will be Olympic sports and an Olympic-class pool. The brochure online features equestrians.
In Miami, local native and University of Florida grad Alex Kiser returned from Texas in 2024 to spearhead, as head of school, the expansion of Alpha Schools into Miami, Alpha’s first campus outside Texas. Alpha calls its teachers “guides.” Students spend part of their day on academics delivered via AI and adaptive app-based instruction adjusted to individual needs. The rest of the day is devoted to life skills such as public speaking, teamwork, leadership and financial literacy. Alpha Miami begins its second year this year with approximately 50 students (as of June) and a school capacity of 250 in a building that formerly was a house of worship. Tuition runs $40,000. Alpha this year plans to open schools in West Palm Beach, Orlando and Tampa along with New York, Santa Barbara and Fort Worth.
“We’re hearing from a lot of people that they want their kids to be set up with the skills they’re going to need to succeed in the 21st century, and the skills that they’re going to need to succeed in whatever career path they choose.” — Alex Kiser, head of school, Alpha Miami school
California nonprofit microschool operator Stanza Education in April opened its first Florida school, the Palm Beach International Academy with capacity for 100 students, at the Boca Raton Innovation campus, the old birthplace of the IBM personal computer. At Palm Beach International, introductory rate tuition is $19,500. A model schedule for athletes builds in time for practice around academics and devotes Friday solely to athletics.
Orlando native Ryan Delk founded Primer Microschools in 2019. Backed by venture capital, Primer has schools in Arizona and it’s moving into Alabama, but its biggest market is Florida. Its for-profit wing develops the software and systems for its schools while the schools themselves are nonprofits. Primer opened its first microschools in Florida in 2022 and is expanding. Students learn their academics with individualized instruction in the morning and pursue an interest in the afternoon. Its model generally has 15 to 20 students per each of three grade segments — K-2, 3-5, 6-8 — taught by “school leaders,” that is, teachers. A typical location will have a teacher for each age segment, a couple aides and a coordinator.
Delk says teachers make 40% more than in traditional public schools because the setup is so efficient. Locations generally are driven by teachers wanting to open one, he says. Tuition varies by location. In Southeast Florida it averages $300 per month after vouchers, but aid takes the price to zero for some low-income students.
“We have very many wealthy families that send their kids to Primer but they’re sitting right next to a (child of a) family with a single mom and working three jobs,” Delk says. Emblazoned on the company website: “Open a Primer Microschool in your building — Support your community and earn income by leasing us your extra space.”