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History:
The History of the Founding of Royal Palm Academy
As recounted by Patrick Moore, Founder
June 2004
Royal Palm Academy and the National Consultants for Education (an affiliate of the Legionnaires of Christ which consult for over 180 Universities and Academies around the world) partnered in 1998 to establish a premier Academy in Naples, FL. The idea for the school came about when Patrick Moore visited sister schools in Dallas, TX and Atlanta, GA. While in Atlanta, Mr. Moore was moved by a young child kneeling deep in prayer before school in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.
Planning meetings were held, strategies were organized, and the dream started top become a reality years later. While attending a Catholic Women’s Convention in Orlando, Florida, Carol Moore and a group of ladies gathered to discuss the possibilities of a project of this magnitude. Potential names were proposed and Father Emilio Diaz Torres, LC selected Royal Palm Academy. The initial steps to incorporate the school were conducted through telephone conversations as Mrs. Moore drove home to Naples following the retreat. Final arrangements were put to paper the following Monday morning. In a matter of weeks the founders, Carol & Patrick Moore and Lou Deprisco, were organizing cocktail parties at local neighborhood club houses to present the school and recruit students.
The first site for the Academy was secured by Mrs. Moore in the first week of August 1998. This first Campus consisted of three trailers on a five-acre dusty field off Golden Gate Parkway in Naples. After an exhaustive search, this was the only available location suitable for a school at that time.
The school grew over the next couple of years to a point of overflowing the initial facility. It was evident that it was time to search for a new location that would accommodate not only the immediate needs but the future Pre-K3 – 12th Grade campus. Mr. De Prisco, who at the time was in the process of purchasing a 172 acre site on what is now Livingston Road, redirected his goal from economic to Apostolic and helped Royal Palm secure this site for its future home.
Today, Royal Palm Academy educates students from PK3 through 8th Grade. The current, temporary location is on the east side of Livingston Rd. The Academy also owns 100 acres on the west side of Livingston Rd. where the permanent campus will be built. Once this is completed, Royal Palm Academy will be able to educate 1500 students from age three through High School.
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