Governors Charter Academy has a new name – Renaissance Academy and will be led by a new principal, Precillia Vaughn.
“We are thrilled to have Ms. Vaughn as our new leader at Renaissance Academy,” Charter Schools USA’s Florida State Superintendent Eddie Ruiz said this week in a news release. “She ushers in a new era in our school with a rebirth and renewal that gives our students new opportunities for growth. Her roots with the school and in the Tallahassee community give her a great foundation from which she can foster new and innovative ideas.”
Renaissance Academy, located on Mahan Drive, will continue to serve students in kindergarten through eighth grade under the management of Charter Schools USA Inc. (CSUSA), a family of schools located in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Vaughn has a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida State University in secondary education and a Master of Arts degree in educational leadership from the American College of Education.
She has over 10 years of educational experience and a standing relationship with the campus, having served as a middle school English Language Arts teacher at Governors Charter before moving to Jacksonville to serve as dean of students at Duval Charter School at Flagler Center, one of 39 other schools governed by Renaissance Charter School, Inc.
Vaughn succeeds David Chambers who has served as principal since 2021.
Chambers has over 30 years of educator experience, serving in administration at many schools, including dean of students at Tallahassee Classical School in 2020.
It is unclear why Chambers left the school, and his departure was not addressed in the news release.
“As we work toward bringing excellent educational options to North Florida, our board decided that the Renaissance name represents high quality educational options for students. We are starting fresh with new leadership at our school and wanted our name to represent a rebirth of sorts as we move into the future with great enthusiasm,” Renaissance Charter Schools Inc. Chairman Ken Haiko said in an email to Charter Schools USA’s media representative.
For the last six years, including the 2022-23 school year, the former Governors Charter School, which opened in August 2012, has maintained a C grade average, with a D grade in the 2016-2017 school year.
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The Renaissance Academy name announcement comes months after noncompliance allegations from the Leon County School Board were sent to the former Governors Charter Academy.
In a letter to the charter school, Leon County Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna stated the school had not fulfilled its contract with the district.
“Therefore, the foregoing facts lead us to conclude that Governors Charter Academy is grossly out of compliance,” Hanna wrote.
Some of the issues Hanna stated alleged Governors Charter students had not received grades for previous quarters or years; attendance was not being taken consistently; students were missing immunization records; missing documentation for Federal Title I reimbursements; missing SESSIR data, and there was no documentation of employment of mental health staff and a law enforcement officer.
However, the school district worked with the school to resolve those issues and to move forward. Renaissance Academy’s contract is now in good standing.
There are five charter schools in the district: Renaissance Academy, School of Arts and Sciences on Thomasville Road, School of Arts and Sciences at the Centre, Tallahassee School of Math and Science and Tallahassee Classical School.
Tallahassee Democrat writer Alaijah Brown can be reached at ABrown1@gannett.com.
