Tampa Preparatory School

Tampa Preparatory School is a coed, independent school serving grades 6-12 located on the Hillsborough River across from downtown Tampa and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, enrolling 680 students. The school is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Florida Council of Independent Schools, and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools, the College Board, the Secondary School Admissions Test Board, the National Association of College Admissions Counseling, the Southern Association of College Admissions Counseling, and the Educational Records Bureau. Tampa Prep has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for innovation, leadership, and educational excellence.

Tampa Preparatory School was founded in 1974 by a group of citizens dedicated to the idea of an independent secondary school rigorous in its college-preparatory curriculum and also committed to the arts and athletics.

In 1991 seventh and eighth grades were added and in 1997 the school began offering classes for the 6th grade. In 2002 the campus moved to its new campus across the street from the University of Tampa whose campus it once shared.

Classes are taught as seminars, labs and lectures in which students form and express ideas rather than merely receive and dispense information. Classes frequently are taught in the Socratic method so that maximum participation is encouraged. The School stresses the development of self-confidence, a sense of worth, and the importance of a sense of humor - of having fun in the pursuit of one's goals.

In the first years of the school, the Harkness system was employed, where pupils sat around large tables that accommodated up to only twelve seats. The unique positioning allowed pupils to discuss the day's assignments face to face. The school's founding motto, "A Higher Purpose than the Self" was created by the founding Headmaster, George B. Wolfenden, BA, Haverford College, and MA, Brown University, with the help of his wife, Barbara Wolfenden, MA Brown University, who served for five years as Director of Studies. Textbooks and curricula were originally based heavily on those used by Milton Academy, Milton, Massachusetts, from which both educators had been recruited. (George served as Housemaster of Wolcott House and History teacher, and Barbara taught Spanish. They served from 1970-1974.)

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