As more parents across America seek a return to the traditional liberal-arts education of yesteryear, founders of the Vero Classical School believe the back-to-basics, whole-student movement is gaining similar traction here.
That’s why – less than two years after opening their private classical Christian school at Tabernacle Ministries on Old Dixie Highway – Michael and Jamison Kelley have launched a capital campaign to create a new fully-equipped, permanent campus on the southern tier of Indian River County.
The centerpiece of the new campus, which would sit on 53 acres purchased last year near the intersection of 58th Avenue and Oslo Road, would be a 47,000-square-foot school building.
“The demand for classical education is on a huge upswing,” Jamison Kelley said last week. “When I graduated from college 13 years ago, there were about 100 classical schools. Now, there are more than 1,000 across the country.”
The local School Board, in fact, has approved the conversion of Pelican Island Elementary in Sebastian into a K-8 magnet school that offers a non-religious, classical-education curriculum.
The transition, scheduled to begin in August, would make this district only the second in Florida to offer a classical-education model in a public school.
Superintendent David Moore recommended adding a classical-curriculum option to the district’s academic menu to help make the county’s schools more competitive in the school-choice marketplace, especially with the state providing $9,000-per-year vouchers to parents looking for alternatives to public education.
According to the Kelleys – Michael owns and operates a local Chick-fil-A restaurant – the Vero Classical School project will be done in three phases as the facility expands from its current kindergarten-through-grade-5 format by adding one grade annually until it offers a full K-12 experience.
Grade six will be added this summer, and the first high school class will be on campus in August 2028.
The school currently has 88 students, with 112 registered for next year. By the end of the first phase of construction in August 2026, however, the new campus will be able to accommodate an enrollment of up to 350.
At the conclusion of the first phase, the school will provide a library, a gymnasium able to house competitive sports, and rooms for art, music and drama, as well as outdoor athletic fields for football, soccer and lacrosse.
The Kelleys said the price tag for the project’s first phase is $25 million – including the already-spent cost of purchasing the property – and they’re hoping to raise $10 million before breaking ground in late July.
“We’re about halfway there,” Jamison Kelley said.
Last month, Indian River Community Foundation President and CEO Jeff Pickering gave the fundraising effort a significant boost, presenting the school with a $1 million donation from what he described as an “anonymous couple” who hoped their generosity would prompt contributions from “other people of faith seeking a classical Christian education option for students in our community.”
In a statement released by the school, Jamison Kelley said, “The impact of this type of gift is immeasurable.”
The second phase of the project, which is expected to cost an additional $20 million and be completed in 2028, would raise the school’s capacity to 750 students. The construction of tennis courts, along with baseball and softball fields, are included in the plan.
The third phase would expand the facilities to provide space for 1,150 students.
Jamison Kelley said Vero Classical School, where the tuition for the 2025-26 academic year is $10,500, was the first of its kind within a one-hour drive of Indian River County.
Joining the Kelleys on the school’s Board of Directors are Chris Hill, Sue Brackett Dean, Todd Fennell, Joe Molinari Sr., Judge Joe Wild, Andrew Barnett, Nick Bischoff and Matt Stott.
Classical schools currently operate in all 50 states, and about three-quarters of them are private.
Nearly all of the remaining 25 percent are public charter schools.
Education Week, a news outlet that has covered K-12 education since 1981, reports that the number of classical schools in the U.S. has doubled in the past 10 years.
The outlet cites an increasing number of parents who believe public education has drifted too far from teaching “foundational knowledge in reading, writing, arithmetic and the natural science.”
The classical model, on the other hand, is rooted in Classical Greek and Roman traditions of art, literature, science and language, also incorporating the importance of athletics and character in students’ formative years.
Jamison Kelley said Vero Classical school embraces that holistic mind-body-and-spirit approach to achieving educational excellence, with the goal of cultivating students who think critically, communicate effectively, and grow in wisdom and virtue.
A key part of its mission is to instill in students a love for learning.
“After I graduated from college, I taught first grade at the Covenant Classical School in Naperville, Illinois,” she said. “That was my first experience with classical education, and I was blown away by what the kids were capable of learning.”
Vero Classical School also focuses on spiritual development, using the Bible as an historical text – not merely a religious book.
“The faith aspect is not compartmentalized,” Jamison Kelley said. “It’s all interconnected. Our teachers challenge students to engage ideas informed by Christian faith across all subject areas.”
Not all of the school’s current teachers have state certifications, but those that don’t each have 10-plus years of teaching experience and/or a master’s degree in education.
The Kelleys said they have established a “two-year window” for all of the school’s teachers to earn certifications.
In addition, they said the school will pursue state accreditation “prior to the first graduating class,” which will celebrate its commencement in May 2032.
That’s if the school can attract the funding needed to make the Kelleys’ dream a reality.
“We’re seeking donations, and we’re grateful for what we get,” Jamison Kelley said. “The interest level has been high, but we know not everyone is familiar with what we’re doing.
“If anyone who is thinking about contributing wants to take a tour of our existing school, we’d be glad to arrange it.”
