Centner Academy, incorporated in 2018 and taking students for the first time in 2019, is a

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

for pre-Kindergarten to eighth grades with a total of about 300 students and about 75 employees in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. The main elementary school campus is in the Design District, while the preschool is in

Buena Vista Buena Vista, meaning "good view" in Spanish, may refer to: Places Canada *Bonavista, Newfoundland and Labrador, with the name being originally derived from “Buena Vista” *Buena Vista, Saskatchewan *Buena Vista, Saskatoon, a neighborhood in ...

. The school is known for its

anti-vaccination Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain abou ...

stance.

History

It was co-founded by David and Leila Centner, who were unhappy with the other schools in the area. Leila Centner is the former Chief Financial Officer of the Highway Toll Administration. She has worked for

Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporat ...

and

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. In August 2019 it had acquired the former Aspira Arts Charter School, made up of two buildings west of Edgewater, which it intends to use as a high school facility. On January 1, 2020, it bought Metropolitan International School in

Wynwood Wynwood is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida. Wynwood is known for being an entertainment district, with artwork, restaurants, breweries, clothing stores, dance venues, among other retail options. Formerly an industrial district, the area is now ...

. The merger was effective that year. The elementary school is housed in the former Metropolitan International School. Centner Academy also bought Buena Vista area houses that are to be used as residences for instructors.

Controversy

In 2021 the school hosted multiple presentations for students by anti-vax conspiracy theorists. In April 2021, Centner banned teachers who received

COVID-19 vaccines A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an est ...

from contacting students, citing scientifically false claims about potential harm to nearby people who had not received the vaccine. Teachers who had previously received vaccines to protect themselves against

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, or who got the vaccine later in the year, would be removed from the classroom and not allowed to have contact with students. Centner had criticized vaccinated employees during a

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Technology Computing * Zoom (software), videoconferencing application * Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display * Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...

call. She also stated that vaccinated teachers would not be hired for the following school year and that employees would have to disclose their vaccination status to the school if they had previously received or were planning to get vaccinated during the 2020–2021 school year. In October 2021, the administration stated that students taking COVID-19 vaccines would have to quarantine for 30 days after each dose, due to the unsubstantiated claim of “vaccine shedding” infecting unvaccinated students.

References

External links

The Centner Academy
{{coord missing, Miami Private K–8 schools in the United States K–8 schools in Florida Schools in Miami Private elementary schools in Miami-Dade County, Florida Private middle schools in Miami-Dade County, Florida

History

Controversy

See also

References

Further reading

External links