New Tampa families looking for a private, Christian education for children in grades pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) through high school will soon have another option â thanks to the Florida Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists.
Scheduled to open for the 2018-19 academic year, the still-unnamed school will be located on County Line Rd., on the New Tampa (south) side of the road. A groundbreaking ceremony for the school was held at the schoolâs future location on Nov. 6.
The Florida Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists has hired Georgia-based School Growth to manage all aspects of the schoolâs opening, aside from the design and construction of the building.
âWe work with the Department of Education and the Florida Conference to design everything from the structure of the school, its operation, brand, and curriculum, to human resources strategies,â explains Scott Barron, the founder and CEO of School Growth.
The campus will occupy about 43 acres of land. In the fall of 2018, it is expected to be open to students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, although Barron says the school would enroll a ninth grade class if there is enough demand for it. Higher grades will be added in subsequent years.
âWe expect to attract families looking for a more personalized approach to learning,â says Barron, who explains that the school will emphasize project-based learning and will provide, âawareness and support for each student as an individual.â
Barron says his company works with public and private schools all over the world and can take best practices from these schools â as well as the best professional development strategies â to implement one of the most advanced schools anywhere. âItâs kind of like a dream school,â he says.
The school will integrate outdoor learning as an essential focus of its curriculum. Barron says his company is working with an ecological architect to create an estuary and outdoor classroom, and take advantage of retention ponds on the property, so that students will be able to learn about birds and other wildlife that are attracted to the campus.
âWe can do this in a way you canât in many other locations,â says Barron. âFirst of all, because of the weather, and then also because of the natural features of the land.â
Barron says Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, which is owned by the Adventist Health System, part of the worldwide organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is supporting the school by providing resources for its development.
Architects for the project are Fielding Nair International, a global firm that builds schools worldwide, which has an office in Lutz, and St. Petersburg-based Wannemacher Jensen Architects, Inc.
Owner Amanda Justus (left) and director Heather Perez invite you to check out KidsPark, located just off I-75 on S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel.
KidsPark is a totally new concept in childcare for the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel area.
âIf youâre a mom, you get it,â says Amanda Justus, the owner of the KidsPark Tampa, located just off of S.R. 56, east of I-75, in Wesley Chapel. She explains that KidsPark is available for children ages 2 through 12, for drop-in childcare.
âWe offer hourly childcare on days, evenings and weekends with no reservations,â says Amanda. âFor date nights, meetings, grocery shopping, appointments, anything⊠you just drop your kids off.â
The concept is popular. Since opening in August, KidsPark has registered about 600 families. The Wesley Chapel location is part of a growing franchise headquartered in San Jose, CA. Its 17 locations are in seven states, including three KidsPark facilities in Florida.
âMy first experience with hourly childcare was when I was living in North Carolina and my husband was in the Marines,â Amanda says. âHourly childcare saved my life. Sometimes, it was the only way for me to get to the store or clean the house.â
Amanda and her husband Ricky live in Wesley Chapel with their two children, Camryn, who is 10, and Gavin, who is 6. Amanda worked as a microbiologist at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel before leaving her job to focus on opening and running KidsPark. While her undergraduate degree is in microbiology from the University of South Florida in Tampa, she also holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from nearby St. Leo University, which she earned in 2013.
âIâve always wanted to own my own business, and I knew this was something the area needed,â she says.
When Amanda realized that she could open a KidsPark franchise, she says she signed the paperwork immediately, âAnd, itâs exceeded our expectations.â
KidsParkâs full-time director, Heather Perez, has 20 years of experience as a preschool director in Pasco County. âHeather has been a huge help for me,â says Amanda. âMy background is in science, so itâs great that Heather understands all of the licensing and requirements.â
Meeting Your Needs
For anyone who works 12-hour shifts or evening hours, such as nurses, servers, or anyone in retail, traditional daycare just doesnât work. Amanda says that since her husband is a firefighter, she used to pay for full-time childcare, even though she didnât need it.
Whether your kids are pre-school age or as old as age 12, they are welcome to enjoy KidsPark.
Dads and moms apparently like it for date night, too. âParents tell us weâre saving their marriages,â says Amanda. âDads actually high-five us and say thank you.â
KidsPark has something for all kids, from dramatic play to air hockey, board games and puzzles, as well as karaoke, Wii dance, Wii sports, and Xbox. Kids Park also has a private, enclosed outdoor space so kids can get some fresh air.
While visitors to KidsPark get time for open play, there also are scheduled activities. âWe try to make sure every child takes home a craft or art project,â Amanda says, âso parents can see what theyâve been doing.â
KidsPark serves lunch at noon every day, and dinner at 6 p.m. The meals are catered and cost just $4. Snacks are provided at no additional charge at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
âItâs huge to know that you always have child care, and â unlike what might happen with a babysitter â that they arenât just sitting there watching TV,â Amanda says.
Preschool, Too
In addition to hourly childcare, KidsPark offers both Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) for four year olds and preschool for ages two and three.
KidsParkâs one VPK class filled up quickly. These families use a voucher and pay nothing when they pick their child up by noon. On any day, whether the parent is running late or would like additional childcare, the kid simply stays longer and parents pay just the regular hourly rate for any additional time.
âBuddy Preschoolâ also is held each day from 9 a.m. to noon, but parents have the flexibility to choose which days they attend and pay hourly just for the times their child is there.
Affordable Rates
âWe try to make it so everyone can afford child care,â Amanda says. The hourly rate is just $7.75 for one child, or $11.75 for two. Additional siblings are $3 per hour. A âpreferred customer rateâ is available for anyone who pre-pays $100 or more (in $50 increments, up to $250). Ten percent is added to your prepayment, so if you pre-pay $100, you actually get $110 credited to your account.
There is a $25 registration fee per family (not per child), which is a one-time fee, as long as you come at least once a year. Also, once youâve paid the registration fee at any facility, you can use all of the KidsPark facilities across the country if youâre traveling.
Amanda also offers discounts to hospital employees and to anyone in the military.
On Sundays, before and after Kids Park is open, the staff hosts birthday parties and other private parties.
âFor a private party, you have the whole center to yourselves,â says Amanda. âYou choose a craft and a game, and the cost includes face painting, two staff members to keep the kids busy, and also includes invitations, paper products and even decorations.â
Happy Customers
Denise Druryâs two-year-old twins, John and James, were KidsParkâs very first clients.
âItâs a wonderful place,â says Denise. âThe caregivers there treat my boys like theyâre their own.â
Denise adds that KidsPark is, âthe best concept ever, for a mom to be able to drop her kids off at the last minute,â whether itâs for grocery shopping, an appointment, or a night out with her husband. âItâs affordable, and I canât get over all of the activities the kids get to do there.â
KidsPark is located at 26240 Golden Maple Loop, just off of S.R. 56 (east of I-75) in Wesley Chapel. The center is open MondayâThursday, 8 a.m.â10 p.m., 8 a.m.âmidnight on Friday, 10 a.m.âmidnight on Saturday, and 1 p.m.â6 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, see the ad on page 18, call 803-4972, or visit KidsPark.com.
Kelly and Todd Phillips opened their first Massage Green Spa in the New Tampa Center this summer, and they say locals are finding the membership-based pricing and options to their liking.
Todd Phillips was the chief operating officer (COO) of a medical practice in Pinellas County when his attention first turned to overall wellness.
The doctor in the office, a young, forward-thinking physician, began focusing on wellness, and the last project he and Todd worked on together was a 10,000-sq.-ft. wellness facility that included a variety of services, including massage therapy.
âWhen I started to see some of the benefits of a more proactive approach to self care and wellness, it piqued my interest,ââ Todd says. âWhen my experiences started moving in that direction, thatâs when we decided this would be a good move for us.â
Toddâs wife Kelly also was very interested in wellness, from her experience working as a registered nurse (RN) at Tampa Community Hospital in Town & Country. Together, the former New Tampa residents opened Massage Green Spa this summer in the Publix-anchored New Tampa Center on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. at New Tampa Blvd.
So far, the Phillipsâ say the spa has been a hit. They benefit from a great location (its proximity to Publix) and a huge amount of daily traffic, and believe they offer a great product that has created positive word-of-mouth, swelling the membership ranks at Massage Green Spa. Kelly spearheads the spaâs aggressive approach on social media.
âThe response weâve gotten from that (social media) has been amazing,ââ she says. âThe biggest thing is that people are coming in. And, when they come in, we make sure they have a good experience.â
The concept is simple, but everyone at Massage Green Spa works hard to perfect it: create a fresh, clean environment and beautifully designed waiting room; while offering quality massages, infrared heat therapy, facials and aromatherapy. The spa also includes options for couples â the couples massage room is warm and inviting â and offer a discounted introductory price to go with membership pricing that includes a number of different, affordable combinations.
âThe concept is affordable luxury,ââ Todd says. âFor a business to offer these kind of services at a price point more people can afford, and see the benefits of wellness in their lives, I think thatâs a great thing. It shouldnât be an exclusive service.â
âGreenâ is more than just a word at Massage Green. The spa was built with recycled cellulose drywall and decorated with hand-cultured stone. Part of the Massage Green Spa mantra, in fact, is âHealthy Bodies, Healthy Buildings.â
The equipment, like the Sunlighten infrared sauna, is the highest-rated in terms of efficiency, Phillips says. The products used are all natural. Heck, you can even save a tree by having your receipt emailed to you.
The couples massage room at Massage Green Spa provides affordable, licensed couples massages in an intimate setting.
âAll organic, no additives,â Phillips says. âWe take it seriously. Itâs an important part of what we do. We try to leave as small an environmental footprint as we can.â
Massage Green Spa is a membership-based spa, although non-members also are welcome. Youâll get a better price with a membership, with a variety of different combinations to choose from. And, if youâre unsure about joining, the spa offers introductory pricing for your first visit only.
âWe think our price points are a little bit better than our competitors,â Todd says. âAnd, although it is still a subscription-based model, itâs a little less around-the-throat aggressive than some others. It is truly a month-to-month commitment. At other places, if you want to leave after two months, youâre still paying for another 10. Not here.â
Pro tip: I treated my wife to a massage at Massage Green Spa two weeks ago, and she couldnât stop raving about the work Latoya, a licensed massage therapist (LMT), did on her. And afterwards, she was so relaxed she fell asleep during her infrared therapy session.
Latoya and fellow LMTs Keesha, Devonia, Malik, Nicole, Jose, Lynda and Clifton have all received similar reviews from their clients, Todd says.
About That Infrared Therapy
What Todd says truly sets Massage Green Spa apart from others is its Full Spectrum Infrared Therapy, powered by Sunlighten.
âItâs an amazing adjunct to licensed massage,â Todd says. The benefits of heat therapy have been around forever, in Finnish culture and in Asian culture for literally thousands of years. âInfrared is simply just a more efficient way of delivering the heat. The same technology has been used for a long time in hospitals and neonatal wards to warm babies.â
The Sunlighten infrared sauna offers a number of health benefits…and Netflix, too!
While the idea of a sauna may not be pleasant to many, due to the stifling heat, the sweating and the boredom, infrared therapy offers a different experience.
âIâm a big guy,â Todd says. âIf you put me in a traditional sauna, Iâm running for the door in 10 minutes,. I feel like I canât breathe; itâs almost claustrophobic. Because of the efficiency and the way the way the infrared heats, it doesnât feel as hot but youâre still getting all of the health benefits.â
Todd says that infrared therapy aids in detoxification and dissolving toxins in the blood, helps with fat loss, chronic fatigue and skin disorders. He notes that 30 minutes of infrared therapy burns 600 calories.
It is also known to lower your blood pressure and increase blood flow â which has a ton of health benefits, including helping to reduce muscle soreness and even arthritis pain.
âThe cardiovascular program is proven to lower your blood pressure,â says Kelly, citing a 2005 clinical study at the University of Missouri-Kansas. âSelf-care is very important for everyone.â
Todd says the infrared sauna and massage go hand-in-hand many times. Many of Massage Green Spaâs clients use the infrared sauna afterwards to help with some of the residual soreness from a deep-tissue massage. And for those who have trouble relaxing on a massage table, the infrared sauna can be taken before to help with relaxation.
If sitting still for 30 minutes to an hour in the heat is too boring, the saunas are enabled with a wifi-enabled touchscreen, allowing you to pull up Netflix or Pandora or even check your Facebook page. There is even an app that will sync your health device, like a Fitbit, to the computer.
Customers can purchase Infrared Therapy memberships (or come in and try it once at a $19.95 introductory price). In fact, Todd says one client who recently signed up only comes for the sauna.
Massage Green Spa also has two licensed aestheticians on staff, Christina and Katrina, and the offer a number of different European spa facials. A typical one-hour session includes extractions, mask and a neck/shoulder. Massage Green Spa also uses Skin Script, an all natural-enzyme based product line.
The spa does not offer microdermabrasions or peels, but it does offer aromatherapy with doTERRA essential oils, hot stone treatments and if youâre short on time, try a 15-minute chair massage for $15.
Massage Green Spa, which is Michigan-based, has 80 locations nationwide, including one in Jacksonville and four in the Miami area. The New Tampa location is the first of three franchises that Todd and Kelly plan on opening in the Tampa Bay area.
They know the Massage Green Spa CEO, Allie Mallad, through Kellyâs father Keith Sirois â the current CEO of Big Boy in Michigan and former CEO of Tampa-based Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc. â who also is a Massage Green franchisee.
But, donât be fooled by the word âfranchise.â Kelly says she and her husband go out of their way to make sure their location always has that hometown feel. One of them is always working behind the counter, and they are active in the community.
Massage Green Spa sponsors teams in the Police Athletic League Pop Warner football and North Tampa Athletic League baseball programs. They sponsor the Freedom High football team, the Freedom PTSA and Clark Elementary PTA, and even offer discounts on Tuesdays to teachers.
âEven though itâs a franchise, we have a real commitment to the community and doing business with other small businesses,ââ Todd says. âThatâs the way it should be.â
Massage Green Spa is located at 19040 BBD Blvd., next to the Publix supermarket in the New Tampa Center and is open Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m., and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sunday. Massage Green Spa has introductory prices on all of its services, as well as monthly memberships. For more information, visit MassageGreenSpa.com or Facebook/MassageGreenTampa, or call 333-7703.
Floridaâs State House District 63, which has typically swung to the Democrats in years a presidential election has been held, didnât swing this time.
Republican incumbent and Hunterâs Green resident Shawn Harrison edged out Lisa Montelione on Nov. 8 to hang on to his seat in an hotly-contested race.
Harrison captured 50.9 percent of the 73,731 votes cast, picking up 37,547 votes to Montelioneâs total of 36,168.
It is the third time Harrison has won the House District 63 seat, which represents parts of New Tampa, Lutz, Carrollwood and the University of South Florida area.
He won it in 2010, lost it to Democrat Mark Danish in 2012, and then regained the seat in 2014, when he took it back from Rep. Danish.
Luis Viera
Harrison, who beat Montelione by 1,363 votes, held a big 7,195-4,130 advantage on the ballots cast in Lutz. He also can thank his neighbors in Hunterâs Green, who helped offset New Tampaâs preference for Montelione by voting 1,511 times for Harrison, compared to just 954 for the former councilwoman.
The loss was stinging for Montelione, considering she was running in a Democrat-leaning district, the wide advantage Hillary Clinton held over president-elect Donald Trump in Hillsborough County (58-38 percent), as well as Democrat Patrick Murphyâs local success at the ballot box against Republican incumbent Marco Rubio.
Another Republican, emergency room doctor Jim Davison, also fared well, finishing first in a six-person race to replace Montelione, who resigned her position on the Tampa City Council in District 7 to the run for Harrisonâs seat. He did not, however, get more than 50 percent of the vote, leading to a runoff.
Luis Viera, who was second, turned the tables by narrowly defeating Davison 2,588 votes to 2,523 Tuesday in that runoff.
In a battle of Hunter’s Green residents, the 38-year-old lawyer’s 65-vote margin of victory sends him downtown.
New Tampa Picked Hillary
Of the 13 precincts in New Tampaâs 33647 zip code, Clinton, the former Secretary of State and First Lady, ran the table, winning every one, many by surprisingly decisive margins.
In New Tampaâs 13 precincts, Clinton grabbed 58 percent of the 32,843 votes cast for U.S. President, compared with 38 percent for Trump. Early voters and those who mailed in ballots accounted for 14,400 of Clintonâs votes, compared to only 8,989 for Trump. Clinton also held a 700-vote edge amongst Nov. 8 voters.
That wasnât enough to help Clinton blunt Trumpâs surprising win, however. Despite a nearly 1.5-million popular vote advantage nationwide (62,829,832-61,488,190 as of our deadline), the New York real estate developer and former reality-TV star pulled off what was supposed to be an unlikely trifecta by sweeping Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio to pick up enough electoral college votes for a 290-232 edge, with Michigan still counting votes until after our press time for this issue, but with Trump expected to grab Michiganâs 16 electoral college votes.
Clintonâs 20-point advantage in New Tampa was buoyed by big voting advantages in some of the precincts.
In precincts 362 and 363, where 6,934 presidential ballots were cast at the Cypress Point Community Church on Morris Bridge Rd., she won 60-36 percent. Of the 6,072 voters in Precinct 367 casting their ballots at St. Mark The Evangelist Catholic Church, it was Clinton over Trump, 59-38 percent. And at Lake Forestâs clubhouse, in precincts 583 and 584, Clinton held a 65-30 percent advantage among the 2,295 voters.
The New Tampa Regional Library hosted voting for two precincts that voted very differently. In Precinct 673, which encompasses the area north of Cross Creek Blvd. to the east and west of Kinnan St., 2,647 votes were cast, with 60 percent going for Clinton and 35 percent for Trump.
Meanwhile, in Precinct 361, which is mostly Hunterâs Green, Clinton was still the choice, but only by a 49-48 edge, or 26 votes (with 2,541 cast). It was the closest vote with the exception of Precinct 355, which votes at the New Tampa Family YMCA in Tampa Palms, which went for Clinton 142 votes-140.
Voter turnout in Hillsborough County was 71.56 percent compared with just 56.8 percent nationwide. However, turnout was down from both the 2012 (73 percent) and 2008 (73.5) presidential elections.
In New Tampa, voter turnout was 73.7 percent, with Precincts 361 and 358 (Compton Park in Tampa Palms) having better than 78 percent participation.
Many voters, according to various media reports, also may have just been plain disgusted by both candidates â or perhaps an election season filled with negative political ads, name-calling and scandals â and didnât bother to cast a vote for either candidate, despite going through the trouble of finding a polling station, standing in line and filling out a ballot.
In Hillsborough County, there were 1,388 undervotes, or ballots cast where the voter elected not to make a choice for president, more than twice the 616 undervotes in 2012. The number of undervotes in many other places also was more than twice what it was in 2012. In Michigan alone, for example, more than 87,000 undervotes were tabulated.
In the U.S. Senate race between Rubio and Murphy, it was the incumbent winning comfortably overall with 4,822,182 votes, or 52 percent. Murphy received 44.3 percent, or 4,105,251 votes. In New Tampa, though, Murphy was the choice by 54-45 percent.
In other races, Lynn Gray captured the District 7 Hillsborough County School Board seat by defeating Cathy James 50.1-49.8 percent, or a mere 1,233 votes out of almost 475,000 cast.
CDD Results
A number of Community Development District (CDD) supervisor races were held as well, and winners were Paul Meier (Easton Park CDD, Seat 2), Joe Farrell (Grand Hampton CDD, Seat 4), Stephen Stark (Heritage Isles CDD Seat 1), Frank Morales (K-Bar Ranch CDD, Seat 3), Jessica Vaughn (Tampa Palms CDD, Seat 5), Brad van Rooyen (Tampa Palms Open Space & Transportation {OST} CDD, Seat 4) &Â Maria Lepage (Tampa Palms OST CDD, Seat 5).
Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) CEO Hope Allen called it, âthe top event of my 15-year Chamber careerâ and I donât believe that anyone who attended the WCCCâs âCelebrating Excellence in Businessâ awards (held, for the first time, at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club, and sponsored by the Parks Auto Group) would even try to could argue with her.
Congrats to all of the eveningâs award winners (clockwise from top left) â Stacey Nance of the Tampa Premium Outlets, which won Large Business of the Year honors; Business Leader of the Year Jay Rosario of Wesley Chapel Nissan; Small Business of the Year Brandon Legal Group; Volunteer of the Year Jennifer Cofini of the Parks Auto Group, Quinn Miller (left) of the Porter Family, which took home the Chamberâs 2016 Legacy Award (shown with WCCC Board chair Tracy Clouser of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel); and Cam Caudle of Shred 360, which won the first âNew Business of the Year.â award.
New Tampa families looking for a private, Christian education for children in grades pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) through high school will soon have another option â thanks to the Florida Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists.
The campus will occupy about 43 acres of land. In the fall of 2018, it is expected to be open to students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, although Barron says the school would enroll a ninth grade class if there is enough demand for it. Higher grades will be added in subsequent years.
nt one of the most advanced schools anywhere. âItâs kind of like a dream school,â he says.
Floridaâs State House District 63, which has typically swung to the Democrats in years a presidential election has been held, didnât swing this time.
In New Tampaâs 13 precincts, Clinton grabbed 58 percent of the 32,843 votes cast for U.S. President, compared with 38 percent for Trump. Early voters and those who mailed in ballots accounted for 14,400 of Clintonâs votes, compared to only 8,989 for Trump. Clinton also held a 700-vote edge amongst Nov. 8 voters.
Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) CEO Hope Allen called it, âthe top event of my 15-year Chamber careerâ and I donât believe that anyone who attended the WCCCâs âCelebrating Excellence in Businessâ awards (held, for the first time, at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club, and sponsored by the Parks Auto Group) would even try to could argue with her.
