By LINDA CHION KENNEY
Weeks before their “Puttin’ for Pepin” golf tournament fundraiser at Rogers Park Golf Course in Tampa, Pepin Academies welcomed school educators, officials, supporters, politicians and family members at their campus in Riverview to celebrate “Pepin Academies 25 Years.”
“What you all represent by being here today is the success story,” said Tina Pepin, director of the Pepin Family Foundation. “Our successes are the students who are currently out in the workforce, now having a successful future because of the environment that the teachers and the staff and the other students, who are of like abilities, are able to share with them. That’s just one of my proudest gifts, that our family is a part of, is this community.”
Merchelle Hixon-Wells, left, principal of Pepin Academies Riverview, and Jeri Henry, a founding and retired staff member.
Baked treats prepared by Pepin Academies culinary arts students were offered at the ribbon-cutting celebration to mark the quarter-century milestone for the public charter, free-tuition, learning disabilities education enterprise.
School board members Nancy Perez and Patti Rendon, along with Florida Rep. Susan Valdes (R-64), a former Hillsborough school board member, were in attendance, where Tammy See read a proclamation from the Central Hillsborough County Chamber of Commerce declaring Aug. 28, “Pepin Academies Day.”
Pepin Academies Riverview is at 9304 Camden Field Parkway, where the window greeting reads, “Where belonging leads to learning.”
In his remarks, Jeff Skowronek, executive director of Pepin Academies, recounted the history that got the nonprofit to where it is today, including its grand opening in Tampa in 1999. Pepin Academies today have a bigger location in Tampa, as well as campuses in Riverview, at 9304 Camden Field Pkwy., and New Port Richey in Pasco County, which opened in 2014.
Back in 2014, the Riverview campus opened in the Lake St. Charles neighborhood in a much smaller place, Skowronek said.
“Very quickly 126 kids in that first opening door of Riverview turned into 200, 250 and as this place grew, so did the need for a school like ours,” he added.
From left, Celeste Keller, Monika Perez and Christina Diaz, at the 25-year celebration for Pepin Academies.
According to school officials and the proclamation read by See, Pepin Academies serve more than 1,200 students with learning and learning-related disabilities in grades 3 to 12 and a transition program for students 18 to 22 years of age, including more than 400 students in Riverview and more than 300 students in Pasco County.
Students enrolled at the full-time, exceptional student education (ESE) centers have varied documented disorders, syndromes, diseases or other medical conditions that severely impact learning. The Pepin way is to focus on unique learning abilities with a required Individualized Learning Plan (IEP) required for all students.
As See read from the chamber’s proclamation, Pepin Academies provide “a positive, therapeutic environment that focuses on improving academic success and social achievement.”
The numbers give testament to the growth of Pepin Academies, founded with support from the Pepin family. As reported, Tom Pepin in 1996 launched the Chris Fredo Memorial Fund, which in 2012 turned into the Tom Pepin Family fund, now known as the Pepin Family Foundation. Pepin’s father, Art, founded Pepin Distributing in 1961 in Gainesville and six years later bought the distribution rights to Anheuser-Busch products for the Tampa market.
Founded in 1999, the first Pepin Academy graduated 13 students. Today, Pepin Academies enroll more than 400 students in Riverview, more than 300 students in New Port Richey and more than 350 students in Tampa at 3916 East Hillsborough Ave.
Attorney Eric Adams, a partner in Shutts & Bowen in Tampa, was appointed in June 2020 to the board of directors for Pepin Academies. He said his son, 18, “who presents with a lot of Alphabet-soup stuff,” including dyslexia, dysphagia and some autism, “found the right place to be” at Pepin Academies in Tampa.
Adams said his son participates with the golf team, loved his automotive studies, takes a class now in life skills, where as a barista he has learned to make smoothies, “and every time I bump into one of his teachers, he just seems like he’s thriving, he’s comfortable and I’m very excited about that.”
Adams shared a Top 10 list for Pepin Academies, based on his observations from his first tour of the Tampa campus (in 2020, before the COVID pandemic shut-down) to his involvement today as a parent and board member.
Linda Chion Kenney photos
A proud moment after the Aug. 28 ribbon-cutting celebrating the 25th anniversary for Pepin Academies, with campuses in Tampa, Riverview and New Port Richey
That list, from the number 10 to number one spot, covers nutrition and wellness, PTO involvement, community partnerships, specialized facilities, inclusive education model, family resources, transition program, athletics and arts, student clubs and extracurriculars, and small class sizes.
“My son is a senior, and when we ask him what he wants to do, he says he doesn’t want to go to school anymore,” Adams said. “But he also wants to live independently, enter the workforce, and [Pepin’s] transition program is such an asset, and that’s why it’s number four on my Top 10 list.”
Still, “number one for me, more than anything, is small class sizes,” Adams said. “My son, with everything that he comes to the table with, and his super powers, he needs the small class size. It he’s a number, he’s going to disappear, and I’m really happy he’s not invisible here.”
For more on Pepin Academies and their golf tournament fundraiser scheduled for Sept. 21, visit www.pepinacademies.com/.
