OUR HISTORY

  • Late 1950's-1964

    The Vanguard School was founded in Paoli, Pennsylvania, in the late 1950s by Dr. Milton Brutten, an expert in dyslexia, and Dr. Henry Evans, one of the first private schools in the nation to serve children with learning disabilities. In 1958, William and Elinor Carnill of Pennsylvania purchased a home in the Mountain Lake community of Lake Wales, Florida, and, with neighbors’ support, proposed establishing a residential Vanguard School there, a plan approved with strong backing from the Mountain Lake community. What began as an after-school tutoring program for students, soon expanded into a full-day program and was licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education in 1960. By the mid-1960s, Vanguard had grown to three campuses and gained national attention through a 1964 Look magazine article.

  • 1965-1966

    In December 1965, Mr. Harry Nelson, Principal of the middle school program at Vanguard in Pennsylvania, relocated to Lake Wales with his wife Irene and their three young children to establish a new campus. On February 1, 1966, The Vanguard School of Lake Wales officially opened at The Bonaire Lodge on the shores of Lake Pierce, serving as both an academic and recreational center. The school began with six students and seven employees, increased to 10 students and eight staff by the end of the first school year, grew to 35 students by September, and reached 55 by December.

  • 1967-1971

    By 1967–1968, the Lake Pierce campus was running out of space, and the original Bonaire Lodge was put up for sale. In 1968, Board member William Boyd donated 28.5 acres on Highway 27, and Vanguard purchased an additional 43 acres, creating a 75-acre site for a new campus, with construction supported by generous contributions from neighbors. The Lake Pierce property was sold in 1971, and Vanguard officially relocated to the William Boyd campus in September of that year.

  • 1971

    Campus was consolidated to the Highway 27 location where we currently reside.

  • 1975

    We were accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools. The Vanguard School of Lake Wales, Florida was incorporated as an Independent Florida Non-Profit Organization.

  • 1983

    Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

  • 2004

    Vanguard survived a direct hit from three hurricanes within a span of six weeks.

  • 2006-10

    Dormitories, classrooms, the dining hall, and administration building were just a few of the facilities overhauled during campus-wide renovations.

  • 2010

    The largest graduating class in the history of Vanguard, with a total of 42 graduating seniors.

The Vanguard School was established in 1966 in Lake Wales as one of the earliest schools to target their work with diagnosed learning disabilities. Vanguard originally began as an after-school tutorial program in suburban Philadelphia. The program quickly developed into a school serving students who struggled in traditional learning environments and benefit from teachers that understand how to serve students who learn differently, led by Dr. Brutten and Dr. Evans.

In the late 1960’s, Bill Carnhill, father of a Vanguard student, who is also a resident of Mountain Lake in Lake Wales, led the way to establish Vanguard as a residential and day school in sunny central Florida. Mr. Carnhilll’s neighbors at Mountain Lake supported the development of our current 76 acres of campus located on Highway 27. In 1975, The Vanguard School was accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS) and in 1983, received additional accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

Today, The Vanguard School provides a small and thriving community for diverse learners within a safe and welcoming environment to support their academic learning, social development, and path in a diverse world. Continuous self-evaluation, connection to our core values, and student-based mission propel The Vanguard School towards mindful progress by adapting to adversity.