South Florida Tech School Celebrates Corporate Milestone

MIAMI, July 20 /PRNewswire/ -- This July The Academy of South Florida, a Microsoft Certified Technical Education Center, graduated its 4000th student at its Miami Campus. To date, The Academy has taught the employees of dozens of companies and now its 4000th individual student on how to manage today's networks and other critical technologies.

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"We are proud to share in this milestone with our staff and family," stated Andy Perez, Vice-President of The Academy, who is head of sales and admissions. "In a world with constant technological innovations, The Academy offers its students a world-class education to make sure their skills are always up to date," he added.

The 4000th student is William Hernandez, 32, a U.S. Marine Corp veteran who currently works for Telefonica USA as a Network System Administrator. Hernandez, born in Nicaragua and raised in Miami, FL, came to the Academy of South Florida a couple of years after his tour of duty was complete. With a background in IT service in overseas bases, Hernandez knew that he needed to get the certifications he was missing to further his career. He researched several schools and chose the Academy because of its sterling reputation and commitment to excellence in education.

"I am so thankful to have found the Academy. I needed the training and they offered me the opportunity to study and later intern with them," said William Hernandez. "The student support services they offer in terms of academic counseling and job placement offered me the opportunity to further my career and receive the certifications that I needed."

"Not only do we work with individuals to help them start or further their careers, we also work with the corporate community in helping them train their employees in the latest technologies," stated Chris Perez, who is the Director of Education for The Academy. "We help our student's layout their career paths and make sure the classes they take help them achieve their goals."

The guiding principle for The Academy has always been their mission statement: "The mission of The Academy is to provide students with a first-class education, actual hands-on training, and a unique, personalized student experience. Our goal is to ensure that each student obtains the proper tools needed to begin or continue to grow their careers in the Information Technology field."

"The Academy staff has worked tirelessly to make the school a best of class institution where you not only get the best training available, but you also get the necessary support to make sure our students receive great internships and meaningful job placements," stated Alfonso Perez, President of The Academy.

About The Academy of South Florida

Founded in 1999, The Academy is a Microsoft Certified Technical Education Center that has taught over 4,000 companies and individuals how to manage today's networks and other critical technologies. The Academy is run by Chris and Andy Perez, who serve as co-directors of the school.

While The Academy of today enjoys a tremendous amount of success, it has not always been that way.

In 2002, Chris, who then worked at the Miami campus for The Academy, started thinking of venturing out on his own. Chris had discovered his passion in IT education and wanted to implement his vision for training and development in the IT arena. Fortunately for him, the timing for his departure was just not right.

As fate would have it, during the following year, the then owner and founder of The Academy had to sell three campuses and later was forced to close three more, making the Miami campus the sole survivor of a classic management meltdown.

With the founder wanting to permanently leave the business, Chris saw and seized on his moment of opportunity. So together with his father, attorney Alfonso Perez and his brother Andy, they became the proud owners of The Academy in July of 2003.  

Luckily for both Chris and Andy their father not only provided the seed capital, but he helped them take on and solve the legal entanglements that they had inherited from the management meltdown that had taken place under the previous administration. Today Al continues to support his sons by serving as the elder statesmen for the school.

Andy, who was a banker at the time, helped his brother stabilize the school during evenings and weekends before eventually making the decision to join The Academy full-time and head up the areas of Sales and Admissions.

With Andy now on board, The Academy was re-born with the two brothers serving as co-directors.

Both Chris and Andy have worked tirelessly to enhance the appeal and visibility of the school.  Their hard work and dedication paid off when the Ft. Lauderdale campus was re-opened in early 2006 - The Academy's first expansion since the 2003 acquisition.  

In their respective roles, Chris has been able to implement his vision of putting together a world class IT training program and Andy, with his very focused work ethic, has been able to help fast track the schools growth and expansion.

Today The Academy has a total of two campuses, 29 employees, 14 classrooms, and two learning resource centers that trains over 400 students between Miami-Dade, Broward and West Palm Beach counties. And, with future expansions currently in the works, you can expect to hear more about The Academy in the not too distant future.

SOURCE The Academy of South Florida