Markala was Marlena and John Roland’s first child, and there were more on the way – four more, in all. And Markala was 5, so the Roland children were going to reach school age in quick succession.

This presented a dilemma.

“We wanted our kids in private school, but we didn’t have the money,” Marlena said.

But there was hope.

The year was 2005, and Marlena, a teacher at a private school near their Coral Springs home at the time, learned about a private school scholarship that had been established a few years earlier and was managed by Step Up For Students.

She applied and was accepted, and for nearly all of the next 20 years, at least one of the Roland children attended a private school with the help of a Step Up scholarship. The exception was the two years the family lived in Georgia.

“It was a blessing for us,” John said. “The best thing we did was give them that education foundation.”

• Markala, now 25, used the scholarship to attend Abundant Life Christian Academy (ALCA) in Margate through the eighth grade (ALCA had yet to add a high school). She then spent a year at Westminster Academy before enrolling in her district high school for the next three years. She attended Stetson University on a full academic scholarship, graduating in 2021with a bachelor’s degree in biology. A certified nursing assistant who also works as a manager of a retail store, she’s in the process of applying to medical school.
• Maelyn, 24, attended ALCA until the seventh grade, then enrolled in district schools. She received a partial scholarship to Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach. She is now a fashion model, appearing on billboards for brands like Hollister, ASOS, and American Eagle. She spent part of this summer modeling in London.
• Meagan, 23, attended ALCA until the sixth grade before she switched to her district school. She attended Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and graduated in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in management information systems. She currently works as a graphic designer.
• John Jr., 20, attended ALCA from kindergarten through third grade. He moved to his district school but returned to private school for high school when he attended Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale. He’s entering his sophomore year at Lynn University in Boca Raton, where he studies wealth management and plays on the basketball team.
• Marcia, 22, is not the youngest of the family, but she was the last to utilize a private school scholarship. Marcia, who has Down syndrome, received the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities. She also attended ALCA, Fort Lauderdale Preparatory School, and other district schools until sixth grade. Afterwards, she transferred to The Randazzo School, graduating there last May. Marcia repeated several grades, including eighth, because of COVID-19. She thrived and had a successful year at Randazzo school with the support of staff and students. In the fall, she will attend FAU’s Academy for Community Inclusion, a college program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Marcia’s personal journey led her, her family, and close friends to co-found “A Special Miracle,” a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering families raising children with Down syndrome by providing community-based resources and support.

“None of that would have been possible without the scholarship,” Markala said.

Marlena was a teacher at ALCA when the kids began school. Even with the employee discount, she said the cost of tuition would strain the family’s finances. Still, she wanted her children to benefit from ALCA’s educational setting just like the students she was teaching.

“We wanted to set the bar high, to create good study skills and habits. We wanted them to be well-rounded,” said Marlena, who also taught at The Randazzo School for nearly 10 years, including the time Marcia attended.

It was by design that the Roland children split their education between private and district schools. Some were sports-related, but mostly, John wanted their children to experience both educational settings.

“John said, ‘Let’s put them in public school for a little bit and see how it goes,’” Marlena said. “He said they need to have both, and that will build character and build them as individuals.”

And it worked.

The private school experience helped the children excel at their district schools.

“It laid a really good foundation for us,” Markala said. “Just getting us excited to be in the classroom, to learn new things, to collaborate with others.

“I had friends (in high school) ask me, ‘Where did you learn this? Why are you thinking that way?’ All I could say was, ‘Thanks to my teachers at ALCA and Westminster.’ They really set us apart and prepared us for what was coming next. We were leaps and bounds ahead of our peers.”

John credited the private school education his children received but also gave credit to the emphasis he and Marlena placed on education at home.

“When I dropped them off at school, I told them we’ll add to it when you get home,” he said.

“They didn’t play with that,” Markala said. “That was non-negotiable in our house.”

She remembers a time when John sold the family pickup truck to help meet the expenses of her attending Westminster that the scholarship didn’t cover.

“As a kid, you see them doing that, and I'm like, ‘Don't we need that car to get places?’ They really valued education. That was what was important,” she said. “I see that now as an adult, the things that they're willing to do to make sure that we had a good education, putting us into spaces where we could learn and grow have been tremendous to me, even now that I’m in the workforce.”

Around the state:  A group of parents are rallying behind an Orange County teacher, a principal was arrested in Brevard, a theater company created an independent library of banned books and students in Broward participated in a teddy bear drive for first responders to give to children.  Here are details about those stories and other developments from the state's districts, private schools and colleges and universities:

Broward: Students at Bayview Elementary in south Florida took part in a teddy bear drive for first responders to give to children years after a boy was killed in a plane crash. Ft. Lauderdale police officers picked up dozens of teddy bears collected by students. The drive was organized by Taylor's Teddy Bears, a nonprofit that collects stuffed bears for first responders to give to children. WSVN.

Hillsborough: A week before a key vote on school boundary changes and closures, some members of the Hillsborough County School Board indicated they might not be ready to take action. A special meeting and first vote is scheduled for Feb. 28 on sweeping changes that are designed to fix both school crowding and vacancies, while saving money.  Board member Lynn Gray, concerned about pending legislation that would expand the state's school voucher system, said she fears funding levels and enrollment could drop dramatically, making it impossible to make an informed decision on new attendance boundaries at this time.  Tampa Bay Times.

Manatee: Officials this week echoed Gov. Ron DeSantis by suggesting key changes to public library policies that give parents more control over what children are allowed to read. The updates to library protocols are the latest culture war development from the board of county commissioners here. Miami Herald.

Orange: A group of Orange County parents want school officials to reinstate a teacher accused of using children as "political pawns" in a series of TikTok videos, including some that took aim at book bans. Ethan Hooper, a sixth-grade language arts teacher at Howard Middle, was put on administrative leave and faces being fired by the school district after he posted the videos. Orlando Sentinel.

Brevard: The principal of Learning Forward Education Center in Melbourne was arrested this week for allegedly abusing a child with special needs. WESH.

School vouchers: Two Central Florida lawmakers who support a "transformational" expansion of the state's school voucher programs are closely tied to private schools that already receive hundreds of thousands of dollars from families who use state scholarships to pay tuition. Orlando Sentinel. Speaking of vouchers, the discussion over so-called "school vouchers" has long been a contentious battle in education politics, and GOP lawmakers are pushing to expand the voucher program if all goes well with the state Legislature. But legislation has became fraught with confusion and disagreements over allowing students to attend private schools using taxpayer dollars. Florida Phoenix.

Banned books: The book battle brewing in schools prompted a St. Petersburg theater company to help create an independent library full of banned books. Titles such as "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Anne Frank: The Diary a Young Girl" now have a new home at the American Stage Theater Company. The theater company, along with Keep St. Pete Lit and Tombolo Books, created the independent library of banned books at St. Pete College. Fox 13.

College savings for newborns: States, cities and community groups that offer free money to families to jumpstart college savings face a dilemma: The families most in need sometimes don't sign up. To solve that problem, some states have transformed the accounts into automatic programs that help all families. The initiative comes at a time when even affluent families are struggling to afford college. The 74th.

University and college news: A South Florida professor's job may be in jeopardy after a parent complained to the president of Palm Beach Atlantic University about a racial justice unit included in Samuel Joeckel's Composition II course, prompting the dean and the provost to let the professor know the renewal of his contract has been delayed, pending review of the unit. South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Opinions on schools:  Texas Monthly featured the tale of Dripping Springs Independent School District and how it plays into a vast right-wing conspiracy to destroy public education.  Matthew Ladner, reimaginED.  Great Hearts Academies launched in 2001 with 130 students. Today, it operates 33 classical K-12 schools serving more than 25,000 students in Arizona and Texas. Rick Hess, reimaginED. A Florida mom wants education savings accounts to become a reality. Lisa Buie, reimaginED.