Harris Rosen reads to children in the Tangelo Park Program Pre-K class.
Parents Regina Bridges (2nd, right) and Tiffany Rivera (far right) attend Pre-K class with their children.
Florida Hotelier and Philanthropist Harris Rosen Offers Blueprint for Saving Communities in Crisis By Seaton White Photography by SJW Publishers, Inc.
H
arris Rosen who owns seven major hotel properties in Orlando, Florida and the surrounding area sounded much like an exultant school principal—proud of the accomplishments of his students—when we met recently at Tangelo Park Elementary School in Orlando. Students at the elementary school come largely from Tangelo Park, which formerly was a community in crisis characterized by illegal drugs and crime; and many of the residents in the African American community were on welfare. In recent years, students there have scored “A” ratings on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). On the most recent FCAT, which introduced science topics, the school scored a “B” rating. “We’re one of the few schools in a disadvantaged neighborhood that is rated as highly as we are,” said Harris Rosen who adopted the Tangelo Park Community in 1994, providing Pre-K schooling for 2-to-4 year olds and scholarships to high school graduates. “We had been an “A” school three of the last four years. Now
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we’ve been an “A-B” school for four of the last five years,” he said. Since Harris Rosen adopted the community 13 years ago, he has invested about $7 million in the community and its Pre-K and high school scholarship programs. In that period the Tangelo Park program has provided more than 200 college scholarships, and high school dropout rates have gone from 25 percent in 1993 to less than 6 percent today. Also during that period, Tangelo Park has experienced an eradication of illegal drug dealing; a 70 percent drop in crime; most welfare families are now working for incomes—many for his hotel properties; and home values have increased from an average $45,000 to $150,000.
Florida Hotelier The founder and president of Rosen Hotel and Resorts, Harris Rosen also is a trustee at the University of Central Florida and philanthropist who gives his money and time to the less fortunate and other special concerns.
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