School starts in the nation's 8th largest district with a new "throwback" concept

TAMPA - "We feel like WE'RE Kindergartners out... going on our first day," said Superintendent MaryEllen Elia in the early morning darkness.  

With some 190 thousand students feeling the same way, the nation's eighth largest school system (and the third largest in Florida) kicked off their 2011-12 school year.

Elia spoke with us at the Franklin Middle Boys Preparatory Academy, a male-only school in East Tampa.  A female-only counterpart at nearby Ferrell Middle opened simultaneously this morning, marking a departure from the traditional co-educational school experience.

"We really felt like this was an opportunity for us to use two of our schools and make them all-boys and all-girls," said Elia.   She added that the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

The students will have extra rules and regulations to follow and will be required to wear "professionallly styled" uniforms.  But they'll also get i-pads to use for homework and classwork.

"Students in this day and age have a device on their hand, " she said.  "We want to tap into that."

More than 190 thousand other students will join the Academies' enrolles on this first day of classes district-wide.