Prep for success

Downtown Tampa business leaders wooing a corporate headquarters to town could benefit from a chat with Joe Seivold.

The headmaster at one of Florida's most prestigious private schools, Berkeley Preparatory in Tampa, Seivold leads a closely connected mission: to transform Berkeley, with a pre-K-12th grade, Episcopal-affiliated curriculum, into a nationally known name in prep schools. He aims for a program so strong that the next time a corporate chieftain decides between, say, Dallas and Tampa, Berkeley helps tip the scale.

“We want Berkeley to become a destination institution,” says Seivold, a former University of North Carolina college lacrosse star named headmaster at Berkeley in 2011. “Every city needs a great urban institution. We want to be that school for Tampa Bay.”