BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2025 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — The scandal that may have led to several Boca Raton-area children being identified as “gifted” when they actually were not has resulted in a guilty plea from the owner of the daycare center that submitted the false reports. BocaNewsNow.com has confirmed that Dayami Rodriguez, owner of Royal Palm Montessori Academy in West Boca Raton, entered guilty pleas to the twelve counts filed against her when the scandal broke back in 2023. Dayami Rodriguez was accused of fraudulently submitting gifted reports for students heading to Sandpiper Shores Elementary. The reports, according to prosecutors, showed that a “certified teacher” signed off on the gifted assessments. But that teacher left employment at Royal Palm Montessori nearly a decade before her signature was used.
Dayami Rodriguez was charged with six counts of “fraudulent use of personal identification,” and six counts of “unlawful use of a two-way communication device.” Prosecutors say she reached a deal to enter a guilty plea to all counts in exchange for deferred prosecution. If she remains out of trouble for 18 months, the case will go away. In addition to admitting guilt, documents obtained by BocaNewsNow.com show that Rodriguez must serve 150 community service hours and have no contact with her victims. It remains unclear if the children identified as “gifted,” and receiving gifted services from the Palm Beach County School District, were retested after prosecutors filed charges.
Here is text from our original reporting in September of 2023 when the charges were first announced:
>>”The Royal Palm Montessori Academy (RPMA), located at 12532 Cobblestone Way, unincorporated Boca Raton, County of Palm Beach, Florida, 33428, is a Pre-K school which educates children from the age of two to five who have not entered kindergarten yet. This is a private education institution and is not associated with the Palm Beach County School Board (PBCSB) school system. At the beginning of each school year, the RPMA holds an open house and usually invites a psychologist to provide information to parents about the Gifted program and how to have their child evaluated. The parents themselves make arrangements to hire a psychologist to have their child evaluated. If the child scores above a 130, they are classified as gifted. The psychologist will forward the evaluation to the parents of the child as well as the school the student is zoned for. In this case, the school is Sandpiper Shores Elementary.”
“Sandpiper Shores Elementary, not knowing any of the student’s abilities, sends a Gifted Characteristics Checklist (GCC) to the RPMA for the student’s teacher to fill out. The Gifted Characteristics Checklists (GCC) are forms sent by PBCSD schools to private institutions when a public school receives registration information for a future student that has been certified as gifted by a psychologist. The receiving public school sends the private institution this checklist to get an idea of the student’s aptitude and abilities. The GCC is to be signed by a Florida Certified teacher before it can be accepted by the PBCSB. If the student’s teacher isn’t certified by the State of Florida, the form can be co-signed by a Florida Certified Teacher along with the student’s original teacher. Once completed, the private institution emails a copy of the completed form back to the PBCSB public school. In this case, between 2019 and 2022, Owner and Principal of the RPMA, Dayami Rodriguez, received 8 GCC forms for 8 students who were evaluated as gifted by a psychologist and were being registered as new students at Sandpiper Shores Elementary. Rodriguez was sent GCCs for more information on the 8 students due to their gifted evaluation. Of the 8 GCCs sent to the RPMA, 7 GCCs listed RPMA teachers along with a “Jennifer Wisnoski” and 1 GCC only listed “Jennifer Wisnoski” as the teacher. Wisnoski hasn’t worked for the RPMA since 2001.”
“On each of these 8 forms, Rodriguez fraudulently signed former employee Jennifer Wisnoski’s name as the RPMA’s certified teacher who reviewed the GCC form and agreed the student qualified for gifted services from Sandpiper Elementary School.”
“On April 22, 2022, at approximately 1124hrs, Jennifer Wisnoski called the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to make a report of the fraudulent use of her name and employment credentials. Wisnoski stated she discovered 8 GCCs that fraudulently used her name, signature and teaching credentials. Wisnoski was made aware of the forms from Sandpiper Shores Elementary School ESOL Coordinator Renee Brandt who showed her a form with her name and signature on it from the RPMA. Wisnoski said she hasn’t worked for the RPMA for almost 10 years and didn’t authorize anyone to use her name or credentials for the forms. On May 11, 2022, a sworn interview was conducted with Wisnoski who stated, as of August of 2021, she has been employed as a teacher at Sandpiper Shores Elementary (11201 Glades Road, unincorporated Boca Raton, Florida, 33498). Wisnoski was made aware of 8 different GCCs submitted by the RPMA that listed her name, signature and teaching credentials attached to them. Wisnoski was surprised by the forms due to the fact that she hasn’t worked for the RPMA since 2010 and has since worked as a teacher in Broward County.”<<
PBSO Detectives launched an investigation which ultimately led to Rodriguez’s arrest. BocaNewsNow.com has learned that investigations may be ongoing into parents “buying” gifted certifications for their children entering the public school system.
