Insurance School of Tampa Bay names new business development director and launches exam prep courses

The Insurance School of Tampa Bay has appointed Michael Petruccelli as director of business development and is replacing tutoring with streamlined exam-prep classes for insurance licenses. The rollout includes a three-day Property & Casualty boot camp in St. Petersburg and a new hybrid model that mixes live instruction, streaming and recordings.

Why it matters: - The school is shifting toward a faster, exam-focused model for pre-licensing students. - The change could affect how candidates prepare for Property & Casualty and Life & Health licensing exams. - The new format is designed to combine in-person teaching with remote access and recorded review.

What happened: - HelpingClicks Corporation, owner of The Insurance School of Tampa Bay, appointed Michael Petruccelli as director of business development. - The school is replacing tutoring services with cram-style exam-prep courses for Property & Casualty and Life & Health license candidates. - The first Property & Casualty exam-prep class, called “P&C Boot Camp,” is scheduled for July 16-18 in St. Petersburg, Florida. - The school says pre-license students can attend exam-prep classes live or through prerecorded resources at no cost.

The details: - The Property & Casualty course is structured as modular 10-hour blocks over three days. - Day 1 includes Statutes and Law and Personal Lines Property & Casualty, plus an end-of-day review of 2044 Personal Lines coverage data. - Day 2 covers Business Auto, Commercial Property forms and Commercial Liability forms. - Day 3 includes Miscellaneous Commercial forms and a two-hour wrap-up. - The Life & Health exam-prep program uses a similar modular format, with the first day focused on Statutes and Laws. - Both programs use a hybrid delivery model with live classroom instruction and remote streaming. - Recorded sessions will be available later for paid attendees. - These classes are exam-prep courses and are not credit-approved courses. - The July P&C boot camp will run 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day at Cooke Real Estate School, 4130 16th St. N., Saint Petersburg, Florida. - Instructors include Christopher Kazor, CIC; Lutcf, CDEI, chief academic officer at The Insurance School of Tampa Bay; and Michael Petruccelli, a licensed multi-line agent. - The boot camp will focus on the 2044 and 220 exams, with exam-style questions, explanations and answer discussions. - The school says the class is a rapid review, not a bridge course or a full rehash of the full curriculum. - In-person seating is limited to 15 participants, and streaming seats are capped at 20. - Pricing options include a $225 PDF package with more than 350 practice questions, a $300 printed notebook option, a $200 live-stream option and a $99 one-day online pass for the 2044 exam. - Registration is available at exam prep registration. - Chris Kazor can be reached at 813-833-5777 or ckazor@isotampabay.com for more information. - The live classroom course is a pilot program. - If the pilot succeeds, the school plans to offer more live classes when course content is updated. - A minimum of five paid students is required by July 10 for the live classroom option, and prepayments will be refunded if the class is canceled.

Between the lines: - The move away from tutoring suggests the school is concentrating on products that are easier to standardize and scale. - The pilot live-class format appears to be a test of demand before the school expands classroom-based offerings. - Petruccelli said all pre-license students can access the exam-prep classes live or through prerecorded resources at no cost, and he said the school is developing a pilot continuing education program with a live classroom format and possible profit-sharing with insurance agencies.

What's next: - The school will decide whether to add more live classes after the pilot runs and course content is updated. - Petruccelli said the company will release more details later on the continuing education pilot. - The July 10 enrollment cutoff will determine whether the live classroom P&C boot camp proceeds.**