Four years ago, Carol Hagar, head of the Austin Home School COOP, and Jack Newman, CEO of the Austin Tennis Academy, began the ATA Education program. In that time the school has grown from 3 to 14 students and graduated it’s first students last year with Blake Davis going to Florida State University and Danny Gies going to the US Air Force Academy.
“My vision is to create a community that encourages people to be comfortable with who they are so they can become who they are meant to be,” Hagar said. “My motivation is to inspire children to explore their worlds within and without and to manifest their potential. I believe it takes the support of a strong community to accomplish that. I was motivated by Jack and the community he has created within the ATA, and I was moved by his commitment to the students' growth and development.”
The philosophy of the ATA Education program mirrors the ATA Tennis program. Through individual attention and schedule, students are pushed to be the best they can as students and as human beings.
"My original motivation and vision was to try to provide ATA students a high quality education that paralleled the excellence in tennis training they were getting,” Newman said.
The teacher to student ratio is very low, so the individual time that each student gets with teachers is very strong. Just as ATA tennis students develop relationships with their primary coach, so too do ATA Education students develop relationships with their teachers. A love of learning and a reduction in the fear of making mistakes are two important elements of the ATA school.
“There are similarities between the love of learning and the pursuit of excellence” Carol Hagar said. “They both require a spark and they both require fuel to feed the fire.”
The school day is compressed in time, but efficient. There is no time wasted going from classroom to classroom, all classes are taught at the ATA Ranch House, a 2-minute drive from the courts. There are two classroom spaces, with a third on the way, as well as many nooks and outdoor study spaces that students and teachers utilize.
The ATA Education Program offers both middle school and high school college prep courses with many of our juniors and seniors taking dual credit (HS and college) courses at Austin Community College.
“ATA Ed has allowed me to pursue my goals by giving me the freedom to work at my own pace and put the extra hours in on the court to be successful at a higher level,” Aaron Chaffee said.
This year’s seniors, Aaron Chaffee and Taylor Shamshiri, are headed to DePaul and Davidson colleges respectively, with Taylor looking to finalize a verbal commitment within days. Both Taylor and Aaron have been able to reach high-levels in tennis and academics to give them a myriad of opportunities in their college choice.
"Taylor Shamshiri is a National Merit Scholar Commended,” Coach Newman said. "Aaron Chaffee was able to go from 2000 in Boys 16s in the national rankings to 200 in Boys 18s in the national rankings in two years.”
Much like the ATA Academy program, it is difficult to understand the ATA Education program without experiencing it. Newman and Hagar encourage parents and students who are interested to do a shadow day at the ATA. Follow our students from 8am start to 7pm finish.
“Each of these young people have a dream and they are pursuing it... I am proud to have been a part of that. Because they are fulfilling their dreams, it does feel like an incredible success... but it is only a small glimpse into the future,” Hagar said.
If you have questions about the full day program at ATA, please contact Jack Newman, CEO of ATA or Carol Hagar, Director of the ATA Education program. To get a closer look into the happenings of a day at ATA Ed, take a look below:
ATA Education
Jan 27, 2011
REFLECTION
This month the middle school group has been working on ‘reflection’ - reflecting on the things they have read, how it impacts them personally, and what the impact may be on the future. A unit study on Afghan has included reading Three Cups of Tea, a National Geographic article and in-depth conversations.
CO2 IN A BAG!
High school students continue to pursue their individual programs ranging from Geometry to Calculus to Film Analysis to Mandarin Chinese to Biology. Chemistry students, Adam and Jonah (with a bit of help from Liam) determined the exact amount of sodium bicarbonate needed to mix with an exact amount of acetic acid to result in just enough CO2 to fill a one quart plastic baggie. We all survived the explosions of slight miscalculations during the trial and error period.
ROUND TABLE
This week, all of the students came together for our ATA Overlay round table. The moderated discussion compared and contrasted several topics as they related to the romance section of Film Analysis class (featuring: ‘Harold and Maude’ and ‘Casablanca’). Next week’s Book Club discusses the travel journey of Bill Bryson’s ‘A Walk in the Woods’.
Next PANCAKE FRIDAY is February 18.
This week’s TOP CHEF is:
Coach Newman’s Pot Roast and
Jonah’s burgers and twice baked potatoes.
ADAM IS 16!
Happy Birthday to you.
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+1 512.276.2271 
+1 512.276.2272 
deb.cahill@AustinTennisAcademy.com