It all began….

In 1997 when Janelle Neil, one of the three original founders of the school, was working in the public school system there was a child she supported who (for anonymity sake) will be referred to as Chuck. He had long hair and would twirl his hair while he was working on assignments assigned by the main teacher and eventually would come to pull it so hard it would come out of his scalp in chunks. When Janelle asked Chuck why he pulls his hair out, his response was “When I twirl my hair, it keeps my feet still and I stop fidgeting and my teacher is happy”.

It was at that moment that Janelle realized that children deserve an environment that they can thrive in, to learn the material needed to graduate and become thriving members of society regardless of societal pressure or norms. Janelle was of the belief that even adults don’t want to sit still for 7 hours straight, so how should children be expected to?

 She went on to open Academy schools where over 20 years later, has helped hundreds of children like Chuck to receive an education through the unique student-centered approach that is utilized.