Agassi Prep serves up lessons

With the US Open Grand Slam Tennis Tournament in town, New Yorkers are engulfed in tennis for a fortnight. I happened to catch Andre Agassi on t.v. and heard him speak about the goals and vision of his highly acclaimed Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy (K-12). I was impressed to see a short clip of the children taking their pledge to be respectful. Respect, character, motivation and self-discipline are deemed important at the school. These traits are enhanced while the children are taught skills and knowledge necessary to be prepared for college. Can you imagine longer school days and a longer academic year? Small classroom sizes? A culture of discipline and respect? Teacher accountability for student performance? Required parental and community involvement? It sounds ideal to me. Perhaps if his model works well enough, the rest of the country will take note. Wishing you luck, Andre!