The Ron Clark Academy- Does it live up to the hype?

Ron Clark. Let’s face it, his is a name that many have heard. We have heard him keynote on two occasions, the first dating back to roughly 2004ish. After hearing him speak, people typically fall into two camps.

People either have an amen moment, or they think he is all hype trying to make a buck. Taking that further, he has written a number of books, one of which  I reviewed HERE. Head over to goodreads.com or amazon.com and you will see reviews, both positive and negative. Again, people here fall into two camps.

We had the opportunity to go to the Ron Clark Academy recently. Going in, we were pumped. We were excited. We knew that we taught the way that Ron and his staff teach. I wanted to see teaching like we do without having to worry about being “that teacher who is too loud” next door. I wanted new ideas. I wanted inspiration. Most of all, I wanted to talk to the kids. Let’s be real, most grown ups can talk the talk, and in public, we can even walk the walk. But kids, they will tell you the way it is once you get to know them a bit. I wanted to see these results for myself.

Our day started out with a bang. First, a warning, if you ever go to RCA, get there early. We thought we were early and stopped for a cup of coffee at the Wendy’s up the street. Turns out we had to park at the back of a field. There was a crowd forming at the gates.

through the gates

We were greeted, in the rain, by several members of the RCA staff. Everyone we met was extremely friendly and helpful. In fact, we drove to RCA the day before, just to make sure we knew where it was and to get a sneak peak. Even the security guard at the gate was beyond friendly, pointing out where we would park, and giving us an idea of just how things would go outside.

Making one’s way through the gates, you see the wall across a courtyard painted like a castle. Rounding the corner, we were greeted by Mr. Clark at the door to a sort of staging area/visitor center. Right out of the gate, you know this is not going to be a quiet day. Music is pumping, kids are shaking hands and making small talk. People are getting excited. We spoke to a couple of kids, and were impressed by their ability to engage in small talk. I know many teachers say this is not a needed skill, it isn’t in their standards, etc. Personally, I think it is great. Kids need to learn how to communicate with people effectively, and the first students we met lived up to the expectation.

Finally, we were sorted into houses. Now, by sorted into houses, what I mean is we finally noticed that we had been sorted when we chose our name tags. Me, I landed in Isibindi. The house of courage. So, sorry Mr. Clark, but I’m Isibindi, I didn’t land in that blue house.. but at least it wasn’t Altruismo.

isibindi cookie

We were then ushered into the main school building. Again, music was pumping, we were being prepared to see something different. That message was clear, without a word being said.

Ron spoke for a few minutes, giving a brief history of the school, why he opened it, and a few of his basic ideas about kids and school in general.

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Quickly, we are separated into groups and ushered through a series of quick observations. I would guess that each group is in each class for roughly 15 minutes, but to be truthful, I was glued to the kids, not to my watch.

We started in Mrs. King’s room. The students were discussing literary elements, rising action, climax, etc. The students were engaged with each other, politely disagreeing on various points, and using evidence from the text to back up their answers. The teaching was solid, in fact, it was more facilitating than teaching, but it’s the kids that make RCA what it is.  You knew when walking up to the entry, this was going to be cool.

mrs kings door

We were then ushered into Mr. King’s room for a current events lesson. With guitar strapped on, Mr. King was leading the students through a discussion about political cartoons. Here, we saw kids be kids. Sure, they were civil, they were polite, but it was the first glimpse that, yes, they do have minor discipline issues, and they deal with them. Students sign their name to a whiteboard when they commit an infraction, and it is done in such a way that the lesson never stops. Others are not watching the offender, but are still glued to the lesson. They are tracking Mr. King as he speaks.

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Later, we learn that this is a learned skill for these kids. It’s funny in a way, this is something we taught heavily when we taught lower grades, and somehow, it slipped away when moving up to the middle grades. You can guess what we are teaching this week.

After leaving “The King Wing” (where we felt a special kinship because they are married teachers teaching together like us) we made our way over to Mr. Clark’s 5th grade math class. Now, let’s just cut to the chase. Mr. Clark has been seen all over the world. People know to expect the unexpected. No one was terribly shocked when he taught from the desktops. I found myself wishing I had my old room from a previous school, where I had a stage of my own in the room. My ceilings now don’t leave a lot of headroom… oh the jealousy.  What did shock people was the complexity of the math the students were learning. Easily 3 or more years ahead of other 5th grade math programs I have seen. Sure, some kids struggled with the concepts, but the other kids were cheering them on. One student, Jasmine, was having difficulty with a particular idea. You could see the concern in the other students’ faces, then, like magic, they turned into coaches. They cheered for her, they stood up and tried explaining it to her. No one was to be left behind if they could help it.

ron math lesson

After that, we proceeded to lunch. I could post a picture, but it would be just as simple to say look at the Great Hall in Hogwarts, shrink it a fair bit, and you have the RCA dining room. We ate with a couple of students, and learned a bit about the school. This is where I dug in to see what the kids really thought. A quick recap of some of the Q&A:

Is it tough at RCA? Yes. Tougher than they would like at times, but they know why it’s tough.

What’s the difference between a regular school day and a day visitors are in the building? Not much, except for the dancing and greeting us at the door.

Why did my student get picked to attend RCA in his opinion? He figured it was because he beat out the other two students in the interview. He was shocked, he had never been asked this question. He gave several possibilities, weighed them, then decided it had to be the interview. It was nice to watch him reason it out.

What about discipline? It’s all about detentions. No one wants them. They avoid getting in trouble like the plague. Detentions stink.

Rigor- Yes, it was extremely hard at the beginning, but once he got in the groove, he loves the difficulty.

College? Not yes, but of course. As if it were an expectation. He wants to be a computer programmer.

After our extremely pleasant lunch, we went to Dr. Jones for a training on flipped classrooms. This was not a new idea for us, as we are a variation of being flipped (as much as we can at this point) Dr. Jones did a fantastic job of explaining the concept, and gave several resources. I  really liked this session because we were able to discuss various tools we have used, and tools she uses, and we both got to learn new things.

We then went to the art room, where we had been briefly before doing line drawings. Here, Ms. Barnes talked poetry. Wait, no, she talked music. Oh… the revelation many have when they realize they are one in the same. Here I learned a new sort of poetry… namely, The Blues. Sure, I had heard them. Yes, I listen to them occasionally. No, I had never really looked at them as poetry. She had us write our own blues verse, and some of us sang it. Yes, we made sure we sang it. In for a dime, in for a dollar. While I am sure the noise coming from my mouth was not the best, it was a ball, and will make it’s way into my classroom ASAP.

Finally, we have a training seminar with Mr. Clark. He explained his beliefs in detail, explained why he is so hard on his students. (and he is, no doubt about it) He explains that the 5th graders we saw earlier have only been at his school for a few weeks, they were still being molded. He has extremely high expectations, as does the entire staff. There was some grumbling that his expectations were too high, but there were far more that held beliefs like we share with Mr. Clark. You teach to the high. Always. You work to bring the low up to speed, but you pace lessons for the high. High expectations bring great results. The students thrive as a result. We asked, they love being challenged. They love that someone cares enough to do that for them.

The final activity of the day was the slide certification. Yes, if you have not heard, the huge blue slide. I managed to fit my 6’6″ self in it, and got my sticker. It’s an amazing experience. Not only because of the slide, but more because of the students cheering each of us on the way down.

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So, to answer my question. Does The Ron Clark Academy live up to the hype? Yes. Without a doubt. RCA is an example of school being done the right way. There is greatness at RCA. Greatness in teaching, greatness in students, greatness all around. Is it worth the money? Absolutely. I can say this, because we paid our own travel and everything to get to and from Atlanta. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Now, to you administrators trying to decide who to send. Allow me a moment. Don’t send the goats. (Ron calls these riders). Even the somewhat compliant goats (These are Ron’s walkers). It’s next to impossible to pull a goat along. Same goes for dead weight in a school. Don’t let them eat up resources. Send the ones who are jogging and you think a little boost will make them run. And by all means, send your runners. The ones who are taking chances, making mistakes, and getting messy. (Thanks to Ms. Frizzle for that one).

To the staff and parent volunteers of RCA, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to come into your school. It is an amazing facility with amazing people running every aspect of it.

To the students of RCA, thank you for what you do, but more importantly, for what you will do in the years to come. You are blessed to be at RCA. Make the most of everything you have. Believe in yourself as much as your teachers do, as much as I do.

And finally, to my brothers and sisters of Isibindi.  I wish I had the chance to get to know each of you. Stick together, and lift each other up. Be brave in all that you do, and forge your own way in life. And… about that performance after the epic slide ride. I ached for you. Nail that performance this week. Use each talent that you have to it’s fullest, and kill it.

16 thoughts on “The Ron Clark Academy- Does it live up to the hype?

  1. I absolutely loved your take on this phenomenal school. I, too, am Isibindian by way of my son who is a 6th grader at the school. Welcome to the family! Thanks for giving our children the opportunity to meet new teachers and allowing them the chance to practice their communication skills. After every teacher training, when my son comes home, I always ask him how that day went. He is always so excited to tell me about the people he’s met and where they come from but even more so he’s thrilled that it gets easier every time to actually ask questions and communicate with someone that he’s never met before. This used to be a bit of a struggle for him.So thank God for not only the amazing Ron Clark, Kim Bearden and the RCA staff but hat’s off to you guys as well for taking the time to visit RCA!!!!!

    • The kids are what really makes the impression. Don’t misunderstand me, the teachers are phenomenal, but as an educator, it is talking to the students that really give insight into a school. While I am not certain if I had the pleasure of meeting your son, I can say that EVERY student I met made a positive impression. I am a firm believer that we all leave an impression somehow, either positive or negative, so be grateful that the students of RCA are busy making positive impressions. RCA is a school that any educator would be honored to be a part of. Thank you for taking the time to comment.

  2. As a matter of fact, an Isibindi parent shared your blog post with me and was very proud that you aligned yourself with the us. Our house represented beautifully at the Amazing Shake—the smallest house had the most participants move forward—and last week’s house cheer was a show stopper. Thank you for sharing your day. I am so glad you enjoyed your time with us. Happy New Year and continued blessings!

    • Ms. Barnes, thank you so much for the comment. Ironically, this week my students are writing poetry to the blues, another pickup I gained from a fabulous educator at RCA. 🙂 You are blessed to be a part of RCA, and you bless your students each and every day. I spent a great deal of time sharing new ideas with my students when we got back from Atlanta. I feel that it is important for our students to know that as teachers, we must continually learn and grow as well. Thank you for welcoming us, and being a part of our amazing experience at RCA. About all I can say is we found ourselves wishing we could have stayed longer.

    • We saw a few classes, and didn’t see a textbook. That is part of what I liked about it. RCA, like us, seems to use a wide range of resources. For example, Social Studies was being taught with modern day news the day we were there. In ELA, they were discussing a novel they read. The key to their success is ALL of the staff is invested in the process of educating children. Imagine a school, perhaps your own, where there are a few teachers who really go above and beyond. They get great results, but the kids are still hindered by the rest of the teachers who don’t put forth the effort. That doesn’t happen at RCA. It was a great experience, and and inspiring. I seriously wanted to get up and start teaching with the staff.

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  4. I have followed many of the teachers who teach at the Academy and love that style of teaching. I try whenever I can but so held back by “traditional” tests constant testing and boring curriculum. I have a question….how are the kids graded…paper pencil tests….traditional report cards…etc? Thank you for any reply.

    • Valerie,

      Thanks for your question. Students are still graded, as far as I could tell, on regular tests/report cards. I am in a public school myself, so I understand your question. I am not sure what subject you teach, so allow me to ramble a moment. Just because a curriculum has ‘dull’ information in it does not mean it has to be presented in a dull way. For years, I have been the one standing on desks, etc. I even had a stage in my room when I taught 3rd grade. We took regular state tests, and my kids always did extremely well. The state curriculum is what it is, it is our task to make it something that the kids actually want to experience. Kids can learn things needed for conventional tests in unconventional ways and be successful. Might I ask what you teach and what state?

    • Looking at his website, http://www.ronclarkacademy.com the current fee is $425 for a one day training and $850 for a two day. We went to a one day, and honestly, you will see so much that it will be hard to process it all in a day. Take good notes, pay attention, and have fun. I would love to have gone to a two day session, and someday, still might. I honestly think you can attend more than one time and bring enough back with you to make it worth the investment.

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    • You are going to love it. Go ready to run, and dance. Most of all, interact with the kids. You get as much from them as the teachers at times. Kids will give your u the straight up truth, and RCA is all it is cracked up to be. Let me know how your visit goes.

  6. I’m beyond excited that I get to go in May of this year. There will be 14 of us going to the 1 day training. What should we wear? Silly question but I want to represent in the correct manner.

    • Well, you’re going to interact with students, so dress the part. Dress like the professional you are. Now, having said that, wear shoes you can move in, dance in, and slide in. You will get a ton out of it, but will get even more if you put yourself out there and chase the info. Sit with kids whenever possible.

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