Ron Clark

About Ron

• I grew up in North Carolina and was the first person on both sides of my family to attend college.
• I was working at a fast food drive-through when my mom urged me to go inquire about a teaching opening at a local school—I had no intentions of taking the job, but wanted to appease my mom.
• After meeting with the principal and students, I decided to take the job.
• I quickly realized that traditional lesson plans weren’t resonating with my students, so I started incorporating fun activities, like rapping lessons, dress-up days, and field trips.
• After five years of teaching in North Carolina—during which, I was honored by President Clinton—I decided to move to New York and teach at a struggling school in Harlem.
• In 2000, I was named Teacher of the Year by Disney.
• I wrote a bestselling book, “The Essential 55,” and used the money to buy an old, vacant factory in Atlanta, Georgia—it was my goal to turn that space into a new school.
• In 2007, I co-founded The Ron Clark Academy, a nonprofit private school, where we utilize innovative teaching methods to help students succeed—our methods produce a 100% high school graduation rate!