Thales Academy officials have announced they will open a private and low cost K-12 school in Greenville, South Carolina at an unspecified time.
Thales Academy is an independent and private school.
The Greenville Journal reported this week that prospective teachers in South Carolina must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, pass Praxis assessments, complete a background check, and complete a teacher prep program
Thales Academy founder Bob Luddy reportedly told the paper the following:
“On the surface, accreditation sounds OK. But I believe if accreditation solved the problem of delivering a quality education, we wouldn’t be talking about all these other school choice options,” Luddy told the paper.
“Essentially, accreditation as I see it as a system of licensing that has not proven to be effective and which is, I believe, a very arcane methodology primarily driven by government’s addiction to trying to control everything to the detriment of the outcome.”
Thales Academy, The Greeneville Journal went on to say, “hires teachers based upon their expertise and their teaching ability, rather than a specific checklist of items.”
The school curriculum stresses, among other things, character education and innovative thinking.
According to its website, Thales Academy has schools in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Thales Academy teaches critical thinking and leadership skills, and it also teaches students how to develop themselves to their highest potential in life.
The school’s classical curriculum, meanwhile, stresses grammar, logic, and rhetoric.
Parents approached Luddy in 2006 and asked for his help developing a better educational option for their children. Luddy, of Raleigh, North Carolina, is CEO of CaptiveAire, a commercial ventilation manufacturer.
The first Thales Academy opened in 2007 in the back of Luddy’s corporate office, and more schools opened after that in North Carolina.
Students who attend the academy have gone on to numerous prestigious and reputable colleges and universities.
Anyone interested in learning more about the school should follow Thales Academy’s Facebook page or visit www.thalesacademy.org
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Thales Academy” by Thales Academy.
