MODESTO-Tennis legend Andre Agassi was in town April 26th with his business partner Bobby Turner of Impact Capital to launch a new Aspire Charter School in a challenged area to serve underprivileged in obtaining a quality education. Agassi has been involved in philanthropic educational efforts for the last twenty years beginning in economically challenged areas of Las Vegas.
Agassi is an 8 time Grand Slam Singles Champion and Olympic gold medalists. Now he’s using his celebrity to bring opportunities to others he says he never had citing his decision to drop out of school in the 8th grade to focus on tennis. “Giving children hope through education was the only way to make real systemic change”, he said.
In 2001 Agassi started the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy Middle/High School in Las Vegas. Now Agassi and Turner work together in what they they call a social impact investment firm, the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund. They’ve committed to build 105 schools across the nation to serve 57,000 students.
Now Modesto has one of them. It is a dual campus of Aspire University Charter School and Vanguard College Preparatory Academy. Central Valley Area Superintendent Anthony Solina says Aspire School’s mission is to “operate small, high quality charter schools in low-income neighborhoods.”
Modesto’s new campus is 67,000 square feet with state-of-the-art facilities and is planned to serve 1,000 students.
