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High school for teens who want to excel on their own terms.

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ATI Experience

Welcome to ATI Austin

Welcome to the Academy of Thought and Industry! We are the high school educational model for a rapidly developing world that helps young people to step into their full potential through meaningful and engaged academics, individual coaching, real world work, and an ambitious and supportive community.   

I am an Austin native and proud product of a radical high school educational model that altered the course of my life for the better. For the last six years, I have devoted my life to re-imagining high school education. The product is the Academy of Thought and Industry.   

Whether you are a student, parent, or interested community member, we want to connect with you. We invite you to reach out to come to a visit, tour during an open house, or attend an end of the semester showcase.   

I look forward to talking to you about how we can support teens rise. 

EvaClaire Wright

Head of School

Our Vision

In 1907, in San Lorenzo, Italy, Dr. Maria Montessori had a radical idea. What if we “follow the child” and let their interests, curiosity and engagement with their environment drive their learning? What if we create an approach to education that systematizes the inputs that a student needs to follow her curiosity, independently work with her mind and her hands, and realize her inner potential?

Today, ATI Austin is proud to build on this educational tradition by bringing to life a Montessori-inspired high school for engaged adolescents. Our vision is rooted in a deep belief that teenagers — in the context of a supportive, challenging and enriching community — are capable of extraordinary learning and extraordinary work. We aspire to be a community where students thrive intellectually, emotionally, and relationally and leave ATI prepared and capable of creating lives of purpose, value, and joy.

Our vision for adapting Montessori principles to the adolescent context isn’t fanciful. It requires coordinating and aligning principles and practice. It requires thoughtful and deliberate attention to balancing structure and flexibility. It requires maintaining expectations of excellence with adaptability for how to achieve it. It requires a commitment to learning ideas, skills and practices that are foundational to navigating our world while also providing students with the space and support to pursue excellence in their unique interests and passions.

Our vision is bold and aspirational; it is our life's work. We feel lucky to do this deeply meaningful work each day alongside our students. We hope you might be as inspired as we are to pursue this vision and to join us in re-imagining what a high school can be.

Our Team

  • EvaClaire Wright

    Head of School

    EvaClaire Wright spent the last six years developing the Academy of Thought and Industry program. She has served as a Head of Middle School, Admissions Director, as well as a Socratic and Humanities guide for both high school and middle school. She has worked with teens in a variety of settings including Breakthrough Austin, The Amala Foundation, and the KoSchool. She is a graduate of Headwaters and Smith College, where she studied Anthropology.

  • Ann Orsinger

    Lead Humanities Guide

    Ann Orsinger completed her undergraduate studies at St. John’s College in Santa Fe. After St. John’s, she attended the Logic and Philosophy of Science Department at the University of California, Irvine. She then received a second masters degree at the University of Texas, Austin, writing her dissertation on developing democratic civic virtues through aesthetic education and design.

  • Chris Ready

    Assistant Head of School

    Chris Ready has taught for sixteen rewarding years in a variety of learning environments. Before ATI, Mr. Ready was an early-childhood mentor and member of the leadership committee at Integrity Academy. Mr. Ready owns Makesalot, where he teaches maker classes. He taught at the Austin Tinkering School and helped coordinate the Austin Maker Faire.

  • Erica Speegle

    Humanities Guide

    Erica Speegle studied Film & Digital Media in college and then attended French pastry school, only to discover a love for education. Among other things, she has published a novel and has written content for several indie gaming companies. She brings liveliness and enthusiasm to her role at ATI and is pleased to be a member of this wonderful learning community.

  • Kristina Read Tambunga

    STEM & Project Guide

    While her high school years were spent in the Austin area, Ms. Tambuga graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, with a BA in organizational leadership. After navigating the business world for many years in a variety of industries, Ms. Tambunga found her true passion in teaching.

  • Matt Ballin

    Upper School Program Developer

    Matt Ballin has earned a Montessori Elementary certification from Association Montessori Internationale and has held a variety of roles, including history teacher, literature/language arts teacher, and head teacher in a Montessori elementary classroom. His mission is to create learning environments that enable children to live a fully human life.

Gifted, passionate, and committed, our staff at ATI Austin are remarkable individuals both inside and outside our classroom.

Learn more about the ATI community.

Our Values

Our ATI values align our staff, students and families to a set of ideas and practices that inform and enliven how we collaborate, communicate and support each other. We aspire to bring these values to life each day in our work together.

  • The Pursuit of Wisdom

    “Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.” –Socrates

    We approach learning as the ongoing pursuit of wisdom. We explore, interrogate and debate the big ideas that have shaped our world and connect those ideas to our own lives and context. We pursue wisdom not as an academic exercise, but to improve our judgment and actions in the world. 

  • The Development of Virtue

    “Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.” –Marcus Aurelius

    We know the word “virtue” may seem old fashioned. Yet the cultivation of our ethics, our integrity, and our habits shapes the quality of our lives. We are committed to exploring the connection between our deeply held values and our behaviors so that our inner character shows up in the world.

  • The Dignity of Work

    “The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.” –Steve Jobs

    Work is central to our lives. It lets us direct our energies purposefully, enabling us to structure our time and action to reshape our world. Through cultivating our capacity for work, we develop an appreciation of genuine effort and a careful attention to quality.

  • The Power of Individual Agency

    “The only true freedom for an individual is to have the opportunity to act independently... There is no such thing as an individual until a person can act by himself.” –Maria Montessori

    We believe in independence and free choice. We seek to develop the courage of our convictions and the capacity for each of us to act with purpose, to overcome barriers and to pursue our individual aspirations.

  • The Responsibility and Joyfulness of Community

    “The need for connection and community is primal, as fundamental as the need for air, water, and food.” –Dean Ornish

    We recognize the tremendous personal value of the communities to which we belong. And so we assume responsibility for the health and vitality of those communities, share in the joy of belonging and have pride for what we create together.

The ATI Network

ATI Austin is a part of a network of ATI schools, with campuses in Austin, San Francisco, New York and St. Louis. Collectively, we are creating the future of high school in collaboration with Higher Ground Education, the leading global organization committed to modernizing and mainstreaming the Montessori movement.

The ATI program was founded by Michael Strong, one of the most experienced designers of innovative school programs in the U.S. His past projects include Montessori secondary school program design at The Judson Montessori School (San Antonio), The Emerson School (Palo Alto), and Hacienda School (Pleasanton). Michael has authored two books including The Habit of Thought: From Socratic Seminars to Socratic Practice.

If you are interested in bringing ATI to your city, please contact Scott Taylor, Executive Director of ATI Schools.

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