Ron Clark

Ronald L. Clark, Jr. (born October 24, 1972) is an American educator, author, and motivational speaker. He has taught in North Carolina and New York City, and later founded the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark has written books on education and teacher training.

Background Clark attended school in his earlier years within the Beaufort County school systems in the town of Chocowinity, North Carolina. Clark was an outgoing student who later graduated from Chocowinity High School with the Class of 1990. After graduation, Clark's goals were to become an educator at East Carolina University through the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program. Following his graduation, he traveled for a time and then began working in Aurora, North Carolina. Four years later he began teaching elementary school in Harlem, New York. In the fall of 2007 Clark and co-founder Kim Bearden founded the Ron Clark Academy, a private non-profit school in Atlanta, Georgia, which follows a unique curriculum.