FAQ

The Parisi Academy is a pre-high school enhancement year where we focus on developing the whole-student, from curriculum and distinctive educational experiences that help expand the mind, to customized, cutting-edge training to further develop the body, to programs and projects that help student-athletes identify how they fit in the world around them in order to grow as individuals and citizens of their community.

Since 2018, The Parisi Academy has been the premier private educational and training enhancement program in Bergen County. Our program provides student-athletes the opportunity for academic growth as well as personal and physical development in preparation for a successful high school career in the classroom and on the field of play.

It has always been Parisi’s vision and mission to empower young athletes to reach their goals, as well as play our part in increasing their confidence and self-esteem. It started three decades ago with Bill Parisi founding the Parisi Speed School. Bill knew there was a better way for youth to train, which was safer and more effective than was currently available. So, he set out to create a system and a business that would benefit young athletes of all ages and skill levels. Thirty years later, Parisi has trained over a million athletes and Parisi has become an industry leader in youth sports performance.

It’s with that same enthusiasm and passion that we are excited to carry the Parisi vision and mission into the classroom, and coincidentally, it started much the same way as Parisi Speed School. Bill saw a huge void when his oldest son Will was transitioning from middle school to high school. In some ways, his son was ready for the next step but in some ways, he could benefit from a pre-high school enhancement year. The same held true for some of Will’s friends. Physically, mentally and emotionally these young men were all at different stages developmentally.

It was at this moment that Bill had a paradigm shift and saw that there was a need for a program, solely focused on preparing young athletes for high school, focused not only academic and athletic development, but emotional development. His vision was to provide a catalyst for the development of the mind and body, which prepares student-athletes to excel in the mental and physical challenges of high school, as well as throughout their lives.

Over the course of the next two years, Bill spoke with professors, PhD’s, teachers, coaches and principals in order to turn his vision into something tangible. He looked inward to his current organization to see how an infrastructure and systems could be implemented, in order to achieve short-term growth as well as long-term success. By the time his son Dan was ready to enter the 8th grade, the Parisi Academy was a reality.

The Parisi Academy provides a structured year prior to entering high school, focused on preparing a student-athlete for the challenges, both academically and athletically, he/she will face. Some student-athletes benefit from a ““gap-year” between middle and high school and therefore choose to repeat their 8th grade year with the Parisi Academy. Other student-athletes simply use their actual 8th grade year with the Parisi Academy as their preparation for high school.

In either case, to achieve the goal, Interested families register their student-athlete as a homeschool student with their school district and utilize the Parisi Academy as their home school learning option. The Parisi Academy provides the necessary paperwork and transcripts required for both public and private schools during the application process and at the end of the school year.

Reclassification, or reclassing, means a student-athlete changes the year of their high school graduation by repeating 8th grade. The Parisi Academy student-athletes have the option of reclassing or taking a traditional 8th grade year utilizing our curriculum offering. There are several reasons why a student-athlete may want to reclass:

Maturity – Student-athletes may have a late birth date for their grade or would benefit from an additional year of maturity for mental and physical development prior to high school.

Academics – Student-athletes may need an extra year to build upon skills and develop a deeper understanding of subject matter in a smaller class setting with more individualized instruction.

Athletics – Student-athletes would benefit from an additional year of physical growth, training, developing sports-specific skills, improving athleticism, and physical maturity to play at his or her highest possible level upon entering high school.

Due to small class sizes and student-teacher ratios, instruction is differentiated in each subject based on a student’s individual learning style, skills, and experience. In this way, no student is left behind in their classes and teachers and faculty have a full transparent view into a student’s academic and training progress, self-confidence, and areas for improvement. This academic differentiation is based on the level of a student-athlete upon entering the Parisi Academy and is not dependent on the last grade level completed but on the skills, competencies, and capabilities that a student currently possesses.

All types of students attend the Parisi Academy, from various backgrounds and areas. In addition to a focus on academics, there is a common bond that connects all the Parisi Academy students; high level goals and commitment in athletics and training. While the sport may differ between individuals, all the Parisi Academy student-athletes share a passion for their craft and aspire to play in highly competitive high school and college athletics.

Unlike our competitors, the Parisi Academy has a proven track record with an established methodology, practices, and protocols to put student-athletes in the best position to succeed in the classroom, on the field of competition, and in their communities. Student-athletes benefit from small class sizes with 10:1 student-teacher ratios in core subjects and a committed staff with degrees ranging from PhD’s, to Masters of Education, to nationally recognized training certifications such as NSCS.

Another aspect of the Parisi Academy that is unique is our leadership, organizational structure and foundation. Based on the success of Parisi Training Systems and 100+ locations of Parisi Speed Schools across the country and worldwide, we know how to provide leadership and bring success to an organization. We are not a “start-up” or an organization having no solid structure or roots. This is important because it ensures day-to-day operations do not get in the way of student-athlete learning and that communications between the parent, the student-athlete and the Parisi Academy is solid and proactive to address student-athlete’s needs and concerns.

The Parisi Academy academic curriculum has been developed from an Advisory Board of PhD’s and experienced educators to meet and exceed NJ’s academic standards. Our rigorous program includes not just vital core subjects such as Math, Language Arts, History, Introduction to Foreign Language, Health, and Science, but expands well beyond traditional education to teach key skills such as critical thinking, digital fluency, public speaking, and study strategies. Each subject in our curriculum has been planned down to the smallest detail and available for review at any time.

In terms of training, the Parisi Speed School is the best in the business! We have trained 650,000+ athletes and over 130 NFL Draft Picks using the Parisi Training System to build their athletic skills. Our student-athletes will receive customized training from elite trainers who identify areas of concern, program based on individual goals and sports played, and motivate your child to give their best effort in all that they do. The Parisi Academy is the original enhancement program with a sports-training emphasis in addition to rigorous academics, and our established model has been a proven success with nearly 50 alumni admitted to competitive local high schools.

Parents are kept in regular communication about all aspects of their child’s progress. Bi-weekly communications are sent out about upcoming experiences, important dates of note, and summaries of what subject matter is being covered in class and in the training room. Parents will also have additional oversight into their student-athletes Google classroom to keep track of progress and assignments. Through the Parisi Academy student-athlete mentoring program, students will have the opportunity to meet with mentor teachers who check in to monitor the student’s progress in all areas and provide support as needed. With small class sizes and student to teacher ratios, your student-athlete will receive the necessary individualized attention and focus needed to ensure consistent progress towards all of their respective goals. In addition, parent-teacher conferences attended by all the Parisi Academy staff are held twice during the academic year so that parents and teachers are kept informed of an individual student-athlete’s progress.

The Parisi Academy curriculum has been developed by an Advisory Board of PhD’s and experienced educators to meet NJ’s academic standards. Our program not only includes the important core subjects, but expands well beyond traditional education to learning experiences student-athletes will carry with them throughout their lives. Explore the full curriculum overview here.

In order to support the academic and athletic curriculum, we have established an infrastructure and practices to maximize students’ ability to excel. By maintaining small classes and individualizing coursework where needed, as well as supporting it through technology like Google Classroom, the learning experience becomes much more streamlined for each student.

Our classrooms are traditional and students are expected to attend school physically, due to the amount of interaction, projects and individual attention provided daily. Using Google Classroom, we do have the ability for students to attend classes remotely when the occasional situation calls for remote learning.

Our small class sizes also assist performance coaches during the workouts. With a smaller number of student-athletes, coaches provide individualized coaching and instruction where needed, as well as individualized sport-specific coaching. During training sessions, our student-athletes workout in our Parisi Speed Schools which have the best and most updated equipment and facilities available.

There are multiple goals within the training of the student-athletes in the Parisi Academy. First and foremost, we are aiming to create more injury resilient athletes. We achieve this with our initial assessment using the cutting edge Sparta Force Plate and the eyes of our experienced and certified Performance Coaches. Along with creating more injury resilient athletes, our training program has been proven for many years to increase speed, strength, and overall movement mechanics. Learn more.