By Emily Halevy
Brian and Lisa Deutsch have been a part of the TMS family since the very beginning. In fact, their oldest son, Ross, was in the first TMS class and has now gone onto Druid Hills High School. They have two others sons Henry (6th grade) and John David (2 grade) who still attend the school. I sat down with them recently to get their perspective on the school and how much work it took to get us to today.
So for starters, how has the TMS education translated for your son, Ross?
TMS taught him the critical thinking skills to adapt to the different curriculums. While the amount of work has naturally increased, he has not had any problem picking up on advanced concepts and thought processes.
Share with us what the energy was like in the early days- building a new school from scratch.
It was a tremendous amount of work, but all done by a great team of dedicated parents with a real sense of purpose – to give the children in our community a high quality public school option.
What were some of the challenges you faced in the early days as a parent and as a fundraiser?
With as many applicants as TMS has today, it sounds crazy, but we had to spend a lot of time convincing parents to apply for the lottery. Raising the funds necessary to make sure we could actually open the doors of the school was a daunting task, but the community and parents really came together to make it happen.
How do you feel now, looking back at all the accomplishments the school and foundation has made?
I am incredibly proud of being part of the team that opened this school and overcame numerous hurdles, including having our state authorizer set aside by the Supreme Court, to keep it open.
What would you like new parents to know about the school that they may not know?
That even though we have been able to grow and to renovate the facility, the school cannot continue its growth and success without significant financial contributions from all of our parents and families. The funding received from the state does not cover the continued need for facility improvements and expansion. As we continue to grow we will need additional academic, athletic and extracurricular facilities, all of which will need to be paid for by private fundraising.
