History of Valor
History of Valor
Valor Education was founded to promote a broad, deep, and authentic vision of education—one that recognizes and nourishes our human desire for wisdom, virtue, friendship, and community.
The source and inspiration of this vision began in New Jersey, where David Williams, President and CEO of Valor, had developed a well-respected integrated humanities program that brought the best of art, music, literature, and philosophy to his public high school students in the 1990s. After earning several graduate degrees, David founded Glendale Preparatory Academy, a public charter school in Glendale, Arizona, in 2008. As Headmaster at Glendale Prep, David developed a unified and effective team of charter school leaders and faculty members who shaped a vibrant school culture marked by authentic friendship and outstanding academics. His core team included Stephen Gordon, Jesse Bates, and Joel VanDerworp. Glendale Prep was widely recognized as a model school, with high levels of parent satisfaction, a substantial waitlist, and a strong track record of student achievement. The team went on to found two similarly successful classical charter schools in San Antonio, Texas.
Driven by a unique educational vision, in 2016 David and his team decided to begin a new venture: Valor Education. In 2018, Valor opened its first classical charter school, Valor South Austin, which now serves grades K-12. In 2020, Valor North Austin opened, followed by Valor Kyle in the fall of 2022. Valor Leander and Valor San Antonio opened in the fall of 2023. This coming school year, Valor South Austin will move to a new campus off the South Mopac Expressway and add an additional 500 students of capacity. Valor North Austin will open an expansion to its existing campus in the Wells Branch neighborhood of North Austin.
The Valor Institute launched in 2019 and currently offers dozens of academic retreats and seminars in Austin on texts ranging from Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics and Dante’s Divine Comedy to modern works, such as Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue.
Since its inception, Valor Education has combined a deep and powerful educational vision with practical know-how, an entrepreneurial spirit, and ingenuity. In continuity with this same spirit, Valor plans to expand to new cities and states so more students can have access to high quality education in our K-12 classical schools or through the Valor Institute.
If you are interested in starting a Valor school in your area, please contact us.