The Admiral's Academy

David Robinson's gift to education

by Ken Rodriguez

The Carver Academy shines like a jewel on the city’s neglected East Side. Modern buildings rise on a lush, green campus. Teachers offer instruction in science, computer and piano labs. Students study three foreign languages and score in the top tenth percentile on the Stanford Achievement Test.

Since it opened nine years ago, the Carver has turned hundreds of children from mostly low-income, minority families into stellar students. They speak Spanish, German and Japanese. They design robots in an engineering program. They deliver TV news each morning from the school’s broadcasting studio.

These aren’t 18-year-old, college-prep seniors. These are kids in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. When I dropped in unannounced in 2005, a classroom of four- and five-year-olds counted to 10 for me in Japanese. They rattled off the days of the week in Spanish. They told me how to say “red,” “blue,” “pink” and “green” in German.

When I visited in June, each student carried a hand-held computer and had the opportunity to integrate technology and music in a recording studio. “You are looking,” school founder David Robinson said, “at the future CEOs of America.”

That’s the vision and it has a new vehicle. After breaking gender, ethnic, race and socio-economic barriers, the Carver has knocked down another wall. In August, the school is posting its curriculum online for K-12 students. The David Robinson Virtual Academy will be open to students across the U.S.

“In five years,” Robinson says, “I’d like to see us go from 120 students to 120,000. I’d like to see them come from all 50 states and from 35 to 40 countries.”

The first target is U.S. students—those seeking an accredited private school education with flexible hours. Tuition—$6,540 for K-8, $7,440 for 9-12—will preclude many from enrolling. But the innovative curriculum will attract others. “Easily the most efficient way to educate the masses is through online education,” Robinson says. “The vision is limitless.”

The vision comes from a retired 7-foot Admiral whose reach spans the globe. A quarter century ago, San Antonio was known overseas for the Alamo. Now it’s better known for the four-time NBA champion Spurs. In 1989, Robinson became the team’s All-Star center, saved the franchise from relocation, emerged as a philanthropic pillar and gave the city a new international identity.

“What David has done,” says former Mayor Phil Hardberger, “is elevate San Antonio almost single-handedly.”

While covering the Spurs as a sports columnist during the 2003 playoffs, I met a fan on a flight to Los Angeles for a Lakers game. The young man, 26-year-old Jurgen Aspers, had quit a bank job in the Netherlands to follow Robinson’s final run into retirement. Aspers loved Robinson’s athleticism and character. What Aspers admired most was Robinson’s $9 million gift to build the Carver. “I don’t respect anyone more than I respect David,” he said.

Seven years later, Aspers runs a Spurs fan Web site in Holland and solicits online collections for the Carver. “I am thrilled about the news of the David Robinson Virtual Academy,” he writes in an e-mail. “It shows the continuing innovation Mr. Robinson brings to San Antonio for their future leaders.”

Consider one ripple of the Robinson legacy: During the past season, the Spurs.com Web site drew 1.7 million visitors from more than 190 countries. Most visitors came from Argentina, the Philippines, Canada and France. But more than 600,000 also came from Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany Turkey, Poland, Brazil, Israel, Hungary, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, the Netherlands, Australia, Spain, Italy, Greece, Puerto Rico and the Russian Federation. One day Robinson can market his academy to a far-flung base.

The dream to educate began long ago at home. In 1991, Robinson visited more than 90 fifth graders on the East Side and promised $2,000 college scholarships to each student who graduated from high school. Seven years later, Robinson exceeded the pledge and gave $8,000 scholarships.

Each of four scholarship recipients I tracked down in 2002 said Robinson’s promise carried them through trials at home and school. One recalled that Robinson didn’t walk away after making the promise. He invited the students to Christmas parties at the home of his parents, took them on trips to museums and universities and booked them on a flight to Houston for a Spurs-Rockets playoff game.

“There were so many events,” one scholarship recipient told me, “I can’t remember them all.”

Robinson has spread so much goodwill it can’t be measured. It can’t even be stopped. Billionaire and former Spurs owner B.J. “Red” McCombs once urged Robinson not to build the Carver. It’s too expensive, McCombs reasoned. It’s too much work. But after Robinson insisted on forging ahead, McCombs wrote him a six-figure check. “And he didn’t ask for it,” McCombs says.

That’s one picture of Robinson’s power. Without asking for a dime, he secured a $250,000 donation. Here’s another picture: The Carver has improved the quality of life in a four-block quadrant once steeped in lawlessness. Since the school opened, a veteran East Side police officer says he’s noticed a decrease in property crimes. At the same time, police have increased their presence in a larger swath of the area and made it safer.

In addition, pot holes near the Carver have been repaired, streets have been paved, and more than 123,000 square feet of graffiti have been painted over.

“The Carver is such a respected and revered place,” says East Side substation police Capt. Mark Witherell. “It positively affects what’s across the street and down the block. The Carver is one of those Edens.”

The school originated as a gift to the city. A cutting edge facility on 5.2 acres of real estate. But now it cannot be contained. And that’s another picture of Robinson’s power. Without adding a brick, he’s positioning his academy to reach children around the world.