By Sarah Firth, USAG Creator Program

Elite gymnastics requires an extraordinary time commitment, and school-aged athletes often choose different educational paths to balance academics with training. From traditional schools to online programs, homeschooling, and gym-based academies, there are many ways gymnasts pursue both their education and their sport.

Women’s artistic junior elite Amia Pugh-Banks is enrolled in Acellus Academy, an asynchronous online private school used by many gymnasts with instructional videos and writing support features. At World Class Gymnastics, the Virgina club where she trains, elites work out from 8 a.m. to noon, break for lunch and independent schoolwork, then return for practice from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. School-aged athletes complete their own coursework in a dedicated study room upstairs at the gym under parent supervision.

“[Online School] is really what works best for me,” Pugh-Banks said.

Online public school is a frequented option for gymnasts. Rhythmic World Championships medalist and eight-time U.S. senior champion Rin Keys graduated this spring from the California Online Public School with other members of the USA Gymnastics Rhythmic National Team, and sisters Addalye and Audrey VanGrinsven attend Bellevue Digital Discovery, Washington State’s online public school. They train around five hours per day, and most other elite gymnasts at the gym also are enrolled in school online. Pacific Reign athletes manage their coursework independently with virtual support from Bellevue teachers twice a week. Looking ahead to college, Addalye hopes to pursue a career in sports psychology or nursing.

Although online school offers flexibility and more time for training, it lacks the socialization opportunities of brick-and-mortar schools.

“[The gym] is our big social circle,” Addalye VanGrinsven said. “It’s kind of hard to make outside friends when you don’t go to public school, but I have all the friends I need right now.”

Pugh-Banks’ teammate, Eva Doherty opts for a more traditional homeschool approach, which was always the plan regardless of her gymnastics career. Doherty is taught by her mother using books supplied through the literature-based Sonlight Curriculum.

Many gymnasts at WOGA Gymnastics in Plano, Texas and other area gyms have historically attended Spring Creek Academy, a K–12 private school designed to accommodate elite athletes. In addition to WOGA, Spring Creek is affiliated with Metroplex Gymnastics, Texas Dreams Gymnastics, Zenith Elite Gymnastics Academy, Kurt Thomas Gymnastics, and Eagle Gymnastics. Notable alumni include Katelyn Ohashi, Madison Kocian, Nastia Liukin, and Carly Patterson.

Some gyms have opted to start their own in-gym academies to work directly around the training schedule. World Champions Centre in Spring, Texas, created The Academy at WCC, a half-day K-12 academic program. Likewise, EVO Gymnastics in Sarasota, Florida, which focuses on coaching elite men’s artistic gymnasts, offers EVO Academy, a grades 3-12 program built around the Acellus curriculum. Students receive instruction from a teacher twice a week, along with daily in-gym tutoring.

Every gym has its own philosophy on managing academics alongside training. At the same time, other athletes have shown that remaining in a traditional public school is fully compatible with elite success.

Two-time Olympic champion Jade Carey attended traditional public school throughout her scholastic career, attending Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Arizona, as a teen. Carey spent her school years at Oasis Gymnastics in Peoria, Arizona, a smaller gym without a large elite program.

“My parents wanted me to experience a normal childhood, and as long as [public school] was working, there was no need to change anything,” Carey said

Two-a-day practices were never part of Carey’s training, in part because they were incompatible with the public school schedule. This somewhat scaled-back training approach proved successful, as evidenced by her Olympic and World Championship success.

“I always love to encourage people [to stay in public school], because I feel like it’s nice to just be in a school environment and make friends,” Carey said.

Every gymnast’s journey is different, and there is a range of educational options to accommodate that reality. Like their gymnastics training, athletes’ educational plans are individually designed to maximize their performance and set them up for success. And for many USA Gymnastics member athletes, they’ve proved that prioritizing the sport doesn’t always have to be at the expense of their academics.

Photos by USA Gymnastics/Andres Esquivel-Garza