I’m in my thirteenth year working in classical liberal arts charter school education.
Hey, I’m Nathan McClallen. That’s me in the banner picture, hugging the wall. I’m here to tell you a few things about myself, in case you’re curious. If not, now is a great time to stop reading.
I’m a coach, teacher, and athletic director. Though my single greatest passion is athletics, I view the world through an economic lens. Game theory (strategy) and behavioral economics (action) is where these two paths cross, so I like to think my true specialization is decision-making. More than anything else, I want to make good decisions, thus living a good life.
Just counting school sports, I’ve tallied 32 seasons of coaching experience, including track & field, tackle football, soccer, sand volleyball, indoor volleyball, cross country and basketball across middle school and high school. In coach years, I’m a grizzled veteran. I consider my experience coaching Varsity Girls Basketball at Founders Leander—starting a team, developing a program, and summiting the highest mountain together—to be the most fulfilling of my professional career.
In P.E., I have taught every grade from 6th through 12th, and I designed a high school elective we call “Advanced Personal Fitness”. When it comes to Economics, I have taught 25 one semester sections. I approach the course as a survey of the subject, with a focus on human action. In year eight, Founders Leander athletic department includes seven sports and 25 teams, and over half our students in grades 6 through 12 participate.
The lines between my life and work are blurred, but I do make time for reading, writing, and staying active—pick-up basketball is my first round draft pick. In the summers I travel. I’ve visited all 50 U.S. states, three of the five inhabited unincorporated U.S. territories, and 34 countries across 5 continents. My favorite cities so far are Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, and Vienna [honorable mention to Mexico City], and as far as nature goes, nothing beats the Grand Canyon.
I‘m open to freelance writing opportunities; get at me.
The descriptions and links below are the two organizations I currently represent.
A classical charter school established in 2014 by Responsive Education Solutions and Hillsdale College’s Barney Charter School Initiative, Founders Classical Academy of Leander serves students in grades K through 12. The school is tuition-free with an open admission policy and is accredited through the Texas Education Agency.
The mission of the Barney Charter School Initiative is to promote the founding of classical charter schools and excellence in their teaching and operations, to the end that public-school students may be educated in the liberal arts and sciences and receive instruction in the principles of moral character and civic virtue.