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Andre Agassi

A retired American professional tennis player and former World No. 1.

Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Agassi has been called one of the best service returners in the history of the game.

Agassi is one of only three players in history to have achieved a singles Career Golden Slam, and, along with Rod Laver, Don Budge, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, one of seven men to have achieved a Career Grand Slam—one of four (with Laver, Federer and Nadal) since the beginning of the Open Era. He won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments in fifteen Major finals and he was the first male player to win all four Majors on three different surfaces (Hard, Clay and Grass). He also won seventeen ATP Masters Series tournaments, a record from 2004–2010. He won the 1990 ATP Tour World Championships and was part of a winning Davis Cup team in 1990 and 1992. Agassi is the last American to win the French Open (1999) and the Australian Open (2003).

After suffering from sciatica caused by two bulging discs in his back, a spondylolisthesis (vertebral displacement) and a bone spur that interfered with the nerve, Agassi retired from professional tennis on September 3, 2006, after losing in the third round of the US Open. He is the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which has raised over $60 million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada. In 2001, the Foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a K-12 public charter school for at-risk children. Described by the BBC upon his retirement as "perhaps the biggest worldwide star in the sport's history", Agassi's performances, along with his unorthodox apparel and attitude, have seen him cited as one of the most charismatic players in the history of the game, and credited for helping revive the popularity of tennis during the 1990s. He is married to retired professional tennis player Steffi Graf.

(Profile information sourced from Wikipedia and other publicly available internet sources.)

Andre Agassi on the web

Wikipedia: Andre Agassi

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Andre Agassi Foundation for Education

3883 Howard Hughes Pkwy, 8th Floor, Las Vegas, NV 89169

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Andre Agassi Foundation for Education

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Foundation Mission

The Andre Agassi Foundation for Education is an educational organization dedicated to transforming U.S. public education for underserved youth. The Foundation drives reform by engaging in practice, policy and partnerships that provide quality education and enrichment opportunities.

Creating Opportunities through Education: Agassi Prep

We put these beliefs into practice at Agassi Prep by closing the gap between the low level of funding the state ofNevada provides and the appropriate level of funding that is required to deliver a quality education. By applying passion and discipline to our work we create an environment in which children can excel.

In 2001, with the help of generous donors, and in partnership with Clark County School District, we opened our award-winning campus, which today houses three schools –elementary, middle and high school – in the heart of one of our city’s most historically underserved andeconomically challenged neighborhoods.

We inspire learning through academic rigor, shared responsibility and a culture of respect in which every student, parent, teacher and administrator plays a valuable role. Our approach to education is surprisingly straightforward – and it is proven:

We provide small classrooms focused on curricula that are aligned with state standards and coordinated across grade levels to ensure continuity;
We emphasize more time on task, with two extra hours of class work each day and two extra weeks in school each year;
We offer a full-day kindergarten program to enhance early learning; and
We emphasize ongoing staff development to ensure that our educators grow alongside our students.

Bringing About Positive Changes in the Public Education System

As we directly impact students and our community through our charitable foundation, our work has broader implications for educational policies and practices nationwide. After all, if we can achieve a 100% graduation and college acceptance rate among our senior class imagine what we can accomplish in Clark County, Nevada - one of the largest, yet overall lowest performing school districts in the country - we must be on to something.

Through advocacy – whether it’s bringing together educational leaders to advance the national conversation about what works, or by supporting legislation – we seek to make the following priorities a reality in public schools nationwide:

Increased investment to give all public schools the resources they need to succeed;
Enhanced accountability through uniform standards to measure student, teacher, principals and school success;
Greater flexibility in rewarding great teachers, regardless of tenure or union status; and
Longer days and an extended school year to ensure students not only attend, but also excel in, college.

Click here to learn how you can help us advance these educational policies, which hold promise for every U.S. public school student.