The four models at a glance
| Model | Schooling | Cost band | Family logistics | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day academy + online school | Accredited online school (e.g., Laurel Springs, ICL Academy) | Academy tuition (often by enquiry) + online school tuition | Relocate, commute, or vetted host family | College- or pro-track players who need full training hours |
| Academy + partner private school | Conventional classroom on an adjusted schedule | Academy tuition + private school tuition | Daily transport between two campuses | Serious players who do better with in-person teaching |
| Boarding school with on-campus school | School, dorms, and courts on one campus | One institution accountable for everything | Child lives at school; family visits | Families far from Florida who want one-campus immersion |
| Regular school + after-school training | The child's current school, unchanged | Lowest — training fees only | None — normal school day, afternoon training | Most competitive juniors, especially before high school |
Models per each academy's published materials for 2025–26. Costs differ significantly by model — confirm current tuition directly with each academy.
Day academy + online school
The default model for full-time training without boarding. The player enrolls in an accredited online school and trains during conventional school hours — at Saviano's full-time program, that means Monday through Friday across a nine-month year, either 10:00–5:00 with a midday school block or afternoons 2:00–6:45, with academics through education partners Laurel Springs and ICL Academy. It buys the most training time of any non-boarding model and keeps the player living with family or a vetted host family rather than in a dorm. Its honest cost is academic: online school demands self-discipline and engaged parents. The full breakdown is in our guide to the academy + online school model.
Academy + partner private school
For students who need a physical classroom. The academy and a private school coordinate schedules so the player can train seriously while attending real classes. Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, per its published materials, runs academics through a partnership with Grandview Preparatory School; at Saviano, students attending American Heritage Academy are accommodated with transportation between school and training. The trade-offs are two tuitions, two campuses, and less flexibility when tournaments intervene. What you keep: a conventional classroom, classmates outside tennis, and teachers in the room.
Boarding school with school on campus
IMG Academy in Bradenton is the definitive version: a multi-sport boarding campus with school, housing, training, and sports science in one institution. What you are buying is total immersion and a single institution accountable for everything. What you give up is daily family life and, at that scale, the coaching intimacy smaller programs are built around. It is right for some families — particularly international ones who won't relocate — and wrong to assume it is required. Many strong Florida programs, ours included, are deliberately not boarding schools.
Regular school + after-school training: the right answer for many
This page would be dishonest without saying it plainly: most competitive juniors do not need a full-time model. A player who trains hard several afternoons a week, competes regularly, and keeps a normal school life develops fast — and keeps every option open. Saviano's after-school program is built for exactly this: competitive tournament players ages 9–18, Monday through Friday afternoons, 2.25 hours on court, from one to five days a week. The time to consider a full-time model is when the evidence forces it — a training volume and tournament calendar that a conventional school schedule can no longer hold.
How to decide
- Start from the student, not the player. Self-directed learners handle online school well; classroom learners need a partner school — or should simply stay in their current school longer.
- Let results trigger the move to full time, not ambition. If after-school hours still produce improvement and wins, they are sufficient.
- Price the whole model. Academy plus school plus housing or transport — then ask what the same money buys elsewhere.
- Ask what each model produces. For most serious juniors the endpoint is a college roster; see how academies help with college placement for what evidence to demand.
- Read the deep dives. Our guide to high school and tennis training in Florida walks through the three full-time models in detail.