I grew up in Williamson County, attending both public and private schools before heading to the Naval Academy. What followed was a decade in and out of uniform, culminating in the last three years teaching mathematics to midshipmen at my alma mater in Annapolis.

Teaching at the Naval Academy was the job I thought I'd always wanted. The students were exceptional — driven, disciplined, accomplished by every measure. But something kept bothering me. Every year I watched talented young people arrive and quietly lose their footing the moment the structure disappeared. Not because they weren't capable. Because the success they'd achieved had never belonged to them.

These students had spent their whole lives meeting other people's standards — parents, coaches, teachers, admissions committees. They had never needed to set their own, someone had always done it for them. So when those external standards disappeared, performance went with them. There was nothing underneath.

I had kids of my own by then, and I'd started thinking about education through the lens of what actually builds a person rather than what produces a transcript. When I came across Acton Academy, it was the first model I'd seen that took that question seriously. 

My wife AnnaMary and I were already planning to return to Franklin and I had decided not to renew my military orders regardless. The question was what to do next. Instead of returning to what was familiar, I decided to build something.

Waypoint Academy opens in Franklin in August 2026. Our own children will be learners here. That's not a marketing detail.  It's the only reason any of this makes sense.

Sincerely,

Brad Cerasuolo

Waypoint Academy Founder