Connelly’s Academy

My son started taking lessons with Connelly’s Academy in 1^st grade. He is now a Junior in high school, working toward his 2^nd degree black belt and assistant-​teaching in classes whenever he has the chance. Though he has tried out a number of different sports/​activities over the years, this is the only thing that truly «clicked» with him.
When he first enrolled, he was having trouble focusing and following instruction in school (and was later diagnosed with ADD). We were impressed by the quiet, calm manner in which Master Connelly guides his students. While some Taekwon-​do schools teach Taekwon-​do as competitive contact-​sport, Connelly’s Academy approaches it as a disciplined art, with a philosophy that is incredibly … zen (for lack of a better word). (Note: A few years after my son started taking classes at Connelly’s, we thought about adding a class taught by another school, which was held a few blocks from our home. Their approach was much different than at Connelly’s — more like a boot camp, and geared toward bringing out aggressiveness in the students. My son was MISERABLE in this class, and we immediately agreed that Connelly’s was the right place for him.)
While acquiring the basic skills in Taekwon-​do, our son also learned how to listen carefully, be respectful of others, trust his abilities, and conquer challenges in a calm, thoughtful manner. We believe that studying with Connelly’s has had an enormously positive influence on his life. I think it has helped him to cope with challenges from ADD/​Executive Function issues that he was faced with, both at school and at home. We are grateful to have discovered Connelly’s Academy when we did.
I would highly recommend Connelly’s Academy to anyone… And to those who may have tried Taekwon-​do at another school but didn’t feel comfortable with the atmosphere, I would strongly encourage you give it another try by checking out a class at Connelly’s.

My daughter’s friend was doing taekwon-​do in preschool when they were 4. His passion for it peaked her interest and soon we were observing classes in the McGaw YMCA gym and then she began participating. My daughter is very little (skinny and short) for her age so I think she was a little intimidated at the time. She went through periods of waning and waxing interest. At this point, she has earned her yellow stripe and has her eye on a yellow belt.
I feel like this is one activity that I will try to make her keep up because she is very creative and taekwon-​do is teaching her self-​discipline. Master Connelly has an amazing way with the kids. He is laid-​back, but has high-​standards. He has a sense of humor, but requires the kids to be serious about their participation. He is soft-​spoken but can command a room full of 30 crazy kids somehow!
He offers a number of different locations and times for classes. He teaches at a lot of the schools in Dist. 65 before school. My daughter was going to the classes before school for a while, but we have a hard time getting our butts out of bed before 7 on Friday mornings and walking the grueling two blocks to school so she’s back to taking classes at the Y. I think she actually prefers that because the class is smaller and she can get more attention.