Tiger Woods, Arthur Blank teaming up to transform former APS school
Home Depot co-founder and notable Atlanta sports executive Arthur M. Blank and legendary golfer Tiger Woods are partnering on an initiative to turn a shuttered Atlanta elementary school into a new youth learning lab with free programming in science, technology, engineering, arts and math.
The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation is giving $20 million to the TGR Foundation to create a learning lab at the site of the former Capitol View Elementary School on Metropolitan Parkway, Blank announced Wednesday night at an event hosted by the Woods’ foundation.
Capitol View Elementary opened in the late 1920s and was shuttered in 2013. It sits about three miles south of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The neighborhood surrounding the school has some of the lowest economic mobility outcomes in the city. A child raised in Capitol View will have a household income of only $21,000 by the time they are 35, according to research from Opportunity Insights, a group of economists based at Harvard University.
The lab will primarily serve students enrolled in Atlanta Public Schools.
“I have immense respect and admiration for Tiger, not only for his legendary career, but for the way he continues to lead with purpose off the course,” Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United, said in a statement.
“It’s truly an honor to partner with someone who believes so deeply in the power of education and community. Seeing the impact of TGR Foundation, from the Learning Labs to the hundreds of thousands of students empowered through its programs, is incredibly inspiring and I look forward to seeing the impact the TGR Learning Lab Atlanta makes on our community.”
The lab in Atlanta will be the TGR Foundation’s fifth. It has labs in Anaheim, California, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and last spring the foundation announced it would build a lab in Augusta, which is slated to open in April 2028.
The Atlanta lab is expected to open in late 2027.
About the Author
Mirtha Donastorg is a reporter on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s business team focusing on Black wealth, entrepreneurship, and minority-owned businesses as well as innovation at Atlanta’s HBCUs.
