Jonathan’s Story

Meet Jonathan Meola, A.B.

• Co-Founder, Director, and Instructor at Open Tent Academy
• Dual Bachelor’s Degrees from the University of Miami
• Certified TESOL (Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages)
• Private Tutor in Writing, Social Studies, and other subjects
• Former Technology Architect and Senior Consultant
• Multiple Software, IT, and Related Industry Certifications

Jonathan Meola is a co-founder of Open Tent Academy, as well as being its director and one of its instructors. Jonathan grew up in Hopatcong, NJ & North Miami Beach, FL. He graduated from the University of Miami with a dual A.B. in English and Judaic Studies, along with a minor in Politics and Public Affairs.

Jonathan’s interest in education dates back to his involvement (as both a peer group leader and professional staff) with Young Judaea in the SE USA, FL, & PR. He also worked as a full-time staff member for several summers at their flagship camp in Hendersonville, North Carolina – Camp Judaea.

Jonathan also taught software applications classes for urban at-risk youth while working post-graduation at “The U”. From there, he then went into what eventually became a long career in the telecommunications and software industry as a technology architect and business process consultant.

Jonathan’s first experience with homeschooling involved his own children, and was inspired by reading John Taylor Gatto’s Dumbing Us Down. The experience of home-based education stayed with them, even after they eventually returned to full-time classroom education.

In 2017, Jonathan felt it was time to change careers. He decided to fulfill his life-long dream of teaching middle and high school students. Although Jonathan was involved in the fields of non-traditional and continuing education since the beginning of his career, he has now taken his in-depth knowledge about history, philosophy, science, film, and writing and is bringing it to his students at Open Tent Academy, focusing on children in grades 5 – 12.

After spending five years living in Israel, Jonathan and Eva are once again back in South Florida. Between Jonathan & Eva, they have three children, all of whom were homeschooled at various points in their educational journeys. In his spare time, he loves traveling, reading (especially histories and biographies), photography, college football (Go Canes!), and film.

Featured Blog Posts:

• AP or Dual Enrollment?
  by Jonathan Meola
  Should my homeschooler take an AP course, or opt for dual enrollment? What is the […]
• Learning From Our Past – Reasons For Studying Ancient History
  by Jonathan Meola
  Reading the buzz surrounding this latest discovery from Pompeii prompted me to ask the following […]
• Homeschooling with Multiple Intelligences in Mind
  by Jonathan Meola
  Professor Howard Gardner, of Harvard University. penned the theory back in the early-mid 1980’s that […]

Jonathan’s Upcoming Courses and Workshops: