In 1997, an entrepreneur met an educator. The rest is history.

Franco Verdino, a business major from Baruch College, was looking for his next venture, when he met his future wife, a teacher hailing from Russia. In the process of combining their specific talents and educational research, the FasTracKids program came to life. In terms of the technology, structure, and breadth of topics covered, no other NYC education program could compare. This particularly appealed to Verdino’s wife, who had come from a traditionally rigorous Soviet education system, in which students were taught a wide array of subjects at a rapid pace, the likes of which was rarely seen in the United States school curriculum.

Once the FTK program was developed and underway, Mr. and Mrs. Verdino were most amazed by the way students’ gifts and talents could be uncovered, explored and honed in on at such an early stage in their development. Franco had never known that these special skills could be worked on in children this young.

Pretty soon other parents caught on and expressed interest and curiosity in the program. As Franco says, “What parent wouldn’t want their child to perform at such a high level and get such an edge in the game?” It comes as no surprise that he was this passionate about schooling, as he came from a family of educators, and his mother was a particularly gung-ho advocate of this revolutionary style of early education.

After launching the first FTK center in Bayridge, Brooklyn 11 years ago, the Verdinos found tremendous success with this program. After the first session came to an end (two years later), 90% of that graduating class were later accepted into future Gifted and Talented programs.

Since no Gifted and Talented programs existed at the time, they broke ground with their innovative curriculum and style of teaching. Verdino also came to discover that it wasn’t just his wife who missed the Soviet-style of schooling. The majority of parents expressing interest in enrolling their children were also veterans of the Russian education system and found the American classroom to be lacking in terms of developing young minds at a fast enough rate.

With all the interest in the FasTracKids program, expansion was inevitable. Pretty soon a center was opened on Staten Island (2004), Sheepshead Bay (2008) and then Park Slope, Willamsburg, and other parts of Brooklyn, with Queens, Long Island, New Jersey and Manhattan to follow.

As time went by and the program continued to evolve, it became apparent that the two year program structure was a tough business structure, and students who graduated from FTK moved on to Kumon afterwards since they reached the end of their curriculum. For the sake of student retention, Verdino decided it was time to create the next step in the program so the children would not be forced to leave and continue elsewhere, once they completed the initial course. This was especially welcomed since so many members of the class grew attached to their fellow students and teachers and really built up a strong bond with one another.

Thus, the Eye Level program came into play and it was agreed that this would be the perfect transition for graduates of FTK. The Eye Level course teaches critical thinking skills on top of the academic subjects that it covers. By being a fun, friendly environment, it mimicked the FTK atmosphere which puts a premium on “cleverly disguising learning as fun”. This overlap in methodology and content made the addition of Eye Level a seamless and successful transition. The puzzle was finally completed.

But then, a new development landed on the radar when a group of parents approached Verdino in 2006. They had heard that the Gifted and Talented test prep industry was starting to crop up and they wanted him to launch his own test prep program as well. Obliging, the Gifted and Talented program opened under his care, and it was designed to help students develop a variety of learning skills and figure out how to navigate test formats and earn extra points. Even though the program has been proven to boost scores considerably, the heart of the Gifted and Talented curriculum lies in its ability to help children learn subjects with ease and efficiency, which has proven to make a huge difference in their everyday schooling experience. More than just a bump in points, students enrolled in this program come away with invaluable educational enrichment, which is at the heart of what the original FasTracKids program is all about.