The Building Character Story

I’ll be honest with you Building Character wasn’t born from a business plan. It was born from watching kids disappear.

Not literally, of course. But I’d sit in rooms full of children who couldn’t look each other in the eye, who’d go quiet the moment the phone was taken away, who didn’t know how to read a room or navigate a conflict or just be present with another person. I was a mom watching it happen to our neighborhood kids. I was a teacher watching it happen in every class I walked into. And I thought: someone has to do something about this. So I did.

That was 2008. Since then, Building Character has grown into something I’m genuinely proud of and not because of trophies or Instagram moments, but because of the real stuff.

• The kid who walked in staring at the floor and six weeks later was volunteering to participate or even better cracking up a room full of strangers.
• The teenage girl who found her voice in an improv exercise and used it to stand up confidently and deliver a speech in front of her English class.
• The little boy who was so locked up with anxiety that his mom cried when she saw him onstage — not because the performance was perfect, but because her son was free for the first time in years.

That’s what theater does when it’s taught right. And teaching it right is all we’ve ever cared about.

Why Process Beats Performance (Every Single Time)

Here’s something I’ve learned after 30+ years of teaching and nearly two decades of running this program: The spotlight is not the goal. The spotlight is the reward.

We do things differently here. Learing “How” to act and building a foundational toolkit is what makes a real performer. Our curriculum is deep. Our classes are built on the same foundational techniques that professional actors train on. Such as:

• Warm-ups that develop trust and teamwork
• Concentration exercises that sharpen focus
• Sensory work that makes a performer present
• Pantomime that builds body language and observation
• Improvisation that sharpens quick thinking and collaboration

We work scene study, character development, audition technique. We cover all of it.

And here’s the beautiful part: this isn’t JUST for kids who want to be actors. These are vital human skills. The student who learns to hold eye contact and control their nerves in front of an audience is better prepared for a job interview, a class presentation, a hard conversation with a friend. Theater is just the vehicle. Developing strong Life-skills is the destination.

Who We Are (and How We Work)

We’re hyper-local by design.

You won’t find us in one big building across town—you’ll find us “in your community”. We’ve built partnerships with elementary and middle schools, cultural arts centers, and dance studios across the North Fulton area, bringing our programs directly to where families already are. No long drives. No unfamiliar environments. Just great classes, close to home.

Fulton County Schools Approved Vendor

We are an approved vendor for Fulton County Schools and local schools across the area have trusted us to direct their annual school musicals. That trust means everything to us.

Our staff is made up of working professionals who genuinely love this work.

We’re not babysitters with a script. We’re trained teachers who are in it for the long game. Each of us continues to study our craft to share with our students. We all take trainging seriously.— for the student who sticks with us for years and comes out the other side a truly skilled, truly confident young person.

We’ve worked with hundreds of kids every session since 2008. We’ve seen the growth. We know what works. And we are relentlessly committed to curriculum and craft, because we believe every kid deserves to be taught—not just directed.

For the Aspiring Actor AND the Kid Who Just Needs to Breathe

One of the things I love most about Building Character is that we serve two very different families and we serve both of them really well.

We have students who are dead serious about pursuing a career in performance.

For them, we are a true training ground. The skills they build here include technique, instinct, presence, and the ability to take direction and make bold choices. These are the skills that will carry them into audition rooms and professional training programs and beyond.

And then we have students who don’t want to be actors at all.

They’re here because they’re reserved or shy. Or anxious. Or they just need a place where it’s okay to be a little silly and try something hard without being judged. For *these* kids, our classes might be the most important thing they do all week. We’ve seen it change the trajectory of a child’s social life, their confidence in school, the way they carry themselves in the world.

Both of those kids belong here. That’s the whole point.

Come See What We’re About

We know you have options. We know the North Fulton area is full of performing arts programs, and we think studying with different teachers and directors is a great experience and makes everyone better. What we’d ask is this: when you’re looking for the right fit for your child, ask what they’re actually *learning*. Ask what the curriculum looks like. Ask what they’ll walk away with.

We think those questions lead you right to us.