Your Tween Needs More Than Another Activity. They Need a Community.
Ages 11–15. The years that shape everything. We take that seriously.
You’ve watched your child change. The easy confidence of childhood is giving way to something more complicated — peer pressure, identity questions, the constant push and pull of fitting in versus standing out.
What they need right now isn’t just something to do after school. They need a place where they’re respected, challenged, and surrounded by people who bring out their best.
That’s exactly what the Tween program at Scornavacco Martial Arts Academy is built to be.
The peer group problem — and our answer to it.
Here’s something most parents don’t say out loud: tweens who don’t have a strong positive community are more vulnerable to the ones that fill the void.
Gangs and destructive peer groups don’t recruit with threats — they recruit with belonging. Acceptance. A sense of identity. They offer exactly what every tween is looking for, packaged in the worst possible way.
SMAA offers your tween something that competes directly with that pull: a real community, real respect, and real belonging — earned through their own effort and achievement. Not handed to them. Not contingent on going along with the crowd. Theirs.
What makes this program different.
They train alongside adults.
Tweens at SMAA aren’t segregated into a junior class and treated like kids. They train alongside our adult students — which means they’re held to adult standards, shown adult respect, and surrounded by positive role models every single class. That alone changes how they carry themselves.
They learn to think for themselves.
The independent nature of martial arts training teaches your tween to make their own decisions, assert their own values, and stand up for what they believe — even when the people around them don’t. That’s not a small thing at this age. That’s everything.
They’re challenged in ways that matter.
Point sparring, team-building drills, bully-be-gone lessons, self-defense training — this program is exciting and demanding in equal measure. Your tween will be pushed. They’ll rise to it.
They earn their place.
Advancement here is based on positive achievement. Every stripe, every belt, every promotion is something your tween earned through their own effort. That kind of self-earned confidence doesn’t evaporate when they walk out the door.
A third place — and a safe one.
Home. School. And here.
SMAA functions as a sanctuary for tweens — a place outside the pressures of school social dynamics and home responsibilities where they can train, grow, and just breathe. If your tween is struggling to find where they belong, this is worth trying.
What parents are saying:
“Our family relocated from Austin, Texas almost two years ago. Shortly after we moved here, we discovered the Scornavacco School of Martial Arts for our son Drake. It is one of the places that made Colorado start to feel like home. From the sense of community it provides to the skills we see our son developing, the school continues to be a source of joy and belonging in a new place…. I’ve never seen Drake so proud over his new belt. The ritual of going to class has been very grounding during all of the uncertainty we are navigating. One of our family’s mottos is: no fear here, and the continued practice of martial arts fits in well with that during these intense times we are living in. Thanks for all that you do!”
— Charlotte Kikel
Ready to introduce your tween to their next chapter?
Come try it free. No pressure, no commitment — just a chance to see if it’s the right fit.
Class schedule: M, W. 6:45PM -7:30PM, T,Th. 5:15PM-6PM, S. 10:15AM-11AM
Location: Scornavacco Martial Arts Academy, 1830 Boston Ave Ste F, Longmont, CO
Questions first? Call or text us at (303) 485-5425. We’re happy to talk.
negativity or emotional stress.