National Circus Project is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization in the United States. The organization was founded in 1984 by JeanPaul Jenack and Meryl Schaffer to teach circus skills in school, as a way to combine physical movement and the arts.Program specialists are recruited from the professional circus world, variety arts and educational organizations, such as physical education colleges and the Academy of Circus Arts in the UK.