- What age children does the Acton Academy serve? We currently serve 6-10 year olds (first through fifth grades.) We plan to open our middle school program in 2012 and our high school program in 2015
- Is the Acton Academy a Montessori School? While the Acton Academy respects and uses the Montessori Method in many of its practices, it is not a pure Montessori school, but also uses project based learning, the Socratic Method and the latest in educational game based software.
- Does my child need to attend year round? No. While we offer school 11 months of the year, our curriculum is designed for parents to deliver the basic skills for weeks at a time, allowing families to travel together.
- Is Acton a religious school? While we expose children to the importance of mindful spirituality and stress the historical importance of Christianity to the development of Western Civilization, we do not promote any religion.
- Who was Lord Acton? Lord John Emerich Edward Dahlberg Acton (1834-1902) was a Victorian scholar of Freedom who saw liberty not as a license, but as the freedom to do what was right. He was suspicious of power for the sake of power, which led to his most famous quote: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." At the Acton Academy, we celebrate his defense of economic, political and religious freedom.
- What do you mean by a Hero's Journey? We believe that each of us has a special calling in life, and a series of trials and tests that must be faced with integrity and purpose, in order to live a satisfying and fulfilled life. Our mission is to prepare your child for his or her special journey.
- Will children be grouped into grades? We believe that children learn best when working with children younger and older than themselves. In addition to individualized curriculum, all ages of students will work together in groups.
- Does Acton serve special needs children? Unfortunately, we are not equipped to serve children who need specialized attention because of serious learning challenges.
- Does Acton provide lunches? Parents can choose to participate in our catered lunch program for an additional $5 per day
- What do you mean by "every child can change the world?" By "change the world" we mean that every one of our students will find a passion - something they love and have a gift to do. They will use this gift to serve others and fulfill a need they are personally passionate about in the world. This may be by becoming a shoe-shiner who tells stories, and makes people's day just by doing his job with love and vigor; it may be by becoming a teacher who sees the light in all children's eyes and souls and guides them to pursue their dreams; it may be by becoming a dad or mom who leads his or her children on a hero's journey; it may be becoming a business person guided by compassion and integrity; or it may be by becoming an artist or writer who brings beauty to people's lives.
- Why do you focus on teaching the "American Experiment"? By focusing on the American Experiment in our study of history, we aim to teach the value of liberty and justice as the ideals for the human experience. This is not a political agenda in the least. It is about freedom of speech and religion and the value of free markets to help bring about the opportunity for prosperity. In addition to experiential learning, we will study the American documents and the true meaning behind them. These concepts will then be applied to real world projects. Our graduates will have a working understanding of these ideas. This does not mean we will NOT study other cultures and forms of government. We will. And the students can discover for themselves why America is unique.
- How much will the school grow? Will you add higher grade levels? In order to maintain our focused mission and quality daily experience, we plan to grow slowly and methodically. We will add years as we grow so that we ultimately have a 1st - 5th program, a 6th - 9th grade program and a 10th - 12th grade program. We plan to have 36 students in each of these to make up our elementary, middle and high school programs. Our current site will work for 1 or 2 more years. In the meantime, we are seeking a property to build out our own facilities and create a world-class school based on the best models/environments we discover across the country.