🌟 This Giving Tuesday, Make an Impact That Inspires Lifelong Learners! 🌟
At Acton Academy Marietta, we’re empowering young heroes to take charge of their education, discover their passions, and change the world. Your support today helps us: ✅ Expand innovative learning opportunities ✅ Provide resources for hands-on discovery ✅ Foster a community where curiosity and creativity thrive 💡 Every dollar makes a difference in creating a future of independent thinkers and doers. 🎁 Donate today and invest in the next generation of leaders. 📲 Click the link in bio to contribute and join us in our mission! Together, let’s inspire young minds to dream big and act boldly. 💙
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Are you ready to reimagine education? Schedule a call with our staff to learn more about Acton's unique learning model. Ready to take a tour? Click below!
In our Elementary studio, we discussed the relationship between freedom and responsibility, which is the heart of the Acton model.
Acton learners are trusted and empowered to take ownership of their learning. Ownership of learning leads to high levels of engagement. It’s a shift in perspective: “Learning isn’t something forced upon me, but something I seek out in order to do things in the world.” Learners are motivated to “level up” and take on harder challenges as they progress to older studios, increasing both freedoms and responsibilities. We often talk about “guardrails” that enable learners to drive their learning so they don’t crash into the ditch (metaphorically speaking!). These guardrails include check-ins, studio systems, and regular family meetings. Working in small groups, collaborating, giving feedback, holding each other to excellence, and creating a culture of kindness can all cause friction and conflict.
Striking the balance between being Tough-Minded and Warm-hearted is a fine art that we all must learn. Acton Eagles start practicing these skills from their earliest days in the elementary school studio. Socratic question: If you had to pick, would you rather your team be too honest or too kind? 🧠+❤️ Beyond the GPA, standardized test scores, AP classes, and extracurriculars, what truly prepares young people to thrive in the ever-changing challenges of the 21st century?
At Acton Academy, we believe that focusing on building strong CHARACTER, tight-knit COMMUNITY, and skills-based COMPETENCY are the factors that will grow young heroes with the courage needed to become the next leaders of tomorrow. Our Next Great Adventure projects guide learners to discover their gifts and passions, find professional connections and mentors, and acquire real-world experience through meaningful internships. Schedule a discovery call today! The middle school/Launchpad are enjoying the Photography and New Media Quest this session. They are learning about studio lighting, use a DSLR, portrait and landscape photography, and editing. They will start videography soon!📸✨🎥✨
Core Skills is the block of time each day for learners — armed with headphones, a laptop, and SMART goals — to work alone and at their own pace toward mastery of reading, math, and writing. The skills of time management, focus, and self-control are integrated and practiced throughout.
Work done during Core Skills allows learners to be independent creators, powerful problem-solvers, and communicators. The more you learn and practice, the more you can DO in your life. We’re now on TikTok!
In a true Acton “learner-driven” fashion, our Launchpad (high school) manages our TikTok page and creates posts from their perspective as Acton Learners. They've put out some fun posts! If you're on TikTok give us a follow! @actonacademymarietta At Acton Academy, our word for classroom is “Studio.” Why is that?
In a studio, learners (and artists!) work independently or collaborate together to inspire each other on their journeys. Unlike a traditional classroom, we don’t have rows of desks and whiteboards at the front. Studios look more like a coworking space or sometimes a cozy living room. This is an intentional word choice for an intentional mindset! Each mixed-age studio has a different focus for that age group, and each focus builds off the earlier studios as learners grow in responsibility and stamina. This trajectory of Play > Participate > Prepare > Propel all builds toward and culminates in a capstone experience called the Next Great Adventure. I read more about the focus of each studio, check out our home page. When our learners graduate, they know who they, where they are going next, and, most importantly, WHY they are taking their next step. Feeling inspired? Let us know if you’d like to schedule a call to learn more! Acton’s Exhibitions of Learning take place at the end of four to six week sessions. Sessions have a real-world deliverable at the end, presented to a live audience of parents and other invited guests.
The Learners plan, rehearse, and lead the exhibition all by themselves! They debrief afterwards based on the feedback they receive and take into account how they will improve for the next time. For our younger Eagles, practicing speaking to adults with clear voices, eye contact, and communicating with enthusiasm is a big win. The older Eagles gain leadership experience from creating the agenda, event planning, room layout, and public speaking. This session’s exhibition themes included the science of waves, architecture, poetry, binary coding, and it was all capped off with an art auction led by the middle school! Let us know if you’d like to visit for session 2 exhibition in November! |