U.S. News & World Report names Acton Academy of Washington, DC on a list of ten DC private elementary schools including Sidwell Friends, Beauvoir National Cathedral School, Georgetown Day School, and Maret. 

Acton is the relative newcomer to Washington, DC’s scene of “very prestigious and strong” private schools. Acton was founded in 2018 and approaching its 5th birthday. However, Acton has already distinguished itself among the 72 private schools in the city and quickly earned a reputation for excellence.

Acton is unique. Acton combines Montessori ideas, Harvard Business School-style Socratic discussions, mixed-age classrooms, and real-world projects like the Acton Children’s Business Fair. Acton invites children to imagine themselves as the heroic protagonist in their own journey in life. At Acton, children discover their unique talents and passions while developing the habits of mind and character needed to chase down their dreams with energy and joy.

There are certain key phases that Montessori guides use regularly to support learners throughout their day. These common sayings encourage independence and a shared sense of culture. To have consistency at home and in the studio, we welcome parents to try using some of these phrases. Let’s review a few: 

As part of orienting new parents to Acton Academy’s unique approach, we host Acton Parent Journey Meetings throughout the year. Topics have included Introduction to the Hero’s Journey, Growth Mindset, and Introduction to Socratic Guiding, the first topic of the 2021-22 school year. For this session, parents learned by doing, participating in a Socratic discussion just like their elementary and middle school children, and playing a “Never Answer a Question” game to practice being Socratic.

Originally published on Let Grow on 11/29/2021

Traditional approaches to teaching entrepreneurship too often become a boring exercise in classroom abstraction.

How do you become a powerful writer? The secret is to write a lot. With this in mind, learners dedicate one hour on Mondays and on Wednesdays every week to Writer’s Workshop. Each session has a different Writer’s Workshop theme. This year, the learners will explore writing letters, short stories, graphic novels, debates, poetry, and biographies.

The transition to middle school is full of opportunities for learners to take on new freedoms, including excursions off campus. One hallmark of the new Acton middle school program is the “Adventure Van”—a 15-passenger Ford Transit for off-campus excursions and adventures.

Montessori learners start the week with many new lessons and materials to choose from on the shelves. One of their favorites has been tea making.

Not only does a new quest begin every session, but a new Writer’s Workshop as well. Challenges in Writer’s Workshop afford the learners opportunities to make connections and to apply the knowledge they have gained during the hands-on projects of quest time. A past session’s Writer’s Workshop focus was technical writing, a genre closely connected with creating and revising code, the main learning objective of the coding quest.