About Laura Sandefer
Laura Sandefer is an author and the co-founder of Acton Academy, a school whose learner-driven model is spreading across the globe with over 130 locations in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Guatemala, Canada, Malaysia and more, and in 2019 is celebrating 10 years of letting children take learning into their owns hands.
Acton Academy bases their model of learning on the Hero’s Journey: a story pattern common in ancient myths and modern day adventures in which a hero goes on an adventure, wins a victory and comes home transformed. Children at Acton Academy know why they are being challenged to learn — they are on their own Hero’s Journey to find their passion in life.
Acton Academy and Sandefer have been featured in the Austin American Statesman, Inc., Forbes, National Review, Huffington Post and more. Sandefer has a bachelor of arts and masters of education degrees from Vanderbilt University. She currently lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, children and three dogs.
10 Acton Practices that Change My Family’s Life – #8-#10
The last three practices that became infused into our life at home come under one… Read More
10 Acton Practices that Changed My Family’s Life – #7
# 7. Intentionality. Children at Acton practice intentionality in their learning and living. Simply put,… Read More
10 Acton Practices that Changed My Family’s Life – #6
#6. Build in ritual. Acton’s design is rich with simple rituals – from the morning… Read More
10 Acton Practices that Changed My Family’s Life – #5
#5. Consistency along with surprises. The Acton learning journey is designed to be contained in… Read More
10 Acton Practices that Changed My Family’s Life – #4
#4. Let the children make more decisions. At Acton, we push the power of most… Read More
Top 10 Acton Practices that Changed My Family’s Life – #3
#3. Read together every day. Acton studios have a strong culture of reading. Along with… Read More
Recent Press
Jeff Sandefer – Acton Academy Co-Founder
As a Socratic teacher at the University of Texas, Jeff’s students five times voted him the school’s Outstanding Teacher and Businessweek named him one of the top Entrepreneurship professors in America. Jeff went on to co-found the Acton School of Business, an MBA program perennially ranked by the Princeton Review among the best in the nation. In 2012 The Economist honored him as one of the top fifteen Business School professors in the world.
Lenore Skenazy – Free-Range Kids
Lenore is the Founder of Free-Range Kids and President at Let Grow, the national nonprofit promoting childhood independence.
Travis Adams – My First Sale
Travis Adams is the Chief Executive Officer of MyFirstSale and lives in Tyler, Texas. Travis has a passion for igniting the creativity and uniqueness inside of kids.
Jessica Lahey – The Gift of Failure
Jessica Lahey is a teacher, writer, and mom. Over twenty years, she’s taught every grade from sixth to twelfth in both public and private schools. She writes about education, parenting, and child welfare for The Atlantic, Vermont Public Radio, The Washington Post and the New York Times.
Acton Academy
Acton Academy is a one-room schoolhouse for the 21st century with over 140 locations around the world. Joy and rigor merge through our personalized state-of-the-art technology and real world apprenticeships, collaborative real world projects and Socratic discussions. Our young people are driven to find their inner gifts and use them to make the world better.
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Network Affiliates
We are a network of passionate, principled entrepreneurs driven by a singular mission and the promise to guide young people to realize their full potential and live exceptional lives. Do you feel an urgency to give your children the very best learning opportunity? Maybe you are the next Acton Academy owner!
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Courage to Grow
Get the first chapter of the inspiring story of Acton Academy, a micro-school on the cutting edge of disruptive education.
Courage to Grow is the intimate origin story of Acton Academy, one of today’s most innovative schools with a model quickly spreading around the globe. If you have ever wondered if there are more powerful ways for young people to learn, step aboard for a behind the scenes tour of how Acton Academy unlocks the genius in every child, while embracing personal accountability and forging young characters. However, this is not a how-to book. Nor is it a book about educational theory. It is a fast-paced tale of courageous families, transformed by what young people can accomplish when armed with the right inspiration, questions and tools. Like all good tales, there is a surprise ending, a final bit of magic about parenting and life you won’t want to miss.
Contact
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