After much prayer, research, and council, we believe the Lord is leading our family to start an exciting, non-traditional private school in the South Denver area. Our dear friends, Aaron & Merinda Voorhees, will be joining us in this crazy, God-sized adventure. We are not reinventing the wheel as we have purchased a franchise from an international Microschool movement called Acton Academy and we will be the first of its kind here in Colorado. This endeavor will all take place under the covering of our non-profit organization Paideia Missions. While Paideia Missions has historically promoted home education, this ministry endeavor falls nicely under our mandate to ‘Disciple the Nations Through Christian Education’.So what exactly is Acton Academy? It is a network of 160 schools which focus on student ownership and self-government as a central tenant for learning. At Acton Academy, Socratic circle discussions, game based core skill learning, independent badge earning programs, and group learning quests define the school day. The school’s founders believe in a “learner driven education” where students are responsible for leading each other, designing their own learning, and even making their own rules to govern the school. Take a peek at an Acton Academy and you may wonder if you’ve stepped into a mythical world where students are heroes, learning is a quest, and adults are guides for the journey. In this one-room-schoolhouse approach, students are in a mixed-age learning studio with an adult guide who asks questions and sets up learning scenarios rather than relying on lectures or frontal teaching. Students are also encouraged to “find a calling that will change the world” by discovering their God given gifts to impact this world for Christ. The idea of the ‘Hero’s Journey’ inspires the development of curriculum at Acton. Students not only embark and reflect on their own faith journey, filled with challenges, allies, and enemies, they also examine how famous scientists, scholars, and historical figures heed their own calls to adventure and roadblocks along the way and take part in real world apprenticeships. All of this will take place under the covering of a thoroughly Biblical worldview.If this idea intrigues you, please take a few minutes to visit our website:
Also, if you know of any investors or educational philanthropists that would be interested in a loan or a grant, please reach out to us. We are operating Journey Academy as a non-profit organization so all gifts would be tax-deductible.
We plan to start our school on a 3 day a week, shared schooling model and grow it in time. We covet your prayers for wisdom as we step out in faith to build this option for Christian education in our area. Our deep desire is that it would be used of the Lord to build up a generation of courageous Christ followers that will truly find a calling that changes this world. Let us know if you want to join in this adventure!
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