a day in the life

A Day at Acton Academy Phoenix

A day in the Acton Academy Phoenix studio is creativity within constraints: large blocks of time for work and play with clear, but broad guardrails, equipping young people to manage their time, set goals, and track progress.

Time management decisions are simple at first – which book to read or which Montessori work to do. But young people earn more freedom and responsibility as they demonstrate their readiness, eventually earning the flexible and transparent work environment of great tech companies.

daily schedule

Each day at Acton is broken up into work sprints with a shared purpose or goal. In a normal day:

  • Mornings are reserved for Core Skills

  • Afternoons are for hands-on Session projects in the shoes of a real-life hero

  • 15-minute Socratic discussions bookend the work periods and provide a time to reflect, think deeply, and bond as a group

  • Plenty of time is open for free play and exercise throughout the day

The flexibility of the schedule is key to the Learning Design. Work blocks can be shuffled around based on studio needs each session.

Within each work block, Learners choose from a broad range of work options based on their personal goals, passions, and commitments.

8:15 AM Drop-off / Free Time

8:30 AM Daily Launch (Socratic Discussion)

8:45 AM Core Skills: Goal setting, math, Writers' Workshop, reading, civilization discussion, "Brain Breaks" throughout

11:00 AM Fitness

12:00 PM Lunch and Free Choice

1:00 PM Drop Everything and Read

1:30 Afternoon Launch (Socratic Discussion)

1:45 PM Hands-on work, team-based challenges, sciences, coding, entrepreneurship, art & music, history, report on goals

3:00 PM Studio Maintenance

3:15 PM Closing Group (Socratic Discussion)

3:30 PM Pick-up

Learner-Driven Community

Acton Academy Phoenix is a Learner-Driven Community – a new model of organizational design that equips young people to carry real leadership weight from an early age. Simply put, they learn to build a 21st-century organization by running their own.

  • Learners create and sign a Contract of Promises describing how each individual will act and the consequences for violating community norms.

  • Mentor teams encourage younger and older students to listen, affirm, set goals and hold each other accountable.

  • Servant Leader Badges celebrate character development and completing leadership challenges.