Why is your school called Acton Academy? Who was Lord Acton?

Lord John Emerich Edward Dahlberg Acton (1834-1902) was a Victorian scholar of Freedom who saw liberty not as a license, but as the freedom to do what was right. He was suspicious of power for the sake of power, which led to his most famous quote: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” At the Acton Academy, we celebrate his defense of economic, political and religious freedom.

Where is your school located?

Our campus is located in historic Pendleton, Indiana. Pendleton is a 45-minute drive northeast of downtown Indianapolis.

What kind of learner thrives at Acton Academy at Fall Creek?

Kids who love to learn, are curious, self-motivated, and respectful. Our environment is an accelerator for the independent learner who can tackle challenging questions, follow instructions, and solve problems.

What is your calendar and daily schedule?

Acton Academy at Fall Creek begins at 9:00 am each day (drop-off starting at 8:00 am) and finishes at 3:00 pm.

We operate on an 10-month calendar, but our flexible program allows families to travel together during the year, without sacrificing any learning.

The school calendar is based on a series of 5- to 6-week project sprints called “Quests”, each with a theme – like Entrepreneurship, Newton’s Toy Shop, Medical Biology, or Detective Chemistry. Each Quest is a grand adventure, culminating in a high-stakes public Exhibition for family and friends.

Seven 5- to 6-week sessions, followed by 1 to 2 weeks off to refuel and for holidays, make up the school year.

Is Acton Academy a religious school?

While we respect every individual and his/her belief system, our family is a practicing Christian family. We believe that each person has a unique calling, given to us by God, and it is our mission to encourage young people to find their callings and change the world.

Why don’t you group children by grade?

We believe that children learn best when working with children younger and older than themselves rather than split up into groups based solely on age. In addition to individualized curriculum, all ages of students work together in groups.

Is Acton Academy at Fall Creek accredited?

Yes, our school is accredited through the International Association of Learner Driven Schools (IALDS).

Our Spark Studio is registered as an Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning Center with the State of Indiana and our Elementary Studio is registered as a non-public school with the Indiana Department of Education.

What do you mean by a hero’s journey?

We believe that each of us has a special calling in life, and a series of trials and tests that must be faced with integrity and purpose, in order to live a satisfying and fulfilled life. Our mission is to prepare your child for his or her special journey.

What do you mean by a learner-driven community?

In our school community, every individual plays a crucial role. Each learner bears the responsibility of being an active participant, dedicated to supporting one another in the pursuit of their learning objectives.

Our learners engage in a unique process of “auditing” each other’s work, immersing themselves in profound learning experiences, and engaging in challenging conversations. We embrace the inherent messiness that accompanies mistakes, viewing them as valuable experiments that guide us toward necessary corrections and improvements.

Through a democratic approach, our heroes are empowered to suggest changes to the system when they perceive the need, collaborating in groups to tackle complex problems and learning how to provide support even in challenging situations. Over time, we observe significant growth in their character, resilience, and perseverance.

Our learners thrive in an environment that promotes independent learning, demonstrating self-autonomy, a genuine enthusiasm for collaboration and problem-solving, and a desire to shoulder responsibilities.

How is the Acton Academy at Fall Creek affiliated with Acton Academy?

The AA@FC campus exists in a network of over 300 Acton Academies around the world.

What grades do you offer?

The Spark Junior Studio (ages 3 to 4)
The Spark Studio (ages 4 to 6)
The Discovery Studio (ages 6 to 8)
The Explorer Studio (ages 8 to 11)
The Mission Studio (ages 11 to 14)
The Launchpad Studio (ages 14 to 18)

Does tuition cover everything?

Tuition covers all school supplies, quest materials, technology, personalized core skills subscriptions and goal tracking software.

Tuition alone does not cover the cost of running our school. We run lean, and we rely on generous gifts and grants to make up the difference.

If you, or someone you know, would feel led to generously give to our school, we would be so grateful. Giving like this makes it possible for other families to access necessary tuition aid.

Do you offer scholarships?

There are limited scholarship opportunities. If you are interested in a scholarship, please let us know in your application.

If you would like to contribute specifically to Acton Academy at Fall Creek’s scholarship fund, please let us know. We are eager to share this opportunity with as many highly qualified applicants as possible.

Is Acton Academy a Montessori school?

We respect and incorporate Maria Montessori’s philosophy, but we are not a Montessori school. We also use the latest interactive technologies, hands on projects and the Socratic Method for discussions.

What is an “independent learner?”

An independent learner is someone who can research questions, follow instructions, solve problems—admit that they don’t know something and figure out a solution when they hit a roadblock without asking an adult for help — participate in discussions, and strive for mastery.

Do your studios serve students with special needs?

We are not trained to serve children with serious learning disabilities. We do welcome applications and conversations from all families for all children.

How do you ensure a high-quality learning environment?

Deep at the core of Acton Academy is our commitment to serving customers and receiving transparent feedback. Because of this, we ask families to participate in a Monthly Customer Satisfaction Survey, where we ask them to rate us 1-5 on how well we accomplished our promises. We then share the results with the community.

These surveys are our most important metric to measure the success of the learning community.

Will my child be prepared for college at Acton Academy?

Our promise at Acton Academy is to have students well prepared for any selective university where they can score high enough on a standardized test to gain admittance. Universities are changing so rapidly that it’s difficult to imagine what a college education will look like in ten years. Unfortunately, many colleges still place a great deal of importance on standardized tests, which are little more than IQ tests, and are simple to improve on once you understand basic test taking tricks.

Once your child gets over the test taking barrier at the university of their choice, their portfolio and critical thinking skills will be a big boost during the application and interviewing process. Most importantly, students will be well prepared to shine in the real world, whether they choose to go to college full time, part time or not at all.

A perk specific to our particular location is one of our co-founders is an active college professor. While Lyndie has experience with early childhood, elementary, and middle school education, Taylor is currently guiding heroes at the collegiate level.