Like many families, we thought long and hard about where to send our child to school. As people who never really felt at home in traditional school and have always been willing to do things a little differently, we explored ideas from homeschooling to Montessori schools, and even moving to another country ;-).
In love with our son's Montessori preschool and seeing how he thrived in a learner-led, affirming environment, we knew we had to find a way to keep his curiosity alive, ignite a love of learning, and instill confidence and skills to succeed in today's and tomorrow's world.
Early in 2023 we, by chance, learned about Acton Academy. We were hooked and fell in love with this game changing learning model that seemed to be the answer to what we were looking for. We read "Courage to Grow" by Acton Co-Founder, Laura Sandefer and didn't look back. We accepted the Call to Adventure for our own Hero's Journey and Next Great Adventure - Acton Academy Cincinnati North was born. We are both excited and honored to serve Cincinnati area families who are looking for something different and inspiring for their children and themselves.
We are currently finalizing the details for our school's location, which we anticipate to be at 5714 Fields Ertel Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45249. Confirmation on the exact location will be provided in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for updates!
Rachel has spent her life working in healing professions as a massage therapist, wellness coach and birth doula, as well as working in non-profit organizations. A Californian and University of Washington graduate, she has served Seattle based spiritual organizations as Marketing & Communications Manager and in other leadership functions.
Joshua is an educator through and through. A Ohioan and graduate of Ohio State University and four-year member of TBDBITL, he holds a Bachelors in Music Education. He has been a beloved private music teacher and learning coach since 2000 in Ohio, Seattle, WA, and Israel. He has taught as a substitute public school teacher in the Seattle and Cincinnati areas. Joshua is also an astrologer, writer, and musician.
Jeff Sandefer lives a dual life as an entrepreneur and a Socratic Guide. As an entrepreneur, he founded his first company at age 16 and went on to found or co-found seven successful businesses. 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.
Jeff is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, where he served for over twenty years on the school’s governing committees. He was a longtime director of the Philanthropy Roundtable and National Review magazine and one of the youngest members ever elected to the Texas Business Hall of Fame.
Laura lived on both US coasts and in between as a child, then settled into Vanderbilt University for her undergraduate studies in the College of Arts and Science. After being awarded the highly competitive Walter Wattles Fellowship at Lloyd’s of London, Laura worked in the aviation insurance industry in New York City.
Deciding to follow her calling into the world of education, Laura returned to Nashville and earned her Master of Education at Peabody College. This led her to her work at the Oklahoma Arts Institute, creating fine arts education programs for teachers and talented high school students.
Laura married Jeff Sandefer and is the happy mother of Sam and Charlie and step-mother to Taite. It is the inspiration of these children that led Laura and Jeff to co-found Acton Academy.
Her greatest hero is her mother who was a Master Teacher. Her wisest mentor is her father who sent her off to college with two words of advice: "Be curious."
Begin a Hero’s Journey.
Discover precious gifts and a commitment to mastery.
Become a curious, independent, life-long learner.
Embrace the forging of a strong character.
Cherish the arts, the physical world, and the mysteries of life.
Treasure economic, political, and religious freedom.
We believe each person has a gift that can change the world in a profound way.
We believe in learning to learn, learning to do, and learning to be.
We believe in a closely connected family of life-long learners.
We believe in economic, political, and religious freedom.
