Our Story

Like many families, we thought long and hard about where to send our child to school.

We explored various education options for our child, from homeschooling to Montessori schools, and even considered moving to another country.

After falling in love with our son's Montessori preschool, we discovered Acton Academy in early 2023 and were immediately captivated by its innovative approach. Inspired by Laura Sandefer's "Courage to Grow," we founded Acton Academy North Cincinnati to provide an inspiring alternative for local families.

Joshua Blatman and Rachel Sofferin

Co-founders Acton Academy North Cincinnati

Our North Cincinnati Campus

Our campus is located at Cincinnati, Ohio

Our Team

Jana Pappas

Co-Founder and Director

Jana Pappas considers herself an inspired leader and entrepreneur, called to the world of teaching from a young age. Jana received her Liberal Studies Bachelor Degree in 1998, then her teaching credential and Masters in Education in 2000. She has been teaching ever since: from a classroom teacher, leader of teacher education courses, tutoring students with language processing differences, homeschooling, and now Acton Academy in Concord.

Jana believes in student-led education, real-life experiences, guiding students to find a fire within them, and to follow their curiosity wherever it may lead. She is an accredited teacher in multi-sensory education, inquiry learning, all learning modalities, and the foundation of critical thinking - Socratic Teaching. Jana is beyond excited to join in the Education Revolution and offer an Acton Academy in her community.

Jana has lived all over California, from San Diego to Chico, but has settled in the East Bay Area Area with her husband, Jason and children, Samantha 17, Allison 15, and Cameron 12.

Jason Pappas

Co-Founder

Jason Pappas is an honest, hardworking business and family man.

Jason has a long career in Marketing, currently working for a large Agency in the San Francisco Bay area. Jason attended Diablo Valley College receiving his AA in Business Management, then going on to Cal State Chico to earn his Bachelors Degree in Business & Marketing.

Jason’s strong background in business management and marketing allows him to support Jana and their new journey to bring the Acton Model to the East Bay. Jason is excited for the journey to change how young people grow and become strong adults.

Our Advisors

Joshua Blatman

Co-Founder - Acton Academy North Cincinnati

Joshua holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Ohio State University with 4 years in OSUMB and a graduate certificate in Project Management from the University of Washington. He has spent the past 25 years in education and youth leadership, from working in schools and tutoring privately to leading summer camps and international learning experiences. Joshua is passionate about supporting young people in discovering their unique gifts and developing a growth mindset and resilience to live meaningful, purposeful, and successful lives on their own terms.

Joshua has taught across language barriers and he is passionate about Learner Driven education.

Joshua has also had unique life experiences with neurodiversity and neurological processing tools that make him uniquely qualified to work with neuro-atypical children.

Rachel Sofferin

Co-Founder - Acton Academy North Cincinnati

Rachel, a graduate of the University of Washington with a Bachelor’s in Communications, has spent her career in purpose-driven work: from non-profit organizations to healthcare and healing. Rachel is passionate about creating community and supporting people of all ages to know themselves more deeply so that they can live their best lives.

Rachel spent most of her time on the west coast and lived several years abroad in Austria. Her experience living in different countries with different cultures profoundly impacted her, both in terms of expanding her perspectives and also in terms of solidifying the importance of multicultural experiences for the development of qualities like citizenship and wisdom.

When not at Acton, you can find her enjoying life with her kids and husband, reading books, getting in touch with nature, and creating healing lotions, salves, and jewelry.

Jeff Sandefer

Co-Founder - Acton Academy

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 Sandefer

Co-Founder - Acton Academy

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."