Welcome to Acton Academy Madison West

Launch Your Hero's Journey

Parents around the world are empowering their children in their education by joining Acton Academy. Are you ready to join the revolution?

Learner Driven
Real World Quests & Projects
Interactive Technology

Image of Acton Academy Madison West Student Being Empowered By Learner-Driven Education near Blackhawk, Fitchburg, Middleton, Shorewood and other surrounding neighborhoods in Madison West.

Our Mission

The mission of Acton Academy Madison West is to inspire each child and parent who enters our doors to find a calling that will change the world.

Welcome to Acton Academy

Play Video

Watch this welcome video to see how Acton Academy is turning education upside down.

“We had escaped the trap of obsessing about homework, PTA policies, and grades on tests. Like freeing birds from cages, we were loosening our grip on our children and they were learning to fly.”

-Laura Sandefer, Courage to Grow: How Acton Academy Turns Learning Upside Down

“Acton Academy is on the vanguard of change in education in our country. After reading [Courage to Grow], your first two questions will probably be, ‘Why couldn’t my school be like this?’ and ‘How can I send my kids to Acton?’ This is an important story about learning what matters.”

-Seth Godin, author of Stop Stealing Dreams

“Montessori meets Silicon Valley”

-Reason Magazine, January 2018

“Acton Academy is one of the most important education developments in the world.”

-Tom Vander Ark, former executive at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

“We’re training kids to do what computers do, which is spit back facts. And computers are always going to be better than human beings at that. But what they’re not going to be better at is being social, navigating relationships, being citizens in a community. So we need to change the whole definition of what success in school, and out of school, means.”

-Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, author of Becoming Brilliant

“Acton Academy is on the leading edge of what it means to give students agency of their own learning.”

-Sal Khan, Founder of Khan Academy

“I’ve visited hundreds of innovative models of schooling over the past decade, and Acton continues to be one of the most promising models…..Acton is a truly inspiring and exceptional school.”

-Bernard Bull, Professor of Education at Concordia University Wisconsin

“When you take the free will out of education, that turns it into schooling.”

-John Taylor Gatto, author of Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Education

WHAT MAKES ACTON ACADEMY MADISON WEST SO DIFFERENT?

Acton Academy Madison West is part of the largest micro-school network in the United States. We use real-world, hands-on projects and quests, and the latest technology, in a blended learning environment and supportive learning community that fosters responsibility, rigor and joy.

A Learner Driven Community

Serious commitments; genuine relationships; authentic accountability.

Powerful Interactive Technology

Self paced learning for reading, writing and math.

The Socratic Method

Hone critical thinking skills and the ability to think, write and speak powerfully.

Real World Quests And Apprenticeships

Hands-on projects and experiential learning for 21st century skills.

Acton Academy Madison West 21st Century Learning

Is your child a world changer?

Learn to Learn

Socratic discussions and self-paced challenges equip children to be independent lifelong learners.

Learn to Do

Hands-on quests for Science, Entrepreneurship and the Arts prepare children for apprenticeships and real world challenges.

Learn to Be

The Hero’s Journey, relational covenants and real world consequences transform difficult decisions into virtuous habits.