Music at Acton drives everything that we do! Learners sing the Studio Maintenance song, develop Acton anthems “Family School” as songwriters, and constantly use music to inspire their learning journey. Many Acton learners explore our dedicated music room to practice piano and hone their musical skills during Core Skills or free time. Music badges are beautiful guides for learners to continuously challenge themselves and learn at their own pace.

The Strings Program is a Suzuki string lesson program for Acton learners. Families can sign up for violin or cello lessons with our partner, Aurora Institute for the Arts and have private lessons at Acton during the school day. Randy, violin, and Anna, cello are wonderful teachers and heroes! Each learner has a weekly lesson at Acton and group class with fellow music travelers!

The love to create and make art runs deep with our learners. Our dedicated He-ART room spreads the love and offers learners options to paint, color, mold sculptures, create jewelry, knit, sew, stamp, and so much more. Learners can explore the Art room throughout the day and during dedicated art activities. Plus, learners with a passion for making can journey through a series of Art badges to learn techniques and all about notable art heroes.

Learners practice mediation daily in order to reset their mind, connect with their emotions, and set clear intentions. Our mindfulness approach builds core character qualities and inspires learners to lead with kindness. Additionally, learners practice yoga during breaks or in group classes. Badges can be earned in Mindfulness and Yoga as part of our Auxiliary Badge Program. Plus, we have one room dedicated to mindfulness, our Zen Den!

Imagining, acting, and developing scenes from our lives and from heroes in the past is a process that is wildly helpful for learners to gain understanding and perspective. Theatre skits are practiced during Civilization Quests and when learners are practicing their development of character traits and conflict resolution. Learning to be can be fun too!

At Acton we don’t have a formal dance program however we are constantly moving, especially during our favorite freeze dance activities! Often learners explore movement related to feelings, musical genres, theatre practices, and when practicing their celebratory end-zone dance! Another way we practice movement is with blindfolds, the fastest trust activity in developing leaders and followers.

We love the outdoors and all the beauty and curiosity it offers our learners! Learners created all garden beds, signs, and helped set up our compost system. Daily, learners get their hands dirty as they tend the garden or create mud pies for their outdoor restaurant. The trial and error process of growing seedlings and experimenting in the garden is such an enriching experience that connects learners to future fields of horticulture, botany, and agriculture. In Spring 2024 we added chicken ladies to our campus. Learners named each chicken and daily they care for them as they grow responsibility and mindfulness.

Storytelling is an artful practice that develops strong language skills and fuels creativity. In addition to the hero’s journey process, learners practice storytelling during Writer’s Workshops and as they practice leading and participating in projects and Exhibitions. Our youngest learners have an abundance of imagination and early-on work with picture cards to spark oral language storytelling. Can you repeat your story twice? Can you keep the story going?