What’s in a name?

Why are Acton classrooms called studios and why is our youngest studio called Spark? 

The original Austin Acton campus says it best “Studios are homes to tinkerers, artists, and innovators. They harbor hands-on experimentation, ongoing projects, and creative messes. Studios reveal integrated layers of work and organized systems that inspire curiosity. Silence and noise each have their place in a studio.” 

Just like we wouldn’t refer to a picnic blanket as a cafeteria, the word classroom doesn’t quite fit our Acton learning environment. To give you some background, the word studio was chosen over a decade ago by the first group of Acton Academy learners in Austin, Texas. They named every room in the original Acton Academy house, great room names such as the Artichoke Room, Hand Room, Leaf Room, and Red Room. Maybe our Wisconsin learners will come up with the Cheese Room or a different surprise, we can’t wait! Just like many Acton Academy’s, the word studio rather than classroom feels like the right fit for our curious heroes. Now we know old habits are hard to remake, especially for us adults, and we too catch ourselves using the word classroom here and there. No worries, if you make the mistake your learner is likely to correct you!

Why Spark?

There were many choices that we explored when naming our first studio ages 4-6. We could have named it Montessori, Discovery, Nest but the one name that stuck out to us was the name Spark. Spark is common among a handful of Acton’s and it is the name we chose to describe our youngest studio. Here’s why, all it takes is a spark of curiosity or creativity to light the fire to learn and discover the world!