• A Hero's Journey

    A Hero’s Journey starts in a place where children are awarded freedom, responsibility, camaraderie, and adventure. A hero’s journey develops integrity, ownership, grit, and joy as one discovers his or her most precious gifts.

  • Mission

    JSA’s mission is to empower young people to find a calling that changes the world.

  • Vision

    JSA is for a generation of virtuous leaders, critical-thinking mavericks, and curious change-makers.

Our Promises

We promise through Socratic guiding and experiential learning to encourage each member of our community to:

  • Begin a Hero’s Journey;

  • Discover his or her most precious gifts and a commitment to mastery;

  • Become a curious, independent, life-long learner;

  • Embrace the forging of a strong character;

  • Cherish the arts, wonders of the physical world, and the mysteries of life; and

  • Treasure and respect economic, political, and religious freedom.

Why Joyful Scholars Academy?

We want to create an environment where our children experience:

  • Laughter and joy;

  • Critical thinking and independence;

  • A love for learning;

  • Freedom from politics and propaganda;

  • A home away from home where every learner smiles at the thought of exploring, discovering, doing, being;

  • Camaraderie;

  • Failure. And the courage to forge ahead and try again;

  • Resilience to persevere through difficult learning times;

  • The confidence to try new things;

  • Enjoyment in problem-solving;

  • Ownership over their learning, their tribe, and the studio;

  • Meaning and the ability to discover and pursue their passions.

  • To use their imagination and curiosity to do amazing things.

  • Growth in agency of their own learning.

  • Being able to learn new/hard things on their own while being accountable to peers and the studio.

Acton Testimonials

  • “We believe clear thinking leads to good decisions, good decisions lead to the right habits, the right habits forge character, and character determines destiny.”

  • “We believe self-directed, peer-to-peer learner-driven communities built by our young Heroes will deliver transformational learning at a cost parents can afford.”

  • "We believe offering self-paced work in an environment where all types of gifts are celebrated, and improvement is praised rather than held to artifical adult standards, leads to an appreciation of excellence from within.

What Makes JSA Different?

  • Learners are on a Hero’s Journey, with challenges, adventures, fellow travelers and guides.

  • Learner-driven.

  • Young people doing challenging work at their own pace.

  • Trained guides who are skilled in Socratic Method to empower students.

  • Heroes set and achieve daily, weekly, and session learning goals.

  • Heroes develop agency over their learning, goal-setting, and projects.

  • Collaborative studio environment that is self-managed and governed by the learners.

  • Sharing learning in a tightly bound community.

  • Daily learning quests both indoors and outdoors.

  • Real-world skills developed through discussions, project-based learning (Quests), and apprenticeships.

  • Multi-age, in-person studios allow heroes to support one another and receive peer-led feedback and challenges.

  • A lot of talking and problem-solving individually and in groups.

  • Less than 90 minutes of computer use/technology per day (Less than 30 minutes for Spark Studio).

  • Montessori tools and learning for Spark Studio.

  • Using the latest technology to master reading, writing, and math.

  • No homework.

  • No bureaucracy.

  • Learning based on recent research and evolving to ensure 21st-century success.