Acton Academy at Serenbe takes a unique approach to education. The curriculum is totally learner-driven, empowering students to take charge of their education with teachers acting more like guides to ensure that young learners meet their goals. In just a couple of years, the school has blossomed from 34 students to over 200 as of Fall 2022. Construction for the new campus in Mado - which will include an organic farm and artist studio open to the entire community - has already broken ground. This incredible growth would not be possible without our guest today - John Mattis, a Serenbe resident and Board Chair at Acton Academy. Today, Steve and Monica chat with John about how he and his family first discovered Serenbe, Acton’s student driven model, and what’s next for our community school.
Show Notes
Acton Academy at Serenbe takes a unique approach to education. The curriculum is totally learner-driven, empowering students to take charge of their education with teachers acting more like guides to ensure that young learners meet their goals. In just a couple of years, the school has blossomed from 34 students to over 200 as of Fall 2022. Construction for the new campus in Mado - which will include an organic farm and artist studio open to the entire community - has already broken ground. This incredible growth would not be possible without our guest today - John Mattis, a Serenbe resident and Board Chair at Acton Academy. Today, Steve and Monica chat with John about how he and his family first discovered Serenbe, Acton’s student driven model, and what’s next for our community school.
Show Notes
(13s):
Action Academy at Serenbe is a unique learning environment where students are empowered to take the reins of their education based loosely on a Montessori model. Acting classrooms combine multiple age group and teachers act much more like guides than lecturers and students move at their own pace. The school has blossomed from just 34 students a few years ago to over 200 today. In fact, Action recently began construction on a new campus and model that will be home to an organic farm, an artist studio for the entire community. And they've set the ambitious goal of having a carbon negative footprint. This incredible growth would not be possible without our guests today. John Madis, a Serenbe resident and board chair of Acton Academy Today, Steve and I talked to John about how he and his family first discovered Saray Acton student driven model and what's next for our community school.
2 (1m 3s):
If we do this right, we can be a shiny example of how you should build schools going forward. The more students and more exposure on a long-term basis that someone has to this type of environment, it's going to impact how they make their decisions regardless of what career they go into in life. So lots of exposure, lots of education, lots of information is the basis for educating our students in greater community and we feel like this campus can set that tone and and create an example.
1 (1m 30s):
Well, hello and welcome back to Serenbe Stories. We have John Mattis here today who is the chairman of the board of Acton Academy at Serenbe as well as a resident. And of course we've got Steve Nygren as usual. How are both of you looking forward to the conversation?
2 (1m 45s):
Yeah, doing great here. Thank you.
1 (1m 47s):
John, you have been a longtime resident at Serenbe, your wife and your kids all live here, but you've also taken on a pretty important role over the past, I don't know, four, five years, maybe more with the school. So we wanna talk about all that today, but always our first question that we ask everybody is how did you first hear about Cy and what prompted you to make the move?
2 (2m 10s):
Well, it was probably like a lot of people who came down here for an event. One of my neighbors selected Cy to get married, came down and stayed at the end and attended a beautiful wedding and, and my wife just made the suggestion of let's just swing by the real estate office for kicks just to see what this is about. And that was kind of the hook. Fortunately I have some flexibility in my career that I could work remotely and this kind of worked out for us.
1 (2m 37s):
Amazing. This is the pre covid though, flexibility. Yeah. So when did you guys move down? It's been quite a while.
2 (2m 43s):
Yeah. So we've been here 11 years. The community was quite a bit smaller as far as size and homes, but had a tremendous sense of community, which was one of the main reasons we were drawn here. And we really fell in love with it right away. And we rented for a little bit just to make sure that the magic didn't rub off. And after about a year we decided that we needed to find an architect and build a house cause it was what we were looking for.
1 (3m 6s):
I love it. And you guys are in the cell born neighborhood, which was the first neighborhood that got built, right? But you guys built a custom home, right?
2 (3m 13s):
We did. We joke that it's a historic serenbe area
1 (3m 16s):
That it's, we
2 (3m 18s):
Able to work with architect, He's a resident in the community, he does a lot of work in the community and the first house we ever designed and built and we're really, really pleased with it.
1 (3m 26s):
Yeah, it's absolutely beautiful and many people know it because the dog that sits in front, right? Yes.
2 (3m 33s):
The mayors, we call him our dog. Huckleberry is, he's a greeter up and down Suborn lane. So
1 (3m 39s):
Yeah, he's got the invisible fence there.
2 (3m 41s):
That's right. That's right. I think he knows more people than we do.
1 (3m 45s):
Yeah, I love it. And your kids were how old when you moved here?
2 (3m 48s):
The oldest was five and the twins were three. They were involved in the beginning of the Montessori school, which Kara, Steve's daughter was involved in that. So we've been connected to the community and known that family for quite some time.
3 (4m 2s):
And it's such fun seeing all the kids grow up here. I mean, it's yours and several others. I was just really taken when we suddenly we have these young girls both graduated from high school this year. It's amazing to see that. And same with yours. Here's, here's where babies when you guys, they
2 (4m 18s):
Really were, I remember walking them through the woods to the first school that was behind the blue eye daisy. So it's really magical. I mean walking out your door into the woods for about a quarter of a mile across the bridge and then opened the door to the classroom. I don't think you could paint it any better
1 (4m 34s):
Now. It was magical. And so since then, the Montessori has moved a few times and now has really grown into a whole grander model that really got paired with the Acton Academy model. Tell us a little bit about that and how you were drawn into it or roped in possibly and what the storytelling is there.
2 (4m 55s):
Like all parents, they get very, very involved and have a lot of thoughts on their children's education. And Montessori has and is in our mind, the greatest foundational education pedagogy there is. It's still a very, very strong part of our act in campus. And we have it a pure Montessori model basically through six years of age. As the children develop beyond that principles of follow the child are still in place. But we felt that there were other applications and more modern day learning pools that kind of made Montessori 2.0 more of a reality. So when we selected Acton, we did a national search for different pedagogies and we felt that that adhered to the learner driven model the most, but also changed the dynamic of instead of digesting information, teaching our students how to learn and then equipping them with the ability to go out, gather information, it's a great compliment to that foundation.
1 (5m 52s):
Right. And our kids were in the Montessori as well, but can you tell just the listener just a quick blurb about Montessori and or how kids learn and that starts at what age? At Acton right now
2 (6m 6s):
We have a Montessori studio serving students three to six Montessori runs in a three year cycle. So in addition to learning some core skills, there is a leadership and independence and self-learning measurement that is part of it. And as you mature through the different stages, the oldest students actually somewhat mentor the youngers. So there's a leadership component that is really important to prepare that child for the next stage in learning. It's very tactile, it's very thoughtful and it's a three year cycle that really materializes after the completion of all three years. So it's, it's not like a typical school where you would pop in one year and learn a certain skill and year two you do something else.
2 (6m 46s):
It's really the culmination of all three. And that's how all of our studios are set up in three year increments as well. All the way through high school launchpad, except the launch by the high school is actually a four year studio.
1 (6m 59s):
So what drew you to act in and what's sort of the history there? Cause there's a lot of really interesting models. I think people, them as like micro schools, more neighborhood schools, why act
3 (7m 10s):
And John also, how many Acton were there when you first looked into it?
2 (7m 15s):
When we first started, I think we were the 60th maybe. I think there were 10,000 applicants become an acting school, if I'm not right, I'll double check that number. Buton is actually a network of schools, a global network of schools. It's actually is developed and managed or originated out of Austin, Texas. However, the majority of the content now comes from best practices from around the world. So it's truly a network of best practices. I think there are over 200 schools around the world now and they're on track to continue to grow.
1 (7m 47s):
Wow. And how many kids were there in the beginning? Cause I know it was pretty small.
2 (7m 52s):
Well, when I got involved and we sat around, I helped build out a board. I think we were at 34 students and that was only what, three, four years ago. When we bridged to Acton in 2018, we created a strategic plan working closely with Steve, discussing what education should look like, not just for our community of Serenbe, but the greater community of Chattahoochee Hills and what we could do to create a learning environment that was best suited for our community and for our students. So we put a plan together and we decided that we were going to go beyond the primary and beyond the elementary, beyond the middle, and all the way through high school, which takes us to our current strategic planning of the, the campus that's in place now.
2 (8m 36s):
Within a few years we hoped to be close to 450 students.
1 (8m 39s):
Wow. Four 50. I didn't even realize it was gonna be that big. And right now you guys are all the way through 10th grade, is that correct? Serving kids in 10th grade?
2 (8m 48s):
That's correct. We will serve students from seven weeks all the way through high school. So cra old cap basically. And we finished this past year at about 150 students and we are looking at almost 200 enrolled for the fall.
1 (9m 2s):
Wow. And are you adding that 11th grade this year or was this the 10th grade year?
2 (9m 7s):
Well, it really depends on the child. If somebody comes from another act in that is a junior or senior where somebody is equipped to join the studio, we can add any high schooler. It's a pretty rigorous review process to make sure that the family and the students a good fit and compliment our program.
1 (9m 24s):
Otherwise you're gonna just grow the students into those final two years. Right?
2 (9m 29s):
Yeah, that's organic growth is where we have most of our momentum right now.
1 (9m 34s):
When somebody comes from say a more traditional school, right? I'm sitting at a desk and I'm in a room and the teachers at the top. I mean that's how I grew up at public school in California. What do you tell those parents? Like when they're asking? Cause as a parent we have an idea in our head what school's supposed to look like and it's very different. It's very exciting. Like what do you tell them that their kid's day is gonna look like?
2 (9m 59s):
Well Monica, I think you mentioned, you gave me the phrase, instead of having a sage on the stage, we have a guide on the side And the reason, the reason we focus on having a guide on the side is that oftentimes a traditional teacher, and I'm not by no means is this putting down a traditional school. This is just a different method of teaching. But oftentimes when you have a traditional teaching model, when the teacher is transferring their knowledge to the entire class, it's very difficult for that teacher to teach at the pace at which each individual child is learning. So our learning is tied directly to each person in that class. Everyone is moving at their own pace.
2 (10m 39s):
We call our teachers guides because what they do is they actually monitor the goals that that student has set forth for that entire calendar year. Our student will come in and set a contract in place with their parent as to what they want to accomplish and then schedule all the way back to every day as to what they wanna do that day, that week, that month. And they set goals. We have a digital platform called Journey Tracker, which allows the guide to tap into what every student is doing and track every bit of work that they've done that day throughout the day so that they can interject and say, Hey, it looks like you're, maybe you're struggling with math. If you talk to one of your peers, what resources have you tapped into so that it's individualized so that students can go really fast if they really got a subject boom, boom, boom.
2 (11m 27s):
Or if they're struggling they can look to their peers or other mediums of education to get to those goals. But so much of the learning is learning how to self-manage and not looking for external validation, but figuring out how to work really hard so that when you get something done, you have yourself to think.
1 (11m 45s):
Yeah. And is it true that this is in my head, so I may be doing storytelling that if I was the kid and I wanted to finish all my math in the first quarter or the first month, like I could do that my math for the year?
2 (11m 58s):
Sure, sure. And we've had students that have finished math in three or four months into the year because it's easy to them. We have had students that have waited three or four months to even start their math because they love to read or write or the books that they selected for the year. They just want to go through those right away. But it's all about trusting a child to manage their schedule. And then if they don't, then there's certain consequences or measurements that they will have to live up to set goals for. And when they award themself with completing a calendar year, let's say in math, they have the ability to go forward, they could go to the next grade they want, they could go wider, which means that they could get a greater understanding of that particular subject.
2 (12m 38s):
Or they could go deeper in the sense that they could take that subject and apply it to a real world application, whether it's statistics or odds or game making or something like that. But that hour and a half that they normally would've spent on math, that's their free time for the rest of the year.
1 (12m 53s):
Wow. A couple other questions. This is super interesting. So do you guys have traditional homework or because the child is very self directed, they may or may not have work to do in the evening based on what they've completed that day? Or how does that work?
2 (13m 9s):
The goal is to have all the work completed during the day. And the way the programs are set up is all of our students have to achieve mastery to move forward. Mastery is the equivalent of an A, You can't just get by. Our programs will not let someone progress. So if someone makes it all the way through our program to graduation, they have effectively gotten straight A's the
1 (13m 31s):
Entire time. And that's another great question. Are there grades? It's not really, it's proficiency.
2 (13m 37s):
So mastery, the only way to finish our program is to have straight A, basically.
1 (13m 43s):
Ok.
2 (13m 43s):
The program will actually measure your ability, capacity and performance and only promote you based on that. So hard work is core to what we do and dedication and commitment from the student and the parents to trust the child to work through it and set the goals on their own.
1 (14m 1s):
And one more question before I wanna dive into sort of the building a little bit. I know Steve has a lot to share on that. Is what do you do about Common Core? If you have a kid coming in from a public school from another state and they're coming into fourth grade, do you guys track against the common core or, and I'll state the common core just for the listener, you know, is basically a way that public schools can be portable, if you will. So if I'm in Georgia and I moved to California ninth grade, generally we're teaching the same thing in history, math and English. There's sort of this common core subjects and details that kids learn, but how do you guys track to that? Or does it matter?
2 (14m 42s):
So in the common core, I'll break it into reading, writing and realistic as the common core civilization, which is history and various other things we accomplish through our quests and various other things we do throughout the year. But the common core is tied directly to a grade level. Okay? So when a parent sets a goal for that year, let's say if a child is the grade level of fourth grade, it will be tied to what that common core is throughout the country. Now, having said that, we assess every child as they come in the door to figure out where they are. Now that might mean a student is, even though they're in fourth grade from a public school, they may actually test as a third grade student. So what we do is we actually will rewind with that student into the third grade.
2 (15m 26s):
They prove mastery in that subject and then create a schedule to catch them up to where they need to be and so on so forth. And the same applies if they test ahead. They are a student that may be a fourth grade age, but we're actually tying their academics to where they are so that they can create a mastery path all the way through going forward.
1 (15m 46s):
Perfect. It truly, no child is left behind, which
2 (15m 49s):
Is, that is the key. That is the goal. So one of the things, I'll just touch on it briefly, is that children reach different milestones at different times and progress at different rates and paces. The thing that's unique about us compared to another school is that we don't have to follow the guidelines and the structure and a traditional school, we give the children the ability and freedom to catch up, move ahead wherever they are. And since they have an individual path, the speed at which they can move forward is not reliant on the teacher teaching the next subject. As soon as they're ready for it, they just go. So it's so much more
1 (16m 26s):
That's so great, especially kids who are so curious and wanna learn more, who get bored in the classroom and then they start acting out. It gives them, they're really gonna continue to learn, which is so cool. And I guess, and I thought I was gonna get to the building, but the other thing that's really cool that you guys do that I wanna share is you really move them into sort of like, I'll call them internships, but you get them out into the community and they work with different people in the community. Can you talk a little bit about that?
2 (16m 53s):
Sure. So basically our school day is broken into two halfs. The first half we would call the core skills and the second half is what you call experiential learning. So the experiential learning are quests where they may focus on chess for six weeks or architecture for six weeks or biology for six weeks. And they actually participate in experiments and experiences that support that particular focus all while reinforcing the core skills they have to write about what they're doing. They have to do mathematical exercises. In the design of this school, we, during an architecture request, we asked our student to design the perfect classroom.
1 (17m 30s):
Ah, we
2 (17m 31s):
Gave them certain guidelines as far as what code required for the doors, the window heights, various scenes. Wow. And we asked for them to get out there with rulers so they understood what that looked like. And they all presented 3D models as to what the perfect classroom would like. So we did that way back when, when we were first discussing design of these these classrooms so that that could be an important part of what we're doing. That's amazing. Really bringing, bringing the experts
3 (17m 56s):
And it's so exciting. And then John, what are some of the things you're doing, how you're building the school, and then how are the kids gonna be involved on an ongoing basis?
2 (18m 4s):
We try to turn the school over to the students in a sense that we try to empower them to take pride in the school as they're an active participant in it. So on the campus we are gonna build an organic farm and currently our students are very, very fortunate within this community to visit the farm that we have on property for the creeks and the, the national environment that we have. But the farm itself on the campus will be managed entirely by the students. The goal is that they're participating through composting, through soil preparation, through planting, harvesting, and all the way through market taking the product to market. So it's going to be something that they take pride in and based on the age level will be an assignment of responsibility.
2 (18m 49s):
So they'll be ownership pride and they'll also teach them the value of time and investment based on what it takes and the challenges you experience as a farmer. It's a great platform and learning example for children to participate in.
1 (19m 2s):
So I'd love to hear both of you guys talk about the campus. I know Steve had visions of sort of what it could look like over there. It sits within our motto neighborhood and if anybody's seen pictures or visited, it is a very Scandinavian European forward neighborhood architecture. And the most iconic probably piece is our pink pool community pool building or swim club. And it's going right next to that. And Steve, maybe you wanna kick off?
3 (19m 33s):
Yes, I'll lay the foundation on sort of an inspiration. And this really is through my travels in Scandinavia. I find that in America we tend to be very serious about where we house our seniors and where we educate our children. And the color palette and shape of things is really the leader that sets that Phil tab expose me to a Scandinavian architect who since dead maybe been dead 20 years, but Derek Asmus and as the Scandinavians, they are simple form, you know, everything has to have function. But Mr. Asmussen, he had a lot of fun with shape and color, sort of took those things into extreme.
3 (20m 15s):
And he has a, I suppose it's a school and probably about 40, 50 homes and a health clinic south of Stockholm called Yna. And we visited that and that really gave me an inspiration of what we could do with the school and where we could house seniors in our master plan. We, for the many reasons have the school across the street from our aging and place campus and it's prom field, which has a whole story and fun to it. And so all the buildings along prom field are to be inspired from the architect Eric Rasmussen. So that's why the pool is the first building along that area and it is pink and has some shapes and more shapes that are coming.
3 (20m 56s):
And so we challenge the architects for the school to use that as a guide. And we've clearly, as John o we've had to, to push them into having these unusual shapes and tilting the roofs. And now the color palette is what you do not normally see in American schools. Now in Sweden, this isn't uncommon to see these kind of bright colors and what we're doing. So what the whole fun and it, it's fun when we talk about it, people start smiling and so that's the whole idea. And so hopefully when people turn down that street, it's going to be such an interesting collage that it's a place you wanna visit and a place that's gonna bring joy and a smile to your face if you think about it. Which is what we should have when we're looking at our kids and a new vision on how we can age in place for our elders.
2 (21m 41s):
I agree, it's, it's, yeah, it's been very exciting putting it together. Phil Tab and Steve have been really, really helpful on the biophilic side, on the design, the orientation of the buildings. One of the things I'll add, we're so fortunate to be out in the nature in the Chattahoochee Hills community. We've actually created our classrooms to take advantage of that in that almost every one of our classrooms have full size garage doors that open up to additional learning space. So we want to create this open feeling to where everything orients out to the fields in the woods so that you are not confined to a desk, but have the ability to move and settle and learn in areas that best suits you all while feeling the calm and the energy you're deliver from the national environment.
1 (22m 23s):
There's a lot of environmental or sustainability aspects to it as people who listen to podcasts know Saray itself is an EarthCraft community, all of our buildings as well as commercial or EarthCraft. But tell us a little bit of where you are pursuing to go even further than sort of what we call EarthCraft commercial or EarthCraft Commercial Light. But you're also pursuing the Living Building Challenge and that's a pretty interesting thing. Can you share a little bit about why you chose that to try and pursue and what that is?
2 (22m 54s):
When we started developing this school, we started looking at the assets of our community and infrastructure thoughtfulness for our community and currently has a wastewaters plan in place, excellent walking past excellent value elements we already build to EarthCraft commercial lights. So as we started going through this checklist, we started to realize that we have the majority of things that are already qualified for this living building challenge. So we did a little bit of research and we decided it was a board that it was not only a nice thing to do, but an important thing to do in the education side. If we can create a campus by pursuing this living building challenge that creates an environment where the students are aware of the energy generation, water usage building with the right materials that are sustainable, creating a welcoming environment to our community with access to art and, and there's seven different pedals part of this, if we can capture all of those, we are not just creating an amazing learning environment for our students, but for everybody who visits that campus, adults, contractors, anybody who wants to create what a campus should look like.
2 (24m 2s):
And if we do this right, we can be as shiny example of how you should build schools going forward. The more students and more exposure on a long-term basis that someone has to this type of environment, it's going to impact how they make their decisions regardless of what career they go into in life. So lots of exposure, lots of education, lots of information is the basis for educating our students in greater community. And we feel like this campus can set that tone and create an example
3 (24m 29s):
And John share some of the monitors and how you're gonna get the kids involved on an ongoing basis to understand the kind of building and campus that they're in.
2 (24m 39s):
Our goal is to be at minimum, generate 105% of our energy and then be a closed loop water system. So as the students come in, our goal is to have actual display monitors on the wall that show a trend of their power usage during the day, the water generation solar generation. So they learn to actually live within ranges of temperature or adjust their behavior based on what that looks like. So let's say it's an overcast day and a student is aware what kind of power generation might come in, they might say, well hey, today's a good day to roll at the garage doors because we were not, we know we're not gonna get a lot from the sun today. So we'll actually seeing what they're doing, they'll be able to make behavioral decisions that impact their usage and an ongoing basis of these subconscious in the sense we'll also have practices aside from the solar generation just on when we talk about the farm composting, what do we do with our lunch when we're done with it?
2 (25m 35s):
Well we've got a plan for this. So we want them to be thoughtful in everything they do so that they're contributing to the usage of energy, water and just how they're impacting their environment.
1 (25m 47s):
That's amazing. And you were saying, you know, they'll open up these garage doors and they'll be able to go inside and out. Are there multiple buildings, like tell us a little bit about that. Cause it's not just one big building that's also what I think is pretty cool. It's multiple.
2 (26m 1s):
Sure. So we're gonna have a toddler building that will service students from seven weeks up to three years. We have a eight classroom building which will service students from three all the way through eighth grade. And then we'll have a high school, the high school, the bottom part of the high school, which we haven't touched on, will be a 3000 square foot maker space. Now maker space is a tactile learning environment where our students will be able to participate in laser cutting, digital printing, pottery, podcast rooms, whatever, whatever they wanna create. But it's going to be very much of a hands on production base where children can act outside the textbook and actually do things and then pursue their interests in a meaningful way.
1 (26m 45s):
Do I get to come and do a podcast with the
2 (26m 47s):
Yes, Yes. Well the utilization of the campus is a big part of what we wanna do. You know, traditional schools stop at three o'clock and that building sits dormant. Yeah. We wanna create an environment where businesses come through in the weekends or in the evenings or community members can come through and take classes at, you know, the Pottery Wheels or do woodworking. The more utilization we have in the space, the better impact it has on the environment cuz you don't have to create multiple spaces. So the goal is for this to enhance the entire community and the gym is a really, really exciting part of what we're doing because it's not just a gym, it's a gym with a theater and an amphitheater outside. Steve and and his team have been really helpful in positioning it on the site plan so that we can create something that I've never seen before where we will actually be able to have an amphitheater that opens to a stage that opens to inside of the gym when we're at a point where we can share with the greater community, we will do so.
2 (27m 40s):
But it's really, really,
1 (27m 40s):
That's great. And you guys are phasing this, The toddler building is almost done correct. I mean, knock on wood, right? Yeah. Fall, but
3 (27m 49s):
Depends on almost
1 (27m 50s):
Well to the lay person, you know? Yeah, it's looking pretty done.
2 (27m 54s):
The goal is to have that completed this fall.
1 (27m 56s):
Okay, great. Perfect.
3 (27m 58s):
And it's such fun just to walk into that building that's framed and you see this small windows, the low windows where my three year old grandchildren can stand there and look out the window and it feels their size. And that's so empowering.
1 (28m 13s):
It's
2 (28m 13s):
True. Some of the windows you have to be their age to appreciate it, which is great. It's very purpose driven.
1 (28m 18s):
That's so cool. Steve, you were sharing with me that when you walk out of that tall building, there's a huge field that like technically isn't still the campus, but that's the opportunity of being here is that the whole, all the trails, all of, in a way is your campus. And so the kids will into that space and it well, is that right?
3 (28m 41s):
One thing I hate is in that way we put our children and our seniors in basically prisons, we call it fences. And you know, I was sorry to learn that there is school regulations regarding fences and I understand that. So to sort of solve that feeling in one of the meetings I say to John, Well let's just move the fence to the force so it's not on your property, but let's just put it way clear over in the forest. And so there's no sense of a fence on the back of the school ground.
2 (29m 12s):
Yeah. You probably won't even see it from when you're sitting in the classroom. So yes, effectively the play space or the learning space almost triples in size based on that. So it's really amazing. And, and to answer your questions on the phasing Yeah, the gym and the primary a classroom building are next in line. So okay. We expect those to start in a few months. A couple months for the primary and hopefully for the year end for the gym. So all of it's moving forward and yeah, it's very exciting.
1 (29m 40s):
It's thrilling. And so if kids or parents wanna apply, where do we go?
2 (29m 47s):
Acton academy@serenweek.com, We are at capacity for a couple of our lower studios. The primary, we do have a little bit of space for some of the other studios, but as I mentioned before, fit is very important in assessing where a child is, is very important. So we ask everybody to call and ask because there may be a situation where there is room based on creating the correct classroom configuration of age and gender and we're growing. Right. So we may be full this year, but there may be a new classroom in the spring.
1 (30m 17s):
Exactly. And we're recording this in July, but it's probably gonna come out this fall of two. So just as a sense, any other details Steve or John you wanna share about it that are especially cool? I mean the tree trunk detail is kind of neat in the toddler building.
3 (30m 36s):
Yeah. And pushing our architects, looking at everything we want to reflect nature is we look at what we do. And so this has a great tilting roof that from certain angles it's gonna look like it's coming right outta the earth. We had to raise it so kids can't climb on it. We have kids all over the, the the roof. And of course that's planned to be solar, so not a good idea to have kids climbing up there. So when you come through the pasture to approach the school from the west, it literally look like it's coming outta the ground. And then is it races up to what, 20, 25 feet? I guess it's supported by forms that are mimicking trees. So it's the shapes of the trees and it's just gonna have this really cool, So that's the first building in transition from the pastures and the woods into motto and the school campus.
3 (31m 24s):
So that's kinda the introductory building.
1 (31m 27s):
I love that. And continues the woods into the building. I love that.
3 (31m 30s):
Yeah. So it's gonna be great fun to see that all coming together.
2 (31m 34s):
Yep. And we have our students starting in that building being the youngest. And as you move up the hill, the students get older and older. So to the research pinnacle of the under school of education at high school,
3 (31m 45s):
I love it. I I hadn't thought about that. That is, they move right on a So I think one of the most exciting things is, John, thank you for taking this role and the people who stepped forward, not all of them with children, to really contribute their time and energy and wisdom to pull this forward. And your fundraising was incredible that a community stood up and raised those funds in a fraction of the time that you expected. And so I think it's just amazing that this community values education and this type education to where they're willing to get their time and their money even if they don't have kids here.
2 (32m 27s):
It's very true. It it was really amazing. And we had an amazing team of people that came together to help out the school in awe. The generosity of time, commitment and vision that they have to create something that not just doesn't benefit us locally, but down the road can set an example to hopefully impact schools around the country.
3 (32m 47s):
And John, you might wanna share the scholarship program.
2 (32m 50s):
So our scholarship program is pretty amazing. And when we created this school, one of the things that was very, very important to myself and the board was that we did not want to create a school specifically for this community, but we wanted to capture all the surrounding community because we felt that a true community represents your society and your area and all the benefits of your greater community. And so what we've set aside, we have a goal that 25% of all the seats in our school are reserved for, we'll say need based families or families that could use a little bit of support. This has been a, a really, really successful program that has accomplished through participating in a state tax credit assignment.
2 (33m 31s):
We've had tremendous amount of success gathering funds for that. And then when we welcome a family in, we typically assign three years of education to them based on their need. So we're making a commitment to that family, not to support them for this year, but for several years going forward. It's an amazing program and we just hope that it'll continue to grow so we can continue to welcome more and more families to participate in what we're building.
3 (33m 58s):
And for those listing, it may not be aware, I mean CBI is located in basically a rural area even though we're on the edge and part of metropolitan Atlanta. And so this has been huge because education has not been great and this has offered really an opportunity for young families to stay in the area, many where they were raised. And education has forced many of them out. So this is exciting for the greater area and for various employees who are working in the various businesses around Serenity that may drive in. And this is an opportunity for their children to actually go to school where they're working. It's just added so much in the mix of the student body and for the greater community.
2 (34m 39s):
Yeah. So we have more information about that on our website if you wanna research it cause it's yeah, a great program.
1 (34m 45s):
We'll add links in the show notes. I know that both of you have places to go, but I do wanna ask our final question. Our final question sounds like a game show. We always ask the residents what is it that you would share with visitors that are coming to Sara and be like, what would you tell them to do for the day? Or what's your favorite thing to go do?
2 (35m 6s):
Well, I wouldn't have to tell 'em relax, because the moment you, you drive in the neighborhood or just even get off the interstate, your shoulder slowly start drop. I would say that just talk to people. Everybody's kind and welcoming and they're happy to share the story. And I would ask them to be very intentional about what they see. Everything from the paths to things like parking, mailbox orientation, the, the layout of the roads. It creates a platform which developing community becomes very, very easy. I would also pay attention to when people talk to you, I'd be surprised if they asked you what you do for a living. But instead ask you what you like to do. People who have decided to live in this community are more interested in getting to know you as a person and your interests and potentially how you might thrive in this community as well.
2 (35m 53s):
And then I would also ask people to pay attention to how much people who live in this community give to the community and help create this community. We have everything from people stepping up to creating softball leagues, taking people on bird watching hikes, creating mountain biking groups. I mean, there's just so many people that are so passionate about connecting with people based on passion. It introduces something that I've never experienced before. Tell people to come with clear eyes and in an inquisitive mind and get to know us in the community and what we're trying to accomplish.
1 (36m 27s):
That's great, John. I appreciate it. That's amazing. I'm like, be curious and look around. Yeah. All right. Well we're so excited to have you. We appreciate everything you're doing. We love having you as a neighbor of course. But I mean really stepping up to lead, just push forward education for a community school at c b is amazing. And I, when I say community, I mean the larger community has been phenomenal and we cannot wait for those buildings to be finished and to see that vision completed. So thank you for your time.
2 (36m 56s):
Thank you. And thank everybody. Thanks
1 (36m 58s):
John. Thank you Steve.