Week #13 and School/Family Overlap

We work hard to keep the studio special! It’s the space where learners get to have a zone of “school life,” distinctly separate from their “family life” and “private life.”

The studio (school life) is a protected space where learners get the privilege of asking themselves, often unspoken, “Who will I be when my family is not around?” The experience of being part of a studio like this is a tiny (but crucial), healthy stepping stone to growing up to be an independent man or woman.
One way the school zone and family zone overlap at Acton Academy Lakewood is during exhibitions. At the end of each session, learners welcome families into their studio to see and experience what they’ve been up to.
Last Thursday was our exhibition about this session’s focus on Ancient Greece. Elementary Learners gave tours of “Acton Athens,” where they answered questions about the items they made and the discussions they had, inspired by Ancient Greece, and also showcased their academic progress on Journey Tracker, our platform for keeping track of self-paced work in reading, writing, and math. Sparks (PreK-K) shared the materials that have been most helpful to them in learning letters, sounds, shapes, and numbers.


The next day, we took time to reflect and celebrate. 
What was the funnest thing about the exhibition? 
What was the most challenging?
Now that we’ve had three exhibitions this year, what would you say is most important to making an exhibition great?
-Having enough time to prepare?
-Visitors that are interested?
-That you feel so proud of yourself?

What did learners talk about most in response to these questions? That what they LOVE most about exhibitions is that their parents are there, visiting their special space. Hooray! This tells us that our studio is special, indeed, and we have protected each zone so that it can serve its own special purpose in helping these young people on their journey to become great grown-ups!

Have a wonderful holiday together in your "family zone!"

Best,
Molly Franklin
Head of School


PS
More photos from last week.

PPS
Schedule a tour. The next opportunity for enrollment is Session 5, on February 22nd.