Flourishing is the goal. Self‑directed learning is the method. Adult growth is the key.
We support leaders and teachers who shape learning environments where young people live with agency and purpose.
Forming adults so learners flourish
Why We Exist
Classrooms too often mirror society’s dysfunction—disconnection, anxiety, dependence. We work with leaders and teachers to create spaces of calm, trust, and humanity, where every learner can grow into a purposeful, interdependent self-directed learner.
Self-directed learning is our method. It builds agency, purpose, and character in young people—but only when adults are formed to step forward with care and step back with trust. That’s why we begin with adults.
Through workshops, cohorts, consulting, site visits, and research, we help adults grow so learners can thrive.
Real schools, real learners, real practice.
Living Proof
We don’t theorize about self‑directed learning—we live it. Our model is lived, iterated, and public. At our schools—The Forest School: An Acton Academy and The Forest School Online—learners and guides practice self-direction every day. Students articulate their growth, set goals, support peers, and persist through challenges. Guides shift from telling to asking, from controlling to trusting. We lead with invitation, not critique, aiming to be proof of what self‑directed, flourishing‑centered education can be.
Engage With Us
Our services include virtual and in person workshops, cohorts, consulting, site visits, and research—all designed to help adults shift so learners can lead.
We form leaders to shift from control to trust, build systems that sustain self-direction, and grow in business, learning, and community skills. They leave with tools, priorities, and strategy, not just conviction.
Leaders
We inspire and support teachers to hand control to learners and trust them to lead. In doing so, teachers find their work more enjoyable, more fulfilling, and more human.
Teachers
We guide districts and states on innovation journeys that create sustainable change. Our focus is helping them build the kinds of learning environments families and students long for—places grounded in agency, relevance, and well-being.
States
Our Partners In Practice
Collaborating with schools and organizations across the U.S. and beyond to build environments where learners flourish.
