Citizens Academy

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Citizens Academy

We believe each person who enters our doors deserves to find a calling and change the world.

05/20/2026

What feeds your child's spirit?

04/28/2026

Have you signed up for the Citizens Academy Children's Business Fair in May? We are hosting 60+ young entrepreneurs at our Children's Business Fair. The most important rule: No help from parents! Come witness young entrepreneurs sell goods and services and take ownership of their future by practicing real-world business skills! Sign up for a booth or learn more at https://www.childrensbusinessfair.org/renton-washington

04/27/2026

Join me on my 4-minute drive from Medical Center to Citizens Academy, an accredited, private micro-school I started in 2024. Check out this video to hear how we are intentionally breaking from the traditional model that almost all public and private schools use.

04/21/2026

What's the best way to learn about physics? Dusty textbooks and lectures? At Acton Academy, we build our knowledge through curiosity and discovery. Learners normally read an article or watch a high-quality video explaining a concept, and then have the freedom to explore the physics principles through a project. Most projects are team-based, so they have to do this in community. No teacher keeps the heroes on task or mitigates conflict. They have to figure out how to resolve a problem when another learner takes the item they wanted to use from the supply area. At the end of the day, they learn more about practical physics than a traditional student in a classroom. But our learners also learn how to make something in the real world. They also learn how to be a good friend and how to deal with people who disagree with you and are different from you.

04/16/2026

Big Shout out to our first Supporting Sponsor for supporting young entrepreneurs in our community! This fair we are purchasing pop-up tents for every vendor, so that we can have the fair rain or shine. Please contact us if you are interested in supporting the Citizens Academy Children's Business Fair!

https://www.childrensbusinessfair.org/renton-washington

04/15/2026

We call it Learner Driven because it puts your child (and your family) in the driver's seat. You get to choose what to work on, how fast to go, when to start and stop, and when to take a break. You have to learn how to manage your time and work in a community of peers. You have to learn how to manage your behavior and your impulses, and how to engage with people who are annoying you. All of these skills, usually managed by a professional "teacher," are pushed back onto the learners themselves. That's the key to becoming a learner in our studios.

Come see how we are making things differently at https://citizens-academy.org/learning-design-2374-1715

04/13/2026

We are so excited for our next learning quest: SURVIVOR! We're practicing all sorts of wilderness skills and emergency preparedness practices. Find out more about our Learning Design process here: https://citizens-academy.org/learning-design-2374-1715

Photo Credit: Art of Manliness

04/06/2026

Have you ever heard about the challenge donut?

04/03/2026

Why does it seem like students in traditional school only practice building communities in-between classes? In the hallway, at the lunch room, and while the teacher isn't looking. What if we redesigned learning so that the community they were building was just as important as the academics they were learning?

Come see how we are making things differently at https://citizens-academy.org/learning-design-2374-1715

03/30/2026

The Real Difference Between a "Student" and an Acton Academy Learner
Picture this.
In a traditional classroom, the bell rings. The teacher says, “Your Rube Goldberg machine project is due Friday.”
Twenty-five kids look up.
Twenty-four of them immediately ask:
“How long does it have to be?”
“What counts for full credit?”
“Can I just draw it instead of building it?”
“Can we use the same pieces as last year’s class?”
They are waiting for clarity.
They are waiting to be told exactly how much effort is “enough.”
Now watch what happened last week in an Acton Academy studio.
A group of 8-to-12-year-old learners had the same challenge: build a working Rube Goldberg machine that demonstrates at least three physics principles.
They had two hours.
They ran out of time.
The pieces didn’t connect. The marble never made it to the end.
The adults in the room said nothing. No reminders. No extensions. No “you can finish it for homework.”
So the kids did something radical.
They came back the next day—before the studio even started—and started tinkering.
They stayed after pickup time.
They worked through their lunch.
They continued to work during their free-choice time.
No one told them to. No one was grading them.

They just couldn’t stand the fact that their machine wasn’t done.
After hours of effort, the marble rolled, the levers flipped, the cup filled, and the stuffed toy was pulled off the ladder (the final step they had agreed upon).
Every single piece they had designed, failed, redesigned, and rebuilt… finally worked in one glorious, ridiculous chain reaction.
The studio went dead silent for half a second.
Then the screaming started.
Not polite clapping.
Real, raw, chest-exploding pride.
One boy—usually the quietest in the group—threw his hands in the air and yelled, “WE DID IT! WE DID IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT WORKED!”
That’s the difference.
A traditional “student” performs for the teacher.
An Acton Academy Learner performs for himself.
A student finishes when the deadline says so.
A Learner finishes when the work deserves to be finished.
One waits to be told what to do.
The other can’t stop until it’s right.
Which future do you want for your child?
If you’re tired of raising kids who only move when someone else pushes the domino…
there’s another way.
Come see what ownership actually looks like.
Come watch kids who don’t just complete projects—they own them. https://citizens-academy.org/learning-design-2374-1715

Address

10421 SE 192nd Street
Renton, WA
98055

Website

http://citizens-academy.org/

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