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Acton Academy Fort Lauderdale

  • ABOUT 
    • The Mission
    • Meet Our Team
    • Research
    • Blog
    • Hiring
    • Contact Us
  • PRICING
  • FAQ's
  • …  
    • ABOUT 
      • The Mission
      • Meet Our Team
      • Research
      • Blog
      • Hiring
      • Contact Us
    • PRICING
    • FAQ's
TALK WITH US
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Acton Academy Fort Lauderdale

  • ABOUT 
    • The Mission
    • Meet Our Team
    • Research
    • Blog
    • Hiring
    • Contact Us
  • PRICING
  • FAQ's
  • …  
    • ABOUT 
      • The Mission
      • Meet Our Team
      • Research
      • Blog
      • Hiring
      • Contact Us
    • PRICING
    • FAQ's
TALK WITH US
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  • Meet the Team from acton academy fort lauderdale

    "Traditional School Wasn't Getting What Our Children Needed For Today's World

    ...So We Started One That does"

     

    MEET THE FOUNDERS

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    Martina Pavlovich-Slaven - Montessori Trained

    Head of School | Spark & Elementary Studios

    Having raised 4 older children who are now graduated and pretty "cool" adults, Martina brings practical thinking to the Acton Academy Fort Lauderdale family.

     

    A certified Yoga Instructor, and Montessori-trained Guide (NAMC), she was one of the first generations of students to travel west when the Iron Curtain came down in the early ninties.

     

    Her favorite quote is to "Be the change you want to see in the world" and our Acton Academy is the fruition of what she has been dreaming education could be for our youngest, after watching the older four navigate the traditional education system.

    Book a 15-Min Q&A Call with Martina

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    Tobin Slaven - M.Ed

    Head of School | Middle School & LaunchPad Studios

    Tobin Slaven, co-founder of Acton Academy Fort Lauderdale with his wife Martina, blends education and entrepreneurship. With an M.Ed. in Student Development, Tobin was originally trained to be a school leader, but his 20-year entrepreneurial journey spans agency ownership, consulting, and coaching (both athletics and business).

     

    He’s a co-author of “Experts Never Chase” and host of the “Family Friendly Fort Lauderdale” podcast. Tobin recently launched LiftedWithAI.com, exploring AI in K-12 education for personalized learning. Formerly Entrepreneur-In-Residence at FEE.org’s Educational Entrepreneurship Lab, he is interested in AI and innovation for learning environments.

     

    Tobin and Martina are parents to five children (4 of them now "cool" adults) and are starting development of a sister-school in Prague, with a vision to foster a global community of like-minded families.

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    Divya - Our Inspiration For Starting The School

    Our first 'Dragonaut' Student of the Elementary School Studio at Acton Academy Fort Lauderdale.

  • Meet our Guides

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    Tyler Eassa - IALDS Gold Certified Guide

    Technology Director & After-School Coordinator

    Tyler brings a willingness to learn and share new technology, along with a patience to work with younger people in helping them see the amazing world all around them. Tyler is also Safesport-certified by the U.S. Center for Safestport Training.

     

    In his spare time, Tyler loves foraging for mushrooms, learning about herbal recipes, and is inspired by traveling to new locations.

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    Chantal Tompkins - IALDS Gold Certified Guide

    Arts Director & Lead Guide

    Art and the appreciation of all different forms of beauty is central to Chantal's life, as she is a practicing artist and graphic designer.

     

    As a Lead Guide, Chantal is responsible for bringing both a fun and "gameful" experience to the learning environment, for students and adults alike.

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    Ján Tompkins​ - BA (MA-2023)

    Visual Culture and New Media Specialist

    Ján Tompkins is an archival researcher specializing in audiovisual storytelling. He is the co-founder of the Prague-based production company Daisy with Rider.

     

    The company's current projects include The Republic of Dreams: a multimedia project produced by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw, which adapts the work of Polish writer Bruno Schulz, using video, illustrations, and sonic experiences all inspired by dreams and dreaming (see more at republicofdreams.online), and The Infinite Library: a virtual reality exploration of various systems of knowledge that relate to the human experience made in collaboration with Berlin-based High Road Stories and the Goethe-Institut in New Delhi.

     

    Ján is currently completing his Master's degree in Humanities at Anglo-American University in Prague, the city where Acton Academy Fort Lauderdale's sister school will be opening in 2023.

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    Giselle Canko - Guide-In-Training

    Spark Studio Guide

    Giselle is a highly skilled and dedicated Fine Art graduate with a Bachelor’s degree from Marist College, where she spent four years immersed in study abroad in Florence, Italy.

     

    With extensive experience in both small and large galleries, Giselle brings a deep understanding of the art world, complemented by a passion for storytelling through visual themes, particularly those rooted in location and history.

     

    Her background also includes a commitment to modern educational techniques, having served as an intensive tutor for Broward Public Schools, where she fostered a love of learning in children. Outside of her professional endeavors, Giselle is an avid vintage fashion enthusiast, drawing inspiration from classic films and timeless design.

  • meet our advisors from The Original acton academy In austin, TX

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    Laura Sandefer

    CoFounder of Acton Academy Austin and Author of Courage To Grow

    Laura is cofounder and head of school of Acton Academy (Austin). Raised by a science teacher and minister, Laura lived on both coasts and in between as a child and then landed at Vanderbilt University for her undergraduate studies in the College of Arts and Science. After working in London and New York City in the aviation insurance business, Laura yearned to follow her heart into the world of teaching.

     

    She went back to Vanderbilt's renowned Peabody College and received her Master of Education. This led her to work in arts education at the Oklahoma Arts Institute. Laura later married Jeff and has two sons and a stepdaughter. It is the inspiration of these children that led Laura and Jeff to cofound Acton Academy. Her greatest hero is her beloved late mother, who was a master teacher as none other. Her wisest mentor is her father, who sent her off to college with two words of advice: "Be curious."

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    Jeff Sandefer

    CoFounder of The Acton School of Business, at the University of Texas

    Jeff is an entrepreneur and a Socratic teacher. As an entrepreneur who most recently sold Sandefer Capital, an energy investment firm with several billion dollars in assets. He cofounded the Acton School of Business, a school dedicated to America’s next generation of principled entrepreneurs and famous for its 100-hour work weeks. The Princeton Review has consistently ranked Acton’s teachers, students, and program among the best in the country.

     

    While at the University of Texas, Jeff’s students voted him the school’s Most Outstanding Teacher five times, and he was named by Businessweek as one of the top entrepreneurship professors in America. He also cofounded Acton Academy (Austin), where he is a middle school lead guide. Jeff has been a longtime board member of National Review, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, The Philanthropy Roundtable, and the Harvard Business School and is one of the youngest members ever elected to the Texas Business Hall of Fame.

  • Our School Philosophy Is Inspired

    By This 'Emeritus' Board of Educational Leaders

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    Maria Montessori

    Italian Physician and Educator | 1870-1952

    Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name.

     

    Montessori considered her work in the Orthophrenic School and her subsequent psychological studies and research work in elementary schools as "scientific pedagogy", a concept current in the study of education at the time. She called for not just observation and measurement of students, but for the development of new methods which would transform schools through "Scientific Education."

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    Lord John Acton

    Historian and Politician | 1834-1902

    Lord John Acton was an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer best known for the remark, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

     

    In that spirit, the Acton name inspired the Acton School of Business, an MBA program based in Austin at the University of Texas. That affiliation led to the start of the network of Acton Academy schools in 2009.

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    Ján Amos Comenius

    Professor and Philosopher | 1592 – 1670

    John Amos Comenius (often written as Komenský) was a Czech philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considered the father of modern education.

     

    Comenius was far ahead of his time and is best known for developing the concept of "schooling by games".

     

    Comenius introduced a number of educational concepts and innovations including pictorial textbooks written in native languages instead of Latin, teaching based in gradual development from simple to more comprehensive concepts, lifelong learning with a focus on logical thinking over dull memorization, equal opportunity for impoverished children, education for women, and universal and practical instruction.

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    Ivy Cromartie Stranahan

    Teacher and Philanthropist | 1881 – 1971

    Often referred to as the "mother of Fort Lauderdale," Ivy Stranahan was the city's first teacher of its one room schoolhouse.

     

    And like the Acton Academy focus on peer-to-peer learning, Ivy was known for teaching her older students, so they could in turn teach the younger learners.

     

    Ivy is also well known for supporting the rights of the Seminoles of Southern Florida and aiding them in moving to an Indian reservation.

     

    She is closely associated with the Friends of the Florida Seminoles, an organization through which she sought to support the education of Seminole children, build homes and eventually to support themselves fully.

About Us

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Meet The Team

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Located at

2250 SW 31st Ave - Building B

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312

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Contact Us

Text INFO to 1-844-284-7460

or Book a 15 Min Q&A Call

 

 

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