About Acton

We guide children to discover a calling that changes the world.

Acton Academy Port St. Lucie is a learner-driven education for the 21st century.

Acton Academy Port St. Lucie is a learner-driven education that guides each child on a journey to discover a calling and change the world.

Traditional schools follow a hierarchical model of top-down authority. At Acton Academy, we have guides who coach learners using the Socratic Method. We believe children must be enrolled on a journey of their own learning to truly learn anything at all.

Acton isn't a school, it's like a treasure map. Acton guides young learners on an adventure to uncover their unique gifts and discover their purpose in the world. Along the way, they develop the tools, habits, and character needed to navigate challenges and turn their dreams into reality.

We are an independent affiliate of the Acton Academy network, founded with the original Acton in 2009 in Austin, Texas. The Acton network includes over 300 academies across the globe.

Learners at an Acton exhibition
Our Mission

To inspire each person who enters our doors to find a calling that changes the world.

Our Philosophy

We believe that clear thinking leads to good decisions, that good decisions lead to the right habits, that the right habits lead to character, and that character becomes destiny.

Our Beliefs

  • We believe each person has a gift that can change the world in a profound way.
  • We believe in learning to learn, learning to do, and learning to be.
  • We believe in a closely connected family of lifelong learners.
  • We believe in being transparent with all families in our community.
  • We believe in holding each other accountable to the commitments we’ve made.
  • We believe open and honest feedback is a necessary part of the learning process.
  • We believe in economic, political, and religious freedom.
Learners playing outside
Our Promises

We promise, through Socratic guiding and experiential learning, to encourage each member of our community to…

  • Begin a Hero’s Journey;
  • Discover precious gifts and a commitment to mastery;
  • Become a curious, independent, life-long learner;
  • Embrace the forging of a strong character;
  • Cherish the arts, the physical world, and the mysteries of life; and
  • Treasure economic, political, and religious freedom.
Meet the team

Our Team

Allyson Sauber

Allyson Sauber

Head Guide · Owner

Allyson is a Family Nurse Practitioner with over 16 years of experience in pediatric care, child development, and family education. She discovered Acton while working as a content creator for Big Life Journal — a growth mindset company for children — and immediately recognized it as the education she wanted for her own boys.

Her primary motivation in co-founding Acton Academy Port St. Lucie is to provide the best educational experience for her two boys — the kind of education she wished she'd had growing up.

After serving as a guide at another Acton for six months, she co-founded Acton Academy Port St. Lucie with Josh. She believes children are capable of far more than we imagine, and that they grow most when given the freedom to fail, persist, and discover their own calling.

Josh Mason

Josh Mason

Director · Owner

Josh is a former public school teacher who lasted four months. While teaching 7th-grade English and history in Hawaii, he realized the problem with public education wasn't the conditions — it was the outdated, factory-style methodology. Children loved learning, but they hated school.

Years later, while earning his MBA at the Acton School of Business, he met Jeff Sandefer and apprenticed at the original Acton Academy in Austin. He told his wife Michelle: “When we have kids, they're attending an Acton. If there isn't one where we live, we'll start our own.” They moved to Port St. Lucie in 2021 and opened Acton Academy Port St. Lucie shortly after.

Begin your family’s journey

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