Reimagine education.
We’re building a school where children love learning — and we’re looking for the rare adults who can help them get there.
A different kind of school. A different kind of role.
If you’ve ever stood in front of a classroom and thought, there has to be a better way — this is the place.
At Acton Academy Columbus, we don’t teach. We don’t lecture. We don’t hand out worksheets and call it learning. Instead, we ask hard questions, hold space for productive struggle, and trust children to lead their own journeys.
We call our educators Guides — not teachers — because the work is closer to that of a coach, mentor, and Socratic questioner than the model most of us grew up with. It’s harder. It’s also infinitely more meaningful.
If you’re reading this and feeling something stir, keep going.
— Varun Bhatia, Co-Founder & Director
The kind of person who thrives here
A learner first
You read books on your own time, follow rabbit holes, and update your views when the evidence changes. You model what a curious adult looks like — because children are watching.
Comfortable with discomfort
Productive struggle is the work. You can hold space for a child’s frustration without rushing in to rescue, and you trust the process even when it’s messy.
Asks more than tells
Your default is the question, not the answer. You’ve felt the difference between a child who solved something themselves and one who was handed the solution — and you’re committed to the former.
High agency
You don’t wait for permission. You see what needs doing, you do it, and you take ownership of outcomes. Microschools reward initiative.
A storyteller and listener
You see each child as the hero of their own journey. You can read a room, hold a one-on-one with care, and frame a hard moment as a turning point.
A team player
Our guides plan together, debrief together, and grow together. Strong opinions, loosely held. Big ideas, generously shared.
What it’s like to guide here
No grading. No tests. No worksheets.
Learners set their own goals, run their own studio meetings, and earn badges through evidence of mastery. Your job isn’t to grade — it’s to design the conditions where children rise to challenges.
Real autonomy.
Guides have the latitude to design quests, shape studio culture, and make calls in the moment. We trust your judgment and back you up. You’re not following a script.
A small, tight-knit team.
Five studios, a handful of guides, and weekly time together to plan, problem-solve, and grow. Decisions move fast. Your voice matters from day one.
Growth, not stagnation.
We invest in our guides — books, conferences, training, mentorship, and protected time to develop. Most of our guides report this is the most challenging and rewarding work they’ve done.
I came thinking I’d teach kids. I left every day having learned more than they did.A Guide’s reflection · Year One
Currently hiring
Don’t see your role?
If you believe in this work and think you’d be a fit, we want to hear from you. Send us a note — the right person can create the right role.
Email Varun directly →