HELLO!

VARUN Bhatia (CO-Founder / Guide)

My professional career has taken me through amazing opportunities at PNC Bank, Scotts Miracle-Gro, and JPMorgan Chase, among others.

I have worked in investment banking (mergers and acquisitions), corporate strategy, corporate finance, and, most recently, as a project manager for a Machine Learning team.

And now, I’m a Guide at Acton - and I wouldn’t change it for the world! The opportunity to help young learners grow through education and learn real-world skills is what I’m most passionate about.

My bachelors degree is from Ohio State and MBA from University of Michigan.

Connect with me on Linkedin or Twitter or Medium.

AMY (ELEMENTARY STUDIO GUIDE)

I have spent my whole career looking for ways to nurture curiosity, independence, and creativity in kids, and my journey has only just begun. 

After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Old Dominion University, I worked in preschools and as a nanny for a decade before going back to school. In 2016, I received a Master’s in Social Work and worked as a mental health therapist for kids, teens, and adults for 5 years. I am an EMDR-trained clinician with additional training and experience with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Play Therapy. I specialize in the treatment of trauma, anxiety, and grief, and I take pride in my ability to tailor treatment for every client's needs. When I learned about Acton Academy from a podcast, I was inspired. Many of my clients were students who struggled to manage the stress and anxiety of a typical school setting. I stepped away from the mental health field to be part of the solution for these students, instead of just the treatment.

In my free time, I enjoy hiking, creating miniatures, and reading good books with a cat (or two) on my lap. 

StEPH (SPARK GUIDE)

Hello! My name is Steph, and I am very excited to join the Acton team as the Montessori Guide and Co-Learner in the Spark Studio. It will be a pleasure to get to know your learner as they explore their education through Montessori and Reggio-Inspired approaches.

I attended Muskingum University, where I earned a B.A. in Health and Physical Education. However, right after graduation, I moved to Melbourne, Australia, where I discovered the early learning years and found my passion working with learners aged 3-6/7 years old. With this growing passion, I worked in a variety of Reggio-Inspired centers around Melbourne and delved deep into following learners throughout their educational journeys as a co-learner and motivator. Moving back to the United States, I joined a Montessori school, opening up a whole new world of education to me. I completed a certification in Montessori Education and have fallen in love with combining Montessori and Reggio-Inspired approaches as an integrated educational method for learners.

My goals as I start here at Acton are to introduce learners to key Montessori principles and encourage their independence in daily routines, self-help skills, and social/emotional regulation. Our Spark Heroes will delve deep into their own education, including reading, writing, math, social sciences, and practical life skills. The Spark studio will nurture their creativity, artistic abilities, and critical thinking skills through loose parts, open-ended art materials, and social interactions with peers.

Bradley (ELEMENTARY / Middle School Guide )

I'd like to welcome learners of all kinds to Acton and remind them that every day is an opportunity to begin anew!

I've made a point throughout my life of immersing myself in as many educational environments as possible. Most of my work has been in private tutoring, individual learning design, and classical education. I pride myself in my refusal to specialize and my love of all the disciplines. I believe in treating learners as people first, with equal focus on the emotional and the technical aspects of the learning process. My greatest joy is in working with young learners as they learn to connect their love of learning with their love of life!

I received a Bachelor of Music in voice performance and opera from Northwestern University.

LAURA SANDEFER (ACTON CO-FOUNDER)

Laura lived on both US coasts and in between as a child, then settled into Vanderbilt University for her undergraduate studies in the College of Arts and Science. After being awarded the highly competitive Walter Wattles Fellowship at Lloyd’s of London, Laura worked in the aviation insurance industry in New York City.

Deciding to follow her calling into the world of education, Laura returned to Nashville and earned her Master of Education at Peabody College. This led her to her work at the Oklahoma Arts Institute, creating fine arts education programs for teachers and talented high school students.

Laura married Jeff Sandefer and is the happy mother of Sam and Charlie and step-mother to Taite. It is the inspiration of these children that led Laura and Jeff to co-found Acton Academy.

Her greatest hero is her mother who was a Master Teacher. Her wisest mentor is her father who sent her off to college with two words of advice: "Be curious."

JEFF SANDEFER (ACTON CO-FOUNDER)

Jeff Sandefer lives a dual life as an entrepreneur and a Socratic Guide. As an entrepreneur, he founded his first company at age 16 and went on to found or co-found seven successful businesses. As a Socratic teacher at the University of Texas, Jeff’s students five times voted him the school’s Outstanding Teacher and Businessweek named him one of the top Entrepreneurship professors in America.

Jeff went on to co-found the Acton School of Business, an MBA program perennially ranked by the Princeton Review among the best in the nation. In 2012 The Economist honored him as one of the top fifteen Business School professors in the world.

Jeff is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, where he served for over twenty years on the school’s governing committees. He was a longtime director of the Philanthropy Roundtable and National Review magazine and one of the youngest members ever elected to the Texas Business Hall of Fame.