Acton Academy Madison West

21st Century Learning

We believe that learning to learn, learning to do, and learning to be are more important than learning to know.

Young people find great joy in learning and love coming to school at Acton Academy Madison West.

Find joy in learning: Begin your family's journey

Children from Fitchburg, Blackhawk and surrounding areas in WI, enjoying education learning with Acton Academy Madison West.

Madison West, Blackhawk Wisconsin Children encuouraged to pursue their education with Acton Academy Madison West.

Acton Academy Madison West class in progress to children from Shorewood and surrounding areas.

Madison West children enjoying education by Acton Academy.

Our Learning Design

Learning to Learn, Do and Be

The latest in educational technology for self-paced mastery of reading, writing and math skills.

Hands-on project based quests to master the tools and skills needed to solve problems in the real world.

Deep Socratic discussions about heroes, history and self-governance to hone critical thinking skills and the ability to powerfully think, write and speak.

Professional tools for art, engineering, tech and storytelling in place of worksheets and busy work. Montessori tools for younger heroes.

Written promises and covenants that form a tightly bound community of individuals learning to form authentic friendships and honestly resolve interpersonal problems.

A day in our Studios is creativity within constraints: large blocks of time for work and play with clear but broad guardrails, equipping young people to manage their time, set goals, and track progress.

Our Promises To Your Child

He Or She Will:

Begin a hero's journey

Learn to be a curious, independent, lifelong learner

Develop a deep respect for economic, political and religious freedoms

Cherish the arts, wonders of the physical world and the mysteries of life on Earth

Discover his or her most precious gifts and learn to use them to solve difficult problems

Children from Blackhawk, Fitchburg, Middleton, Shorewood & other areas in Wisconsin learning 21st education at Acton Academy Madison West.

Our Beliefs

We believe each child 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 our learning environment is a closely connected community of lifelong learners.

We believe in a society in which people live a life of meaning according to their deepest beliefs, cooperating without compulsion, and taking responsibility for the consequences of their actions.

Our Acton Academy Madison West Team

Marisa Palmer, Co-Founder and Head of School

Hello and welcome to Acton Academy Madison West! My husband, Brandon, and I were inspired to embark on the hero's journey of founding an Acton after hearing a podcast interview with another owner. The philosophy and learning design immediately resonated with us. We knew it was what we wanted for our now seven-year old son, and that it would equip him to flourish and succeed in the 21st century, while building character and integrity.

Brandon and I met while working in New York, and both have Midwestern roots. I'm a reformed investment banker and hedge fund analyst who spent the last ten years building education businesses and also teaching. I attended UW-Madison and played volleyball for the Badgers. Brandon's background is in technology. He was the CIO for a foreign-currency exchange. After starting and running his own business, he now works for Redox in the healthcare tech space. He is Acton's technology guru!

We are thrilled to be on this journey and invite you to join us by becoming part of the Acton Academy Madison West community.

Marisa Palmer, Spark Montessori Guide

Prior to co-founding Acton Academy Madison West, Marisa was considered an innovator at UW School of Business. She won the Dean's Educational Innovation Award for developing a skills-based badge course in financial modeling and was named one of the nation's "Favorite Business Professors" in 2020 by Poets & Quant's Magazine. Marisa is bringing her child-centered, activity-based approach to Acton Academy Madison West where she guides our youngest heroes in the Spark studio.

Marisa is earning her NAMC Montessori Early Childhood and Lower Elementary certifications and takes great joy in observing young people at play and at work. She is deeply invested in "following the child" and supporting the Spark heroes' curiosities and interests as they take some of the earliest steps on their heroes' journeys.

Lanqi Xu, Discovery Studio Guide

Lanqi was born and raised in Dalian, China, and is proficient in both English and Mandarin. Lanqi came to the U.S. for college in 2018 and earned her bachelor's degree in education from UW-Madison. After graduation, Lanqi moved to New York and earned her master’s degree at Teachers College, Columbia University. Before joining Acton Academy Madison West, Lanqi was a 4th grade teacher at Success Academy Charter School in Washington Heights in NYC where she led project-based learning and developed lesson plans to fit diverse children’s needs.

Lanqi is deeply passionate about project-based learning, which empowers learners to conduct research on topics in-line with their interests, collaborate in groups, and present their findings. In terms of educational philosophy, Lanqi firmly believes that every child is a hero on a hero’s journey. She also advocates for a learning journey that fosters happiness and freedom.

Olivia Webb, Spark Play Guide

Olivia brings her experience and passion as an outdoor educator to Acton Academy Madison West. Prior to joining the team, she spent eight years as an interpretive naturalist in central Illinois, where she helped children and adults of all ages forge deep connections with the local forest and prairie. While working with the Urbana Park District, she researched and developed a Forest School program which now brings child-directed, play-based outdoor learning to multiple homeschool communities throughout the school year. In 2015 she earned her bachelor's degree in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which allows her to bring strong STEM content to her work as an educator.

Olivia believes that play is one of the deepest forms of learning, indoors or out, young or old. In all her work she encourages children to use play for finding joy and curiosity; for forging strong, informed and respectful connections with the natural world; and for discovering their own incredible capabilities.