Behind the Business: Acton Academy

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — On Addison Avenue in Twin Falls, a new school is taking a different approach to learning.

“The children are able to direct their own learning, they can move about, they can switch materials,” said Mindy Petramalo, the head of school at Acton Academy.

Petramalo opened the school after seeing a need locally for her own children.

“We decided to make Twin Falls our home, and where we wanted to raise our children,” she said “We thought we’ll just bring this type of education to the area.”

The hands on approach is what makes Acton Academy the most unique, being the only Montessori School in the South-Central Idaho region.

“Each session, which is on average every 4-6 weeks, our children dive in and have a hands-on project outside of just their core skills. So for this session, they’re actually doing gardening,” said Petramalo.

And once this session is over on May 20, the children will be able to sell their plants to the public. On top of the hands-on approach, Socratic discussions taking place each morning look to teach critical thinking at very young ages.

“Critical thinking, on their feet, it’s not just being told an answer or how to do something and regurgitate, this is thinking for themselves,” said Petramalo.

Petramalo says she sees this working.

“It’s fun to watch the children progress. We have one that’s a kindergartener that’s already halfway through 1st grade math, another first-grader that’s ready to move up into the 2nd grade already a little over halfway through the school year.”

Copyright 2022 KMVT/KSVT. All rights reserved.