Welcome to Launchpad’s fourth week! Genre: Are Other People’s Opinions Always Bad? This week in Genre, we broadened the scope of our interviews. While last week focused on learning how we view ourselves, this week was all about understanding how other people view us. We rated each other on the traits included in the Big Five Personality Test, and later reflected on how accurate we thought our scores were. This gave us an opportunity to compare our own perceptions with the per

Hello, parents, grandparents, and family members! Welcome to the Week 4 Newsletter from the Journey Studio. This week, learners continued researching and reflecting on how the human mind works, with a particular focus on behavioral economics, behavioral experiments, and the factors that influence human decision-making. Genre: Optimism, Pessimism & Behavioral Economics This week in Genre, learners began exploring what it means to be optimistic or pessimistic. They considered h

Hello fellow learners, parents, and everyone else! This was quite a full week for our Discovery learners, so let’s get into it! Monday On Monday, we started with our morning launch and then moved into Core Skills. This was the first week using our new Core Skills System. Learners can earn different levels based on the points they complete through their Core Skills work: Level 1: 0–149 points Level 2: 150–249 points Level 3: 250+ points This was also our first week getting to

Dear Sparks Families, Welcome to our fourth week of school! The Sparks had a busy and exciting week filled with Core Skills, team-building activities, creative projects, Studio Committee voting, and plenty of outdoor time. Monday The Sparks began the week with a conversation about belonging while being different. They listened to a read-aloud of The Crocodile That Didn’t Like Water, which helped them reflect on the topic. They then continued working on their Core Skills befor

Welcome to Launchpad’s Third Week! This has been an extremely busy week! With our Lip Dub video and Studio Contracts complete, Session One has officially begun. This Session, our Genre is focused on interviews. While we will eventually work our way up to interviewing for our dream jobs, we are starting at the most basic level: with ourselves. To prepare for this challenge, we were introduced to the concept of the mask. A mask can be a form of protection—a way we hide parts of

Welcome, everyone! This week was filled with fun challenges and new discoveries. Even better, it marked the beginning of our Civilization and Behavioral Economics Quest! Genre This week in Genre, learners began researching and reflecting on rational versus irrational decision-making. Part of this work involved thinking about the decisions they make in their own lives and considering whether those decisions are rational or irrational. Afterward, learners researched different b

Hello, fellow learners, parents, and… everyone! We had a very busy week! Between WW, Quest, Core Skills, House Cup, Math Lab, Art, and more, there was a lot going on. So, let’s get into it! Monday On Monday, we started with a launch and then jumped into Core Skills. Lots of learners made great progress and finished a lot of work! We also started learning about Freedom Levels, which we’ll tell you more about later. After Core Skills, we had D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read).

Dear Sparks Families, Welcome to our third week of school! The Sparks enjoyed a full and busy week filled with Core Skills, team building activities, birthday celebrations, and plenty of outdoor free time. Monday The Sparks began the week with a read-aloud of The Duckling Gets a Cookie? They discussed whether the way we use our words can impact what we receive from others. Afterwards, they continued working on their Core Skills before heading outside for plenty of free time i

This week began with the reintroduction of three very important activities in the Launchpad Studio: Core Skills, House Cup, and NGA time. On Wednesday, we officially launched this year’s House Cup, giving us an opportunity to connect more deeply with our Houses while strengthening our leadership and teamwork skills. We were also introduced to our NGA squads, where 100+ Launchpad learners from across the globe gathered on a Zoom call to meet and collaborate with others who sha

Hello from the Journey Studio! A lot has happened this week, and I’ll be telling you all about it in this edition of the Journey Newsletter. Genre: Discovering Our Gifts, Passions & Purpose This week, the learners spent time reflecting on their gifts, passions, and an injustice they would like to fix. These reflections are helping them think about the next steps in their own Hero’s Journey. On Wednesday, the learners began working on their Hero Boards. After receiving feedbac

Hello Discovery Parents! It’s the second week of the session, and we did so much! I’m excited to tell you all about what we did this week. Monday: Lip Dub Practice & All About Discovery On Monday, we had our first day of practicing the Lip Dub, and it was really fun! We also did an “All About Discovery” Circle, where some learners became mentors for new learners who joined Discovery this session. Others created presentations about different aspects of Discovery. For example,

Dear Sparks Families, Welcome to our second week of school! The Sparks had a full and fun week packed with team-building activities, Core Skills, Lip Dub practice, and outdoor time. Throughout the week, our learners explored kindness, courage, teamwork, and how to handle strong feelings while spending plenty of time learning and playing together. Monday: Kindness & the Spark O Meter On Monday, the Sparks: Began their journey by discussing what it means to be kind Were introdu

Welcome to LaunchPad’s First Week! This week was the perfect start to the year—one that began as if we had never left. While much of our work focused on planning for the year ahead, the energy in the studio was beautiful. Although the LaunchPad community looks a little different this year, our connections to one another feel just as strong as they always have. To begin the year, we started with our traditional Acton Lip Dub. We spent much of this week sharing ideas and planni

Hello from the Journey Studio! This is the first Journey Newsletter of the 2026–2027 school year. We started the year this week with many new learners joining us. We also began working on our Lip Dub Quest and Hero Boards. Genre This week in Genre, we spent time thinking about who we are as people and what heroic habits are. After reflecting on our own heroic habits, we each came up with five people whose heroic habits we would like to model. Throughout the rest of the week,

Hello Discovery Families! It has been a fun and eventful first week in the Discovery Studio! We have been holding our Discussion Circles together in the Big Room, exploring a variety of thought-provoking topics. Discussions included the risks and benefits of having leaders, what a person needs to understand and reach their potential, how to recognize and work within our comfort, challenge, and panic zones, and whether a tough-minded or warm-hearted approach is more effective

Dear Sparks Families, Welcome back! The Sparks had a wonderful first week back at school with their Tribe, filled with excitement, energy, teamwork, and plenty of fun. Wednesday The Sparks began their week by: Discussing what it means to be a hero Participating in team-building games like “Find Josh” and “Get on the Boat” Brainstorming ideas for the upcoming Lip Dub Competition Enjoying outdoor free time in the woods and on the playground Thursday On Thursday, the Sparks: Dis

Our year is almost over! Here are the details for our second-to-last week: #1 – Civ is Over! Final Challenges & Badge Compilation Yes, you read it correctly—our American History Civ. unit has come to an end! This week, learners completed their final two Challenges and then compiled their Civ. Badge. As a final motivator, learners were given one last goal: if they finished, compiled, and received approval for their Civ. Badge by Thursday, they would earn a trip to the pool. Ev

Welcome to Week 5 of the Journey Newsletter—our second-to-last newsletter of the school year. Here's a look at what learners explored this week. Genre This week, learners wrote original poems exploring the themes of life and death. After completing their first drafts, they participated in peer review, providing thoughtful feedback to one another before revising their poems to strengthen their work. Quest In Quest, learners reflected on the interviews they conducted with someo

Hello parents, families, and friends! Welcome to this week's Discovery Newsletter. It was another exciting week filled with creativity, collaboration, and plenty of summer fun! Monday We kicked off the week with learner-led Morning Launches. In the North Studio, Tadek and Marcos led a discussion about clouds, while in the South Studio, Emmy and Vivi explored the topic of the evil eye. Learners then focused on Core Skills and D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read). In the afterno

Happy Friday! Here's a recap of another fun-filled week in Sparks Kingdom! Monday Our Sparks kicked off the week by listening to different styles of music and discussing an important question: Is it more important to enjoy the music you like, or to like the music everyone else enjoys? They also: Jumped into their Core Skills. Practiced their dance. Enjoyed indoor free play and water activities. Tuesday Tuesday was filled with learning and celebration! Our Sparks: Explored mor