I’m Jackie and I’ve worked in education for over 20 years. I started my professional journey as a Montessori trained guide working in a private montessori school and then I homeschooled my 5 children for a few years before starting Arete Academy (although under a different name at the time), a school that beautifully mixes Democratic and Montessori educational philosophies guided by Socratic Discussions.
I’m not only obsessed with my work but also personal development. In my spare time, I enjoy jiu jitsu, muay thai, running, hiking, camping, skateboarding, and reading.
My distrust for traditional schooling began when I was 6. The first day of 1st grade, we were given all of our workbooks for the year. I remember being so excited that I did them all by the end of the week. I thought my teacher would be proud and give me more work, except she threw them all in the trash and gave me new ones. I still remember her asking in an annoyed voice “why did you do that, what are you supposed to do for the rest of the year now?” She gave me all new books and said to only do what she assigned on the day she assigned it. After that, I began to question everything and it never stopped. I questioned the bells, the lack of outdoor time, the teachers giving us answers to the test just so everyone would pass, the grades, the deadlines, the content being taught, and the snails pace it was taught. It became clear to me very early that school was not designed to educate, it was designed to hold us all back.
Like most educators, I went in hoping to make a change. It was in one of my college classes that I was introduced to the Montessori philosophy and I was hooked.
In my years of guiding in a learner-driven environment, I have witnessed thousands of young people accomplish so many incredible things, too many to go into detail about here. But my biggest takeaway has been that they are far more capable than adults give them credit for.
LEARNER DRIVEN 