what if
your child is capable of far more?
Tej Acton Academy offers a personalized microschool education in San Jose, CA. We help our K-8 students create their own path to success by developing the real world skills and character traits that matter most.
- Real World Skills
- Tailored Learning
- Growing Character
Is Your Child’s Education Setting Them Up For Success?
Young people need to learn the right things to help them fulfill their dreams. At Tej Acton Academy, our mission is to empower K-8 students (with high school planned) to live meaningful lives by providing an environment where they discover their unique strengths, learn real-world skills, and grow in good character. Children get one shot at their education, so they need to learn what matters most.
3 Ways Learning Is Different
It’s Student Centered
We empower kids to own their learning. No homework here. Instead, we help students set goals, manage their time, and work at their own pace on core subjects, while engaging in hands-on projects in science, art, and technology. This is authentic learning, not focused on passing tests or memorizing facts.
Focused On The Real World
We believe students learn by doing. Whether it’s launching a startup business, playing an instrument, or programming a robot in their summer apprenticeship, our students are building real world skills every day, paving the way for them to succeed in the future.
Guided, Not Taught
Learning should reflect the unique personality and interests of the learner. Instead of boring lectures, our Guides lead small groups, helping students set goals and discover their own learning path. With small groups, caring adults, and lots of freedom, kids are empowered to learn.
Why We Started A School
As parents we knew our children would be just fine in traditional schools. They would get good grades, volunteer somewhere, and go to college. But we wanted something more meaningful and inspiring.
The more we were honest with ourselves, the more we felt the traditional school model was limited and outdated; where success is based simply on regurgitating information and following instructions.
In our years of searching for something better, we discovered a proven model in Acton Academy. Launched in 2009 in Austin, it is now the largest micro school community with over 300 campuses in 25 countries.
Our dream was for an environment where our children developed a love for learning, self-awareness, and a strong character – pillars we believe are necessary for their happiness and success in both personal and professional life. So, in 2020 we launched Tej Acton Academy – where children have the opportunity every day to discover their inner light, or ‘Tej’.
If you want to experience this powerful school environment with us, please book a tour.
We look forward to meeting you!
Meera & Srujal Shah
What We Focus On
It’s About People
The quality of your relationships determines the quality of your life. So we focus on inspiring students to develop real friendships, a sense of personal accountability, and standing strong in their convictions even as you respect others around you.
Character Is Destiny
Character really matters. The right skillset combined with character is a recipe for long-term success. Skills without character are a recipe for disaster. That’s why we believe in developing meaningful skills and character.
Solve Big Problems
Don’t think small. There are countless big problems in the world, and we need people of vision and courage willing to tackle them. We encourage big dreams and big vision and teach the skills to accomplish those dreams.
Get Back Up
Be gritty. Everybody fails sometimes, but the determined person who gets back up and tries again (and again) is the person who succeeds in their ambitions. It’s OK to fall. Get back up and try again.
We Have What It Takes
We’re better together. We appreciate the perspective of others and realize that we are stronger as a team and community. We teach students to lead by listening and loving our neighbors so that now and forever, they can work together with the person beside them.
See Why Parents Just Like You
Chose Tej Acton Academy!
Our Students build small businesses from the ground-Up
Tej Acton Children's Business Fair
Inspiring entrepreneurship in youth 6-16 years of age
Our Active Learning Model
We believe there are 3 critical “C’s” that help learners build the knowledge, character, and skill they need to be their best, and we structure everything we do to maximize them.
Core Skills
Collaboration
Creating
The Right Environment For Every Stage Of Learning
Learning Is A Journey, And Each Of Our Learning Communities Provide An Environment Where Our Learners Can Uncover Their Unique Strengths, Develop Real World Skills, And Grow Their Individual Character.
Real World Results
*Results based on the IOWA standardized test frequently used by states and private schools to test for admissions into gifted and talented or accelerated learning programs.
See Learning In Action
3 Steps To New Education
Schedule Your Tour
See our learning environment first hand, and get all your questions answered.
Apply To Enroll
Once you know we’re a fit, our enrollment process is a snap, and easy to get started.
Enjoy School!
Send your kids to a place where they’ll love learning the things that really matter.
Meet Our Team
Pajaree
Elementary Studio Guide
Pajaree believes that Acton’s unique systems and hands-on experiences empower children to be lifelong self-motivated learners. As a guide in a learner-driven studio, she continues to be amazed at how Acton’s approach and freedom levels actually guide learners towards responsibility and ownership of their education; more than she had ever seen in traditional school.
After working as an auditor at Deloitte, Thailand, Pajaree earned her MBA from UT Dallas and moved to the Bay Area with her family. The transition from the corporate world to education was driven by her own children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning. This transformation, followed by the time she spent at Tej Acton Academy transformed her perspective on how education can and should be approached.
Pajaree enjoys conducting scientific and engineering experiments with her 6- and 9-year-old children. She also co-builds a small online business with them.
Vibha
Spark Studio Guide
Vibha joins our team as a Spark Studio Guide. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Arts and proceeded to specialize in the field of Early Childhood Education. She has over 10 years of experience in the field of education with most of those years spent working in the Montessori method.
Vibha believes early childhood education is instrumental in shaping a child’s personality and positive outlook towards learning. She is passionate about providing a positive atmosphere to allow children to realize their inner qualities.
Vibha has lived in California since 2003. She has been married for 18 years and has two wonderful daughters, ages 8 and 14. She loves to travel and explore new places and bring these vast experiences back with her to share in the classroom.
Kyle
Elementary Lead Guide
Kyle has been working for Acton Academy since the fall of 2017, when he helped establish Acton Academy Placer County. Over the next four years, he would serve as middle school guide for a growing number of young heroes. Kyle has experience teaching in multi-age classrooms and adapting academic curricula to suit the needs of the individuals under his guidance.
Before he was in a classroom, Kyle coached youth gymnastics and motor skill development at The Little Gym of San Jose. For 12 years, he served as Program Director and head of curriculum. Under his guidance, his students would learn to be confident, competent movers, no matter their talent or skill level.
He relocated to San Jose with his wife and son during the summer of 2021, eager to continue shaping the future of education at Tej Acton Academy. He brings with him the philosophy that all children—no matter their age or circumstance—have genius within them. And he believes that, with patience and exposure, that genius can be realized.
Laura Sandefer
ADVISOR
ACTON ACADEMY FOUNDER
Laura is cofounder and head of school of Acton Academy (Austin). Raised by a science teacher and minister, Laura lived on both coasts and in between as a child and then landed at Vanderbilt University for her undergraduate studies in the College of Arts and Science.
After working in London and New York City in the aviation insurance business, Laura yearned to follow her heart into the world of teaching. She went back to Vanderbilt’s renowned Peabody College and received her Master of Education. This led her to work in arts education at the Oklahoma Arts Institute. Laura later married Jeff Sandefer and has two sons and a stepdaughter. It is the inspiration of these children that led Laura and Jeff to cofound Acton Academy.
Her greatest hero is her beloved late mother, who was a master teacher as none other. Her wisest mentor is her father, who sent her off to college with two words of advice: “Be curious.”
Jeff Sandefer
ADVISOR
ACTON ACADEMY 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.
Srujal Shah
PARENT & ADVISOR
TEJ ACTON ACADEMY
Srujal is a native of San Jose where in his home growing up, grades were never the goal but just a by-product of learning for mastery and for joy.
Srujal has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from UC San Diego with a specialization in signal processing. He carries a Doctorate in Dental Surgery from the University of Southern California. He continues to teach around the country in these fields and is involved with several related professional committees and boards.
He studied abroad for one year in India at the Tatvagyan Vidhyapith college where he was introduced to new systems in learning. The education was value-based, Socratic, and holistic. He saw that when students were trusted, they developed a love for learning and immense pride in their school.
With Tej Acton Academy, Srujal is excited to bring his depth of experiences into the field of education for his own children and members of his community.
Meera Shah
PARENT, FOUNDER & GUIDE
TEJ ACTON ACADEMY
Meera is the mother of two beautiful daughters and is Co-Founder and Guide at Tej Acton Academy. She has earned her Teaching Diploma in Lower Elementary Montessori Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Therapy, which she practiced for 8 years.
Her passion for alternative methods of education comes from her twenty years of experience as both a participant and facilitator of youth discussion groups centered on cultivating strong character and human dignity.
She believes that along with academic excellence, education should also bring joy and develop leadership qualities such as strong character, clarity in thought and communication, and the ability to face adversity. Acton Academy’s principles of deep respect for children and trust in their abilities resonated immensely with her, as did its Hero’s Journey for each student to find their calling.
Request More Information
Contact Us
-
Tej Acton Academy,
3695 Rose Terrasse Cir,
San Jose, CA 95148 - 408-620-6062
- Info@TejActonAcademy.org