Ages 16–18 · Coming 2027
Launchpad Studio
Where learners figure out who they are, what they're good at, and what they want to do next, and then start doing it.
Launchpad is Acton Academy Pittsburgh's high school studio. It is not open yet. We are building it carefully, with the families and learners who will shape it first.
I know myself.
Learners do the honest work of understanding their strengths, interests, values, and the kind of work that gives them energy.
I can lead myself.
Learners set their own direction, manage their own time, and keep commitments without an adult reminding them.
I can create value.
Learners test themselves in the real world by doing work that other people rely on and are willing to vouch for.
The Last Stage of the Acton Journey
Launchpad is the final studio at Acton. By this point, learners have spent years setting goals, working through hard problems, leading their studio, and learning from mistakes.
Launchpad asks them to put all of that to work on a bigger question: What will I do next, and how will I get ready for it?
For some learners, the answer will be college. For others, it may be a trade, a business, a gap year, or a first job in a field they care about. We don't think there is one right path.
The goal is for each learner to leave Acton knowing who they are, what they're capable of, and with real experience behind them.
Launchpad Is Coming. Here Is Where Things Stand.
Our Middle School learners are growing up, and Launchpad is the next step for them. We plan to open Launchpad in 2027. The first group of learners will be small, and they will help build the studio: its culture, its systems, and its traditions.
That's a big responsibility, and it won't be the right fit for every teenager.
Some details are still being finalized, including the schedule, tuition, and enrollment timeline. We would rather tell you that honestly than promise things we haven't built yet.
If your family is interested in Launchpad, current Acton family or not, we would love to hear from you. Interested families help us shape what Launchpad becomes.
Your Next Great Adventure
Across Acton schools, the center of Launchpad is the Next Great Adventure: a clear, tested plan for what comes after Acton. That means more than picking a college major. It means looking for the place where a skill you are working to master, an industry or field you care about, and a real need in the world all meet.
Learners move through stages:
Searching. Learners study their own strengths, personality, and interests, research real roles and paths, and talk with family, friends, and peers.
Exploring. Learners test ideas through action: apprenticeships, interviews with people doing the work, books, practice, and portfolio projects. Each experience ends with a reflection: Do I want to go further down this path?
Committing. Learners go deep on one path, with a plan and the work to back it up.
It is normal to change direction along the way. That is part of the point. The goal is not just one plan. It is a process a young person can use for the rest of their life, whenever it is time to choose what's next.
Apprenticeships and Real-World Work
Middle School learners begin testing themselves outside the studio. In Launchpad, that becomes a central part of the work. Launchpad learners pursue apprenticeships where they work alongside adults, contribute to real organizations, and find out what a field is actually like day to day, not just what it looks like from the outside.
Learners find and earn these opportunities themselves. Guides coach them, but they don't hand out placements. That means learning how to:
Reach out to professionals
Ask for an opportunity
Show up on time and prepared
Take honest feedback
Do work someone else depends on
Reflect on what they learned
Over time, these experiences add up to a portfolio of real work and relationships with adults who know what the learner can do.
Quests ask learners to move beyond knowing information and begin using it.
Core Skills
Launchpad learners keep building strong foundations in writing, math, reading, and other academic skills, with more independence than ever. Learners work at the level that challenges them. Guides provide lessons, feedback, and accountability, and help each learner see what they are ready for next.
The goal is still mastery, not seat time. Learners keep working until they can show what they know.
Challenging Quests
Quests are hands-on projects where learners take on real-world roles and challenges. In Launchpad, Quests go deeper and carry more responsibility. They may explore sciences, engineering, finance, entrepreneurship, and other fields at a more advanced level. Learners may also design their own projects connected to their Next Great Adventure.
Quests end with a public exhibition. Learners present their work, answer hard questions, and defend what they've learned in front of real audiences.
Thinking, Writing, and Speaking Clearly
Launchpad learners read serious books, write often, and take part in Socratic discussions about history, ethics, leadership, and hard real-world decisions. Guides don't tell learners what to conclude.
Learners must think, take a position, defend it, listen to people who disagree, and sometimes change their mind.
By Launchpad, the goal is that a learner can express an idea clearly enough to persuade an employer, a college, a client, or a community.
Leading the Community
Launchpad learners are the oldest in the building, and younger learners watch them closely. They may mentor learners in younger studios, lead parts of studio life, and help solve problems in their community.
Leadership here doesn't mean being in charge. It means being someone others can count on.
Guides Who Hand Over the Keys
Adults at Acton are called Guides. In Launchpad, Guides act more like coaches than teachers. They challenge learners, ask hard questions, connect them with resources, and hold them to high standards. But the goal is for the learner to need them less and less.
By the time learners leave Launchpad, they should be ready to run their own lives, with confidence that they can.
For Parents: Handing Over Responsibility, One Step at a Time
Watching a teenager take on more freedom can be hard for any parent. Launchpad is built so that freedom grows as a learner shows they can handle it. Learners who manage their commitments earn more independence. Learners who struggle get coaching, honest feedback, and another chance to try.
Parents stay part of the journey, with regular updates on progress, goals, and next steps.
What about college?
College is a great path for many learners, and Launchpad is designed to prepare them for it, along with trades, businesses, gap years, and first jobs.
If college is part of your learner's plan, we would rather talk it through honestly with you than give you a pitch.
A Day in Launchpad
Each day is broken into work sprints with a shared purpose or goal.
8:30 Arrival
8:50 Daily Launch (Socratic Discussion)
9:05 Core Skills: focused, independent academic work and goal setting
11:30 Lunch and Free Time
12:30 Quest or Next Great Adventure work: projects, research, deliberate practice
2:45 Studio Maintenance
3:00 Closing Group (Socratic Discussion)
3:15 Dismissal
Apprenticeships and off-site work may take learners out of the studio for parts of the week. The schedule is flexible. Learners arrange their work blocks around their goals, apprenticeships, and commitments.
One Journey. The Final Stage.
Spark: I love learning. I belong. I am capable.
Elementary: I can manage myself. I can contribute. I can learn from mistakes.
Middle School: I can take on difficult challenges. I can communicate. I can test myself in the real world.
Launchpad: I know myself. I can lead myself. I can create value.
Each studio builds on the one before it. Launchpad is where a learner who has spent years trusting themselves gets ready to step into the world.
See If Acton Is the Right Fit for Your Family
Acton is different from a traditional school, and we know it won't be the right fit for every learner or every family.
Tell us a little about your learner and what you're looking for. We personally review every inquiry and will reach out to learn more.
Could Launchpad Be the Right Fit for Your Learner?
Launchpad may be a good fit for a teenager who wants to:
✓ Figure out what they're good at and what they care about
✓ Do real work alongside adults
✓ Earn more freedom by handling more responsibility
✓ Read, write, and think at a deeper level
✓ Take on challenges without a script
✓ Lead and serve younger learners
✓ Build a plan for life after Acton and test it before graduating
✓ Help build a brand-new studio from the ground up
It may not be the right fit for a learner who wants to be told exactly what to do, or who mostly wants a traditional high school experience. That's okay. We'd rather say so up front.
Contact Us
Acton Academy Pittsburgh, 3500 Brooktree Road Wexford, PA 15090 USA
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