About us
A school two parents built because they could not find it
Our mission is to inspire everyone who comes through the door to find a calling and do something worthwhile with it.
How this started
Laura and Davis Martini went looking for a school in Latvia for their son. They wanted somewhere that would build a curious, responsible person rather than move him through a syllabus, and they could not find it.
They came across the Acton model through an interview with one of its founders. There was no Acton Academy anywhere in the Baltics, so they decided to open one themselves. The studio took its first children on 1 September 2024.
This is the school they wished they had been to, built for their own sons — which is also why the standards here are not negotiable.
What that looks like from a parent’s side is not ours to tell: watch the families here say it themselves.
In their own words
“I liked school and it mattered to me to be well thought of. But school never used what I actually had, and being marked told me nothing about what I wanted to do with my life.”
“Looking for a school for our son, we found the Acton model — an education that helps a child find their calling. That was the moment I understood: this is the school I would have wanted to go to.”
“There was no Acton Academy in the Baltics yet, so we decided to open one ourselves.”
Laura · co-founder
“So much of my time went on boring lessons, watching the clock tick slowly on the classroom wall.”
“I was certain that learning could be an adventure — one that lets you use your talents, find what grips you, and become the person you want to be. I want my sons to grow up curious and self-reliant, ready for a future nobody can predict.”
Davis · co-founderThe six principles of a learner-driven school
- 1Treat every young person as capable of something remarkable. Given the right room, every child can develop a gift far enough for it to matter.
- 2Limit how much adults involve themselves. Children join and run this community through promises they make voluntarily.
- 3Ask questions; do not lecture. Socratic discussion shows children the choice and its consequence rather than the answer.
- 4Praise growth. A growth mindset comes from encouragement and specific praise, not from marks.
- 5Prepare young people to lead. Model it first, then hand it over, until the children are running the studio themselves.
- 6Walk with them on the journey. Give a child the courage to look at the thing they least want to look at — that is usually where the next step is.
The network
Acton Academy began in Austin, Texas in 2009 and has grown to more than 300 schools in 26 countries, each independently owned and run by parents in its own city. Riga was the first in the Baltics, and this is our third year.
What people outside the network have said about the model:
- “This is an important story about learning what matters.” — Seth Godin, on Laura Sandefer’s Courage to Grow
- “An institution like Acton Academy represents something I wish I had had.” — Gary Vaynerchuk
- “Acton Academy is one of the most important education developments in the world.” — Tom Vander Ark, founder of Getting Smart
These voices are about the network, not about Riga. The people worth listening to about Riga are the families above.
For families arriving
If Latvia is new to you
A short orientation, because the school system here does not map onto the one you probably grew up in.
- Years are counted as classes, from 1 to 12. Grades 1–6 are primary school, which is what we run today; 7–9 complete basic education and 10–12 are upper secondary. Children here typically start class 1 at seven, a year later than in much of the English-speaking world, so a “grade” and a “class” do not line up by age.
- There is a national standard, and private schools deliver it too. A private school in Latvia is not free of the state curriculum the way a private school in the United States often is. We deliver a licensed Latvian programme inside the Acton model — the model is how children learn here, not what they are required to cover.
- Licensing and accreditation are two different things. Our programme is licensed; accreditation of the institution is scheduled for 2026/27. In Latvia a school goes through accreditation in its first years of operation rather than before opening, so a young school being licensed-but-not-yet-accredited is the normal sequence and not a warning sign. What it means practically: a school issues the state basic-education certificate itself only once accredited, which matters at the end of class 9 — years away for a child starting primary now.
- We are not an international school, and we are not trying to be. Riga has several running IB or Cambridge programmes in English, at roughly 10,000–22,000 EUR a year. We are a Latvian school with bilingual learning and a global network behind it, at 650 EUR a month. Those are different products, and the right one depends on how long you are staying and what you want at the end.
- Our year is longer than the state one. September to early July, built from seven quests with breaks between them. Staying for all of it is not compulsory — learning here is self-paced, so families plan travel around their own year rather than ours.
The formal details
- Operator: SIA “Dare to be great”, registration number 40203287956, registered at Kronvalda bulvāris 1, Riga.
- Studio: Kronvalda bulvāris 1, central Riga.
- Opened: 1 September 2024.
- Status: IALDS international accreditation; a licensed programme in Latvia; state accreditation of the institution scheduled for 2026/27.
- Contact: info@actonriga.org · +371 20276287
Is this the right school for your family?
Fifteen minutes, no commitment — you ask, we answer. In English, whenever it suits you.