As a young man, I (Jacob McKnight) did not love my education. I learned early to endure school rather than enjoy it, and the best way to do so was by putting forth minimum effort. As I advanced to high school, the disconnect from my education and dissatisfaction with the educational system led me to drop out and earn my GED (General Education Diploma).
I then went on to become accepted into college at the University of Kansas, progressed to obtain a Doctorate in Pharmacy, and commissioned as a Captain in the United States Army. I learned that I loved learning, but as a child, I could not learn in the rigid and plodding public education system.
Now, Caitlin and I have children of our own, and we can’t put them through the same experiences. As our oldest daughter came closer to needing to enroll in school, Caitlin was doing all she could to find an adequate educational experience for our children that would not tell them what to think or snuff out their love of learning.
We tried homeschooling, which has many advantages, but in many ways, it still felt like an attempt to replicate a standard classroom within the home. We read about Jeff and Laura Sandefer’s school, Acton Academy, founded in Austin, Texas in 2009, which they designed to foster exploration, creativity, and freedom.
We knew this was the right pick for our children and our community when hearing Jeff’s encounter with a teary-eyed, top middle school educator in a renowned institution who said Jeff’s children should transfer from a Montessori school to a public school as soon as possible because “once they’ve had that kind of freedom, they won’t want to be chained to a desk for eight hours a day.”
Origins KC is built with a passionate mission to set children free from factory-style, passive education and nurture the genius, creative, and enthusiastic hero they were designed to be.
Origins at Shoal Creek is centrally located at Shoal Creek Community Church at 6816 N Church Rd, Pleasant Valley, MO 64068.
Mrs. McKnight is a former owner of a freelance paralegal service company with four years of paralegal experience. Caitlin left the workforce to educate and take care of her three children and felt called to serve her community by opening an in-home daycare. With first-hand experience in alternative education methods for her own children, Caitlin will be a great leader in our mission to enrich communities and the lives of our young heroes.
I’m a pharmacist and a veteran of the United States Army serving as an Active Duty Officer during Operation Inherent Resolve. I felt called to come home to Kansas City to give back to the community. I’m currently enrolled in Harvard Extension School for a master’s in business management. I am applying my practical leadership experience and business expertise to establish a high-quality, alternative educational environment.
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.
Laura lived on both US coasts and in between as a child, then settled into Vanderbilt University for her undergraduate studies in the College of Arts and Science. After being awarded the highly competitive Walter Wattles Fellowship at Lloyd’s of London, Laura worked in the aviation insurance industry in New York City.
Deciding to follow her calling into the world of education, Laura returned to Nashville and earned her Master of Education at Peabody College. This led her to her work at the Oklahoma Arts Institute, creating fine arts education programs for teachers and talented high school students.
Laura married Jeff Sandefer and is the happy mother of Sam and Charlie and step-mother to Taite. It is the inspiration of these children that led Laura and Jeff to co-found Acton Academy.
Her greatest hero is her mother who was a Master Teacher. Her wisest mentor is her father who sent her off to college with two words of advice: "Be curious."
Begin a Hero’s Journey,
Discover precious gifts and a commitment to mastery.
Become a curious, independent, life-long learner.
Embrace the forging of a strong character.
Cherish the arts, the physical world, and the mysteries of life.
Treasure economic, political, and religious freedom.
We believe each person has a gift that can change the world in a profound way;
We believe in learning to learn, learning to do, and learning to be.
We believe in a closely connected family of life-long learners.
We believe in economic, political, and religious freedom.
