Our Story
As parents of four young children, we believe strongly that they are destined to find a calling that will change the world. We believe our role as parents is to inspire and equip our children for their Hero’s Journey.
Many years ago we became enthralled with what Acton Academy could mean for the future of education and our children. As a student at Acton School of Business, Ian saw firsthand the impact the Acton method had on students. When we moved to St. George, UT to be near family, it was on one condition, that we would start an Acton Academy in St. George for our kids and the community. We believe it’s important to prepare our children for the future with an education that will match the challenges and the demands that they will inevitably face. We believe Acton Academy will do that for future generations.
As we start our Hero’s Journey, we encourage you to join us in finding yours. We invite you to explore Acton Academy St. George and reach out as you prepare for this life-changing journey.
Ian and Stephanie Lindsey
Acton Academy St. George Co-Founders
St. George Campus
Acton Academy St. George, a Montessori inspired Private School in St. George, UT, is located in historic downtown at 163 N 300 W. St. George, UT 84770.
Our Team
Ian Lindsey
Co-Founder
Acton Academy St. George
Ian Lindsey is the Co-founder and Head of School at Acton Academy St. George, a pre-k through high school Montessori inspired private school in St. George, Utah. William Butler Yeats once said that "Education is not so much the filling of a bucket as the lighting of a fire." Acton Academy does just that and has been hailed by a former US Education Secretary as a leading example of education innovation.
Ian’s background includes years in the technology industry creating better practices, increasing sales, managing financials, and leading teams for start-up companies and universities. He has worked with some of the most innovative educators in the world. Ian holds a B.S. in Accounting from Brigham Young University-Idaho and an MBA from Acton School of Business in Austin, TX. While at Acton, his love for education was solidified. Acton MBA’s mission is to prepare talented and dedicated individuals for extraordinary lives as principled entrepreneurs.
Amidst Ian’s education, he was a competitive snowboarder, an accomplished musician, and an avid golf player.
Together, Ian and his wife Stephanie founded Acton Academy St. George to provide the community they love with this magical learning environment. They have a passion for learning, innovation, and believe that one person can change the world. They are the proud parents of four young children.
Stephanie Lindsey
Co-Founder
Acton Academy St. George
Stephanie Lindsey enjoys her dual life as the co-founder of Etch Design Group and a full-time mother of four very active children. Motivated by their love for their children, Stephanie and her husband Ian have founded Acton Academy St. George, a pre-k Montessori, Elementary, and Middle private school in St. George, Utah.
Professionally, Stephanie is an award-winning interior designer and manages a full-service residential and boutique commercial interior design firm with her business partner, Jessica Nelson.
She graduated from the Interior Designers Institute in Newport Beach, CA with her Bachelor’s degree in Interior Design. Stephanie has worked with contractors, designers, and architects throughout the country, developing a unique and versatile portfolio of projects. She believes in client satisfaction, honesty, and integrity in all that she does. Stephanie is a Registered Interior Designer (RID) and is certified by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ).
Stephanie and her family live in St. George, UT. Her hobbies include painting, kayaking, and chasing her children.
Tami Sillitoe
Spark Guide
Acton Academy St. George
Tami Sillitoe is the Lead Guide in our Spark Studio, a Pre-k through 1st grade studio of mixed age learners. She has lived here in St. George for 10 years with her husband and three children. She has always enjoyed watching the world expand for young learners as they gain new knowledge. When her children were younger, she created a preschool music class out of her home and also participated in a co-op preschool with several families. As her children grew older, she took the opportunity to sub in the schools and work as a kindergarten aide. Tami went back for a Masters degree in Elementary Education and spent the last few years teaching kindergarten in the local charter schools. She loves that Acton gives students ownership in their education and inspires curiosity!
Marissa Oleson
Part-time Spark Guide
Acton Academy St. George
Marissa Oleson is a part-time guide at Acton St. George in our Spark Studio. Marissa and her husband, Cameron who is a firefighter/paramedic, and their 3 kids, moved to St. George a number of years ago. Marissa has been a librarian for over 20 years and loves opening the world to young heroes through stories and experiences. Prior to join Acton St. George, she had the librarian and "genius hour teacher" at a local charter school. That role gave her the opportunity to create mini STEM lessons and projects from various books for the young people who came through the library and school. She loves giving children the opportunity to work together to solve problems and experiment and seeing them find the joy that comes from learning.
Jeff Sandefer
Advisor and Acton Academy Co-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.
Laura Sandefer
Advisor and Acton Academy Co-Founder
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."