I'm Jackie, founder of Arete Academy. I am a Montessori teacher with five beautiful children who inspired me to open a new kind of school. When I became a mother, I wanted something different for my children. I didn't want them sitting at a desk for twelve years only to have them graduate with a mediocre education and little direction. I wanted them to be excited about learning new things. I wanted them to cultivate a life filled with purpose. I wanted them to grow up understanding that freedom comes with responsibility. A school that let my children experience this freedom to learn didn't exist, so we had to create it.

We began our journey in 2008 with a small Montessori program we ran out of our living room. As my children grew, so did the ages of the children we accepted into our program. We went from a part-time to a full-time program in 2014 with thirty children in our living room ages three to twelve all learning together five days a week. We began each morning with a morning meeting where we would have tea and discuss what everyone had planned for the day. Inspired by Montessori's philosophy, the children set their own goals and worked a full uninterrupted 3 hours. I was there providing guidance but never delivering information as fact. They made amazing progress with little oversight.

While they were learning, I was learning that all children are truly capable of being in control of their own education and future, with the right kind of atmosphere and guidance. In February 2017, we decided we had outgrown our living-room and opened our first campus in Chesapeake, VA. We have since grown even more and now have three locations throughout Hampton Roads, VA.