We’ve never been very good at doing things the traditional way.

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We’re Amy Tijerina and Carla Ruiz Velasco—Best friends, parents, entrepreneurs, and practically family.

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Our story has always been about creating something different. From starting a small business for women and children in Mexico, to raising our kids alongside one another, to reimagining what school could look like for our own children and their peers, we’ve always been drawn to what’s possible when you question the way things have always been done.

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As parents, we found ourselves asking a simple question:

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Is “fine” really good enough?

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We both went through traditional public schools and live in a community with great schools. We had every reason to believe our children would do just fine there.

But we wanted more than fine.

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We wanted our children to grow up knowing how to think—not just what to think. To take ownership of their learning. To become comfortable with challenge, failure, and uncertainty. To discover what they’re capable of and, eventually, what they’re here to do.

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That search led us back to something we had encountered years earlier while living in Austin: Acton Academy.

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We watched children learning in a completely different way. They weren’t waiting for adults to give them all the answers. They were solving problems, making decisions, working together, navigating conflict, building real skills, and taking ownership of their own education.

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We were hooked.

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Acton’s belief in the capabilities of young people aligned with something we had always believed ourselves: children are far more capable than we often give them credit for.

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So we decided to build the kind of school we wanted for our own kids—and invite other families to join us.

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Today, our community is made up of learners, Guides, and families who believe there is another way. A way that holds children to incredibly high standards while giving them the freedom and responsibility to rise to them.

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We’re not here to create perfect students.

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We’re here to help young people become Heroes of their own lives—to discover their strengths, develop the courage to pursue what matters to them, and ultimately find a calling that allows them to change the world.

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We’re still entrepreneurs. We’re still questioning the status quo. And we’re still excited about what happens when you ask, “What if we did this differently?”

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That question is at the heart of everything we do.