OUR STORY
ACT Microschools is the brainchild of a group of educators and social-entrepreneurs who seek to spread progressive schooling throughout the African continent. With over 50 combined years of experience in Education and after running a successful microschool in Cairo, Egypt for seven years, the ACT team has decided to expand and create a connected network of microschools. Deeply rooted in the continent, Education, and a belief in the importance of social justice, the School’s founders created ACT: Aspire – Connect – Transform, a network of microschools that strives to create young ACTors throughout the continent who transform their communities for the better.
For the founders of ACT, Education is not only a passion, it’s also deeply personal, each looking to create a community of learners for their own children, a space where their children can dream, find themselves, and better their world.
OUR VISION
A pan-African community of socially-engaged ACT-ors
ACT-or: (n) a person who works to transform the world into what it could be instead of what it is.
OUR MISSION
We are building a network of microschools in Africa that provides a globally competitive education with a focus on local identities. Our students are actively engaged in their communities and solve real-world learning challenges in a nurturing environment that fosters social and emotional growth.
OUR VALUES
Pan-Africanism:
Being deeply rooted in one’s own ethnic/national culture, and actively seeking meaningful connections to other ethnic/national cultures on the African continent
A Problem-Solving Mindset:
Using available resources to overcome challenges independently
Community Engagement:
Being informed on a range of social/economic/political challenges found in their communities and actively working to bring about positive change
Audacity:
Boldly summoning the will to push through seemingly insurmountable challenges
MEET THE FOUNDERS
DR. DEENA AMIRY
Chief Experience Officer
DR. DEENA AMIRY
Chief Experience Officer
Dr. Deena Amiry earned her B.S. from Georgetown University with a certificate in education and a medal for outstanding achievement in student teaching. She earned her Masters’ degree from Middlebury College and her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in Romance Languages, where she served as a lecturer of French language and literature. Dr. Amiry worked in several private schools in the United States, including the prestigious Dalton School in New York City. At Dalton, alongside teaching responsibilities, Dr. Amiry served as Dean of the 9th grade and department chair of middle and high school foreign languages.
In Egypt, Dr. Deena Amiry co-founded and headed the International School of Egypt in New Cairo in 2009. In 2012, Dr. Deena moved on and founded the Young Scholars of Egypt (YSE) microschool, an educational program for children ages 3-18 that aims to provide students with an education that prepares them for the 21st century. In 2019, alongside ACT’s founding team, Dr. Deena brought YSE under ACT’s umbrella to create a network of connected microschools.
OYINDAMOLA SALAMI
Microschools Director
Ms. Oyindamola A. Salami is an educator who has spent the past seven years co-running a microschool in Cairo, Egypt. She began her career in education over ten years ago at Trinity Episcopal School (TES) under the tutelage of a master teacher of progressive, personalized education strategies. While teaching at TES, she completed her MA in Teaching at Queens University of Charlotte. She then moved to Cairo, Egypt where she eventually took on the role of Founding head of Elementary at Young Scholars of Egypt (YSE), a microschool in New Cairo. At YSE, she helped develop and implement a curriculum that, at its core, puts children first. She understood that in order for a curriculum to best meet the needs of students, it has to first and foremost take in to account and address the identity and needs of the whole child. She worked with her team to make sure that students are guided towards making discoveries in their journey of gaining understanding, as opposed being fed the “facts.” Oyindamola helped establish mixed grade level classrooms where students are encouraged to take ownership of their classroom and the learning that takes place. It’s an environment where older students are encouraged to take on leadership roles in a way that would be almost impossible to create organically in the traditional school setting. After experiencing the exciting results of this approach, Oyindamola decided that it was time to share this model with other countries on the continent. She felt that a program like YSE, that identifies and nurtures the natural talents of students in an effort to create much needed youth leaders in its community, is exactly what is needed at this time in history on the African continent and beyond. Ms. Oyindamola is an avid traveler, loves cooking, and is a self-proclaimed foodie. When not in the classroom, she can often be found off on an adventure exploring another part of the globe for new spices and ingredients to add to the culinary experience in her kitchen.
