Our Team

Alberto Trejo, a Project Engineer with over five years of experience in large-scale construction and engineering initiatives, holds a Master's in Mechanical Engineering and a CAPM certification. As the founder of Acton Academy Calgary Central, he envisioned a school where students develop critical thinking, responsibility, and real-world problem-solving skills. His passion for education goes beyond academics - he believes in fostering curiosity, resilience, and a love for lifelong learning. Having tutored math and physics, he is committed to creating an environment where students take ownership of their education, preparing them to become proactive global citizens and leaders.

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Darlene Unruh brings more than 35 years of experience in Alberta's public education system, having served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, Director, and Superintendent of Learning with the Calgary Board of Education. She joined Acton Academy Calgary Central for the 2025-26 school year as our founding Principal, helping establish the academic systems, policies, and rigour that ground our learner-driven model while ensuring alignment with Alberta's curriculum standards.

As Acton Central continues to grow, she is shifting into a new role as Senior Strategic Educational Advisor, supporting Dylan and Casey with long-range planning, new strategic initiatives, and data-informed decision making, while continuing to share her deep expertise in teacher development, assessment, and educational quality. We are so grateful for the foundation Darlene has built at Acton Central, and we are delighted she will continue to contribute her experience and perspective with our team in this new capacity.

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Dylan Thomas is an educator, administrator, artist, and lifelong learner who believes curiosity is one of the most powerful forces in education. He holds degrees in Philosophy and Education, as well as a Master of Fine Arts. Over the past three decades, Dylan has worked as a classroom teacher, vice principal, acting principal, university instructor, theatre artist, curriculum designer, and wilderness guide. His work has taken him through public, charter, post-secondary, arts-based, and outdoor learning environments, each of which has shaped how he thinks about schools, learners, and what education can become. Dylan is especially interested in learner agency, inquiry, creativity, school culture, and the stories we tell ourselves about what is possible. He is drawn to learning environments where young people are asked to think deeply, take responsibility, create meaning, and discover that they are capable of more than they may have imagined. Outside of education, Dylan enjoys science fiction, art, sim racing, the outdoors, and spending time with his wife, Tamara, children Astor and Sophie, and their two dogs.

What excites Dylan most about Acton Central is that it takes young people seriously. At its best, education should help young people become more fully themselves, and that does not happen through comfort, compliance, or simply being told what to know. It happens when learners are asked to do difficult things, take meaningful risks, reflect honestly, and discover what they are capable of, even when the road is unmapped. He is drawn to how Acton asks big questions about purpose, character, responsibility, and freedom, while making learners live those questions through their work, their choices, and their growth. As Dylan puts it, Acton matches what he has always imagined education could be: challenging, humane, purposeful, creative, and alive.

Dana brings more than a decade of experience in early childhood education, with a strong foundation in both Montessori and international school settings. She holds degrees in Philology and Teaching, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (International), Early Childhood Education certification in Canada, and an Elementary Piano Teacher Certificate from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Dana spent seven years teaching kindergarten at an international school in Thailand before working for three years at a Montessori preschool and kindergarten in Salmon Arm, BC, where she served as Classroom Manager, guiding children through all areas of the Montessori curriculum and carrying out an early literacy and reading program. Across these experiences, she has developed a deep commitment to creating environments where children feel heard, trusted, capable, and inspired to grow.

This year, Dana has been promoted to Lead Guide and Programming Coordinator, overseeing Socratic guidance, Montessori practice, and curriculum planning across all areas of our studios, including enrichment programming.

What excites Dana most about her expanded role at Acton Academy Calgary Central is the school's approach that honours children as capable learners and the heroes on their own journeys. Inspired by the Hero's Journey, Montessori principles and Socratic dialogue, she creates a space for children to make meaningful choices, embrace challenges, and discover who they are and what they are capable of. As a lifelong learner herself, Dana continually reflects, experiments, and grows alongside the learners, bringing curiosity, warmth, and a deep belief in every child's potential.

Courtney Matesic believes in the evolution of education and empowering young learners. With 15 years of teaching experience and 5 years of entrepreneurship, she joins us from Ontario. Courtney opened a learner-centred, holistic microschool in 2021 to support families whose vision for their child's educational future was not yet available. Choosing to trust her intuition and step away from the school board was a leap of faith that proved to be very rewarding. She has witnessed students blossom into their true selves after being given the space to feel their feelings, speak their truth, experience challenges, choose bravery, and ultimately persevere. These experiences helped her grow personally and as an educator. Nature is an integral part of Courtney's life journey and teaching practices. She enjoys foraging, herbalism, wellness and creative opportunities. In her personal time you will probably find her hiking, making jewelry, or at a farmer's market.

Courtney says Acton Academy Calgary Central feels expansive to her. She is looking forward to supporting this redefinition of education and evolving in the process.

Nidda Choudhry is an Alberta-certified elementary teacher with more than 15 years of experience working with children and youth, including six years as an elementary classroom teacher. She is driven by a deep curiosity about how children learn and what enables them to reach their fullest potential, and she has become increasingly convinced that education should cultivate not only academic excellence but also independence, character, responsibility, and a lifelong love of learning. Over the past several years, Nidda has immersed herself in educational philosophy and research, exploring approaches such as Montessori, Acton Academy, and the learning sciences, and she believes children thrive when they are trusted with responsibility, challenged with meaningful work, and given the freedom to develop confidence through experience. In her free time, she loves to read, learn about fascinating topics that spark her curiosity, deepen her spirituality and sense of awe and gratitude, spend time with her family, especially her nephew and nieces, and cycle through her multitude of hobbies!

What excites Nidda most about joining us is our mastery-based approach to learning, the Montessori-inspired vision built into the Acton model, and the richness of Socratic discussion. She is especially drawn to being a guide rather than an instructor, and to the simple joy of seeing children thrive and grow.

Maricar is an Early Childhood Educator from the Philippines. She graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor's degree in Education, worked as an Academic Head, then came to Canada and completed her ECE 3 Diploma at Bow Valley College with distinction in December 2024; she's now working toward her Alberta Teacher Certification. Along the way she's worked across school-age care, mentorship programs, and early learning classrooms, each one shaping how she shows up for children today. For her, making a child feel safe, seen, and valued comes down to slowing down, paying attention, and trusting that children know more than we give them credit for.

What drew her to Acton Central is how leadership shows up in everyday studio life rather than as a special program: older learners guiding younger ones, guides stepping back so learners can step in when things get hard. It's a different model than what most schools teach, and it matches how she sees leadership herself: not the loudest voice in the room, but listening, modeling, and showing up for others. She wants to help nurture the leadership these children already have, whether that's guiding a younger learner, owning their own progress, or having a say in how their studio runs.

She joined Acton this past summer as a camp guide, and the experience was transformative enough to convince her this is where she wants to be long term. Coming from Filipino classrooms to a Canadian ECE diploma to Acton's studio model, this next step feels less like a leap and more like something she's been building toward all along.

Leah is passionate about creating warm, supportive environments where children feel safe, capable, and encouraged to grow. With six years of experience working with children and families, she brings patience, care, and a strong belief in fostering independence and confidence in young people.

She was drawn to Acton Academy Calgary Central’s learner-driven approach and its belief that children are naturally curious, capable individuals. In her role supporting lunch supervision and materials preparation, she loves helping create the daily rhythms and environments that allow learners to thrive.

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her children, exploring new places, and staying connected to her community.

Sabreen is an early childhood educator stepping into the role of Administrative and School Operations Coordinator. She is a certified Level 3 Early Childhood Educator who has dedicated her career to fostering vibrant learning environments, with a background that spans early learning centres and public school districts. Sabreen holds a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Care and Education from Capilano University, and this fall she is beginning her Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Toronto, which she plans to draw on to streamline our administrative workflows and strengthen school operations.

What excites Sabreen most is our school's dedication to treating children as capable, independent individuals. She is inspired by how we integrate real-world learning and the Hero's Journey to foster emotional resilience and critical thinking, and she is eager to build supportive workflows that help our educators and families thrive.