2020

• At an Asia for Jesus conference (hosted by Bread of Life Taipei Church), Co-founders Marianne & David along with now advisors Pastor Owen & Dr. Winnie attended a Parenting Conference featuring Seth Dahl. At this conference, we felt God put on our hearts a vision and passion for building Christ-centered families as the foundation for building endless generations of Christ followers.

• Marianne & David visited Bethel Christian School Symposium (a conference for Christian educators), hosted a Seth Dahl parenting conference in Taipei (right before Covid lockdowns), and also became inspired by learning about Acton Academy (An American K-12 school system headquartered in Austin, TX with 300+ locations worldwide) through TED Talks, education market reports, and the founder's book "Courage to Grow" which documented their now 14 year journey of building a Montessori inspired, learner-driven school system. 

• Soon after, Ark Academy was launched as a weekly parent & child community 1 hour long class serving  preschool age children and their parents, meeting at a first floor house near Taipei 101. We chose the name "Ark" to remind us of our great pursuits of "hosting the presence of God" (referencing the ark of the covenant) and "salvation for the whole family" (referencing Noah's Ark).

• The weekly parent & child class evolved to become an association run learning playgroup for families to join, providing a Christ-centered, international learning community. 

​

2021

• We added Montessori to blend this proven model with more interactive and English language stimulating learning opportunities. 

• During the Covid-19 Level 3 lockdowns in Taiwan, we pivoted from an offline learning playgroup to an engaging, online class called "Chapel+" (with a full day option) that expanded the community from 10 or so families to 45+ families. We realized one of our unique strengths and opportunities was our ability to leverage technology and to adapt and execute with high speed and quality.

• As the lockdowns eased, some of these Chapel+ families found their new learning home at Ark, so we grew our community and then moved to our current location in September 2021.

​

2022

• As our some of the members of learning community neared elementary school age, we applied and were thankfully successfully admitted into Acton Academy's highly innovative and selective school system where we began our training and elementary school faculty recruitment.

• Shortly after, we applied for and were approved by the Taiwan government's ministry of education as a new experimental elementary school program.

• In September 2022, we launched the elementary school program with 12 learners from diverse family backgrounds -- from church ministry leadership to technology corporate leaders and professionals, from different nationalities, and different local church communities -- all pioneering families with a shared vision for excellent Christ-centered education and culture that would joyfully and healthily accelerate their learners towards their unique gifts, passions, and callings.

• Towards the end of 2022, our focus is continuing to recruit and build up a world class leadership and teaching / guiding / supporting faculty that will help continuously refine, strengthen and grow Ark towards the ideal Christ-centered culture, community, and learning accelerator to maximize the God-given potential for each learner within our community.