Mastery-Based Progression
Students advance when they've truly understood the material - not when the calendar says so. Our three-tier mastery model tracks factual recall, conceptual understanding, and procedural fluency separately.
Open · Forever Free · Future Non-profit
Every student can master anything.
Project Acorn is a free, open learning platform that combines mastery-based progression, spaced repetition, and built-in accommodations - so every learner gets what they actually need.
Real learning happens at each student's own pace, with the supports they actually need.
Some students need more time to master a concept. Some need less. Some need different approaches entirely. Project Acorn is designed around that reality - built for how learners actually learn, not for how systems are easiest to administer.
Deep, durable learning. Built for the students who need it most.
We're building for the kind of learning that lasts - understanding that builds on itself, year after year, for every kind of learner.
A learning platform designed around how memory and understanding actually work.
Project Acorn is an intelligent practice platform for K-12 learners. We use open educational resources - high-quality, freely licensed curriculum from sources like Illustrative Mathematics and Core Knowledge - and deliver them through a system built on learning science. No subscriptions. No ads. No data selling. Effective learning, free forever, for every student.
What makes it work
Intelligent Spaced Repetition
Practice is scheduled based on each student's actual retention patterns. Material returns right before you'd forget it, with intelligent interleaving that builds durable, flexible knowledge.
Accommodation-First Design
Accommodations aren't bolted on - they're built into the architecture. Extended time, simplified presentation, and other supports are core features for every student, not special exceptions.
Structure and personalization aren't opposites. We orchestrate both.
The tension in education has always been: do you give students structure (clear curriculum, sequenced lessons) or personalization (adaptive pacing, individual support)? Our answer: both, through orchestration.
Project Acorn uses structured, standards-aligned curriculum as the foundation, then personalizes how and when each student practices. The content stays rigorous. The delivery adapts to the learner.
We call this orchestrated learning - and it's what makes deep, lasting understanding possible at scale.
Built on world-class open curriculum.
We don't write our own curriculum. We build on the best open educational resources available, created by experts and used in classrooms nationwide. Great curriculum should be free and accessible. These organizations made that possible. We're building the delivery system to match.
Curriculum partners
Illustrative Mathematics
Rigorous, problem-based math curriculum used in thousands of classrooms. Licensed CC BY 4.0.
Core Knowledge
Content-rich, sequenced curriculum for ELA and science that builds background knowledge year over year. Open use.
CZI Learning Commons
Structured curriculum data and learning standards infrastructure from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Open access.
Roadmap
Where we are and where we're going.
We believe in building in the open. Here's our honest status.
Phase 1 · Now
Research & Development- Mastery tracking engine
- Exercise and practice system
- Lesson delivery engine
- Curriculum integration
Phase 2 · Next
Early Access- Pilot with select classrooms and families
- Math content (K-8) first
- Feedback-driven iteration
Phase 3 · Later
Public Launch- Full K-8 math coverage
- Additional subjects
- School admin tools
- Community features
Let's build this together.
Project Acorn is in active development. Whether you're an educator, a developer, a curriculum expert, or just someone who believes every student deserves better - we'd love to hear from you.