Led by an Educator Who Believes in Children
OUR TEAM
Twelve and Below Academy is founder-led and built on the conviction that children deserve schools that take both learning and character seriously.
Nancy M. Peterson is the Founder and Executive Director of Twelve and Below Academy. Her path from classroom teacher to school director to founder reflects years spent training children, mentoring educators, and building something that is meant to last.[1]
She leads with clarity, conviction, and compassion, nurturing children academically, emotionally, and socially while equipping educators to lead with that same standard. Faith shapes that standard for her, a personal conviction that every child deserves care, structure, and purpose.[2]
Her philosophy is captured in a framework of her own making: "Boots on the Ground. Books in Their Hands. Excellence in Their Future." Children are equipped with discipline, literacy, and purpose to thrive in the world that they will one day lead.[3]
Footnotes
Ecclesiastes 3:1, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven."
Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go."
1 Corinthians 14:40, "Let all things be done decently and in order."
Meet the Founder
THE FOUNDER
A Teaching Philosophy Built on Purpose
OUR PHILOSOPHY
We believe children show what they're capable of when the environment is honest about expectations and consistent about support.
Education at its best builds real competence: the kind that shows in how a student thinks, how they treat others, and how they handle difficulty.