Stanford University Online High School
Founded in 2006, the Stanford University Online High School (OHS) is an independent school for academically talented and motivated students in grades 7-12. OHS is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
The rigorous academic program, which offers a wide range of AP and university-level courses across disciplines, embodies the school’s philosophy that an education must foster skills of critical reasoning and argumentation while at the same time engaging students in advanced academic content. OHS classes meet in real-time discussion seminars on a college-style schedule in the online classroom, in a highly interactive web-based, video-conferencing environment. Courses are taught by instructors chosen for their expertise in their academic disciplines and their experience teaching highly talented students. Most OHS instructors hold Ph.D.s in their disciplines.
Beyond the online classroom, students engage in a rich array of student clubs and activities that build on student interests. Students have the further opportunity to connect with each other and their instructors during an optional residential summer program at Stanford University.
OHS draws students seeking a rigorous academic program and a flexible college-like class schedule that encourages independence, discipline, and strong time-management skills, and that allows students to pursue their diverse interests and exceptional talents. OHS offers full-time, part-time and single-course enrollment options. Students attending OHS come from diverse ethnic, socioeconomic, and educational backgrounds. OHS currently enrolls four hundred students from 42 states and 27 countries.
Through advanced technology, rigorous academics, and the resources of Stanford University, the Education Program for Gifted Youth Online High School affords gifted students everywhere an education ideally suited to their needs:
• one which sets high expectations and challenges them to reach their potential;
• one which cultivates creativity, fosters analytical reasoning, and refines argumentation skills;
• one in which students pursue intellectual passions and engage in philosophical reflection;
• one which builds the foundation for success in future academic pursuits and in life itself.
