The Laurel Springs Story – America’s First Online K-12 School
An Idea Ahead of Its Time
Laurel Springs School, the first online K–12 school in America, was founded in 1991 by educator Marilyn Mosley Gordanier. Born from a bold yet compassionate vision to change the way education worked, Laurel Springs was designed to be a learning environment that fit the student, not the other way around. Flexibility, personal attention, and human connection would be the heartbeat of the experience. It would offer hope for students who felt uninspired by or unsupported in other educational environments.
Marilyn’s passion for education and social good was already alive long before she opened a single classroom. As a young adult, she held an insatiable curiosity about cultures well beyond her own and a drive to create lasting change. That calling grew after her family moved to Queens, New York, a jarring shift from the community she once knew. The disconnection she felt became a steady force that shaped her mission to create inclusive, connected learning spaces.
The Laurel Springs Story
Laying the FoundationBecoming the FirstA Home for Extraordinary StudentsRequest More Info
Laying the Foundation
Marilyn’s journey led her to Ojai, California, where her ideas began to come to life. In 1975, she and a small group of friends started Oak Meadow School. The program, steeped in the Waldorf philosophy, embraced creativity, a connection to nature, and the whole development of the child. Its curriculum was flexible. Families could use it with or without teacher guidance, always designed to support each learner’s strengths.
As word spread, Marilyn opened a part-time program in a local church. In those sunlit rooms, parents gathered to share ideas and build a sense of community. By 1986, she saw another gap: older homeschoolers aged 14 to 16 who lacked access to both strong academics and social connections. Her answer was a twice-weekly hybrid model that mixed the freedom of home learning with the structure of formal classes and the spark of peer interaction. It was a private school ahead of its time. The seeds of Laurel Springs had been planted.
Becoming the First
In 1994, the Northridge earthquake rocked the Los Angeles area, resulting in most public libraries shutting down to deal with damage. Individual research was a significant component of the Laurel Springs curriculum, and without libraries to rely on, students and teachers sought alternatives. One young lady approached Marilyn and her teachers to share that she had found 50,000 sites about Romania on the internet, and asked if she could use those to work on her report. The request raised a larger question – could Laurel Springs incorporate online resources and learning into its program on a wider level? Marilyn said, “Well, how hard could this be?” Little did she know that this moment was pivotal for Laurel Springs’ future.
Later that year, Laurel Springs launched its first online Advanced Placement course. A year later came Aurora, the nation’s first fully integrated web-based curriculum delivery system. Laurel Springs had officially become the only school in the nation delivering an online curriculum at scale. National media took notice. The Today Show came to Ojai to film “a day in the life” of a Laurel Springs student. MSNBC shared the story with an even wider audience.
Not long after that, Laurel Springs became the first private online school in the United States to be accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), approved by the NCAA, approved by the University of California a-g system, and recognized by the National Honors Society. Laurel Springs has continued to be a pioneer in online education ever since.
A Home for Extraordinary Students
Over time, families with unique circumstances found their way to Laurel Springs. A young actor whose filming schedule clashed with regular school hours. A gymnast training six hours a day. A military family that moved every two years. A child who learned best in the quiet of the night. The private online school Marilyn imagined decades earlier was now changing lives in ways even she hadn’t fully envisioned.
Growing the Legacy
The momentum carried forward. In 2009, Laurel Springs joined Nobel Learning Communities, gaining the resources to reach more students while staying true to its mission. In 2018, it became part of Spring Education Group, connecting the online school to an even larger network of private independent schools.
Today, Laurel Springs serves thousands of students around the U.S. and in 100 other countries. It stands as a testament to the power of vision, innovation, and personalized learning. Students not only excel in academics, they join clubs, lead in student government, meet online and in-person for field trips, and end the year with in-person celebrations that feel anything but “remote.”
Global Impact
Laurel Springs alumni reflect the school’s wide reach. In 2024, eleven alumni competed and brought back seven medals at the Summer Olympics in Paris. Others have shaped culture in film, music, and fashion including Jennifer Love Hewitt, Elijah Wood, and Kendall and Kylie Jenner. Still others have started businesses, created non-profit organizations, and shone in professional sports or performing arts careers – and many of these began their passion work while still in school with Laurel Springs. Each is a reminder that when students are given the space to grow into themselves, they can change the world in ways no curriculum could predict.
From a few tables in a California church to a global leader in online education, Laurel Springs has never let go of its first promise: no child should have to fit into a box to learn. Laurel Springs is a living legacy of vision, adaptability, and a deep love for learning… built, as always, one student at a time.
Ready to learn more?
We’d love to talk with you about your family’s unique situation and how we might help. Because every child deserves an education as individual as they are.
