The Forest School Online is a fully virtual, international school that is piloting a model of self-directed learning in online education as set forth by The Institute of Self-Directed Learning.

The Forest School Online is a fully virtual institution. We enroll learners from all over the United States, a family from Uganda, and a family from Kenya. The vast majority of instruction takes place online. With our self-directed learning model, learners spend the day engaging in both synchronous and asynchronous education. Families have the option to visit our sister school campus (The Forest School) in Fayetteville, GA, twice each year for two signature learning events—Contract Signing and Commencement.

Learning shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all! We believe that every person has a calling that they can use to change the world. Part of our mission is to help learners find and develop their calling, whatever that may be. To help each learner take charge of their learning and learn about the things that they are passionate about, we use individualized Badge Plans.

Each Badge Plan contains “badges” that a learner completes to advance to the next Studio (Middle or High School). All badges are flexible and can be customized to fit each learner’s preferences and needs based on their goals. Working as thought partners, the Guide and family work together to help the learner choose the right badges, courses, and extracurriculars to achieve their goals. The learner sets goals and works to achieve them at their own pace with regular progress check-ins with their Guides and Studio-mates.

The Forest School Online utilizes online spaces where learners meet in mixed-age classrooms called Studios. Studios meet on Zoom synchronously each day to collaborate on challenges given during our Signature Learning Experiences, give and receive real time feedback, and community building.

A Signature Learning Experience is one of the defining ways that The Forest School Online trailblazes a self-directed model for education. Through maker challenges, storytelling challenges, real world apprenticeships, and Quests, our learning experiences develop each learner as a creative who defines their own calling that will change the world. 

The Studio environment is designed to be learner-led. Guides facilitate each synchronous experience with socratic discussions and real-world challenges with the help of visiting experts. Each Studio runs as a democracy in which learners establish their own norms in a Studio Contract each year. Learners and Guides hold each other accountable to their contract through ongoing and real time feedback. Between synchronous meetups, learners and Guides use Slack as our school platform for ongoing communication and collaboration.

-National Honor Society & Jr. National Honor Society

-Steering Committee

-Yearbook Club

-Newspaper Club

-Apprenticeships in Leadership, Marketing, & Education

-Learner-led clubs