In the winter of 2009, four independent girls’ schools formed a non-profit consortium to become the world’s first single-gender online school and the world’s first online independent school.  Those schools, Harpeth Hall School (Nashville, TN), Holton-Arms School (Bethesda, MD), Laurel School (Cleveland, OH), and Westover School (Middlebury, CT), came together with the common beliefs that online education is an increasingly powerful way to learn and that there is great value in creating an online learning environment that is specifically geared toward the ways that girls learn best.

The founding schools based their visionary work in research relating to the ways that girls learn best with technology.  Knowing that girls learn best when feeling connected to each other, when they are collaborating with each other, when they have an opportunity to express creativity, and when they can apply what they learn to real-world problems, the School worked to build their online classrooms around “connecting” and “social” technologies to accomplish their goals.  And, those schools worked quickly.  Within three months, the founding schools developed the School’s mission and guiding philosophy, the organization structure and business plan, and the educational tenets and pedagogy.

In the summer of 2009, the School officially was incorporated, and planned for pilot courses that school year.  Two courses were taught in the fall of 2009, and five courses were taught in the spring of 2010. The School’s initial courses focused on upper-level course work, and began with a strong commitment to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses.  During the 2009-2010 year, six additional schools joined the School as consortium members, making a large commitment to the development of the School and the ability for the School to grow in its critical early years: Atlanta Girls’ School (Atlanta, GA), The Ellis School (Pittsburgh, PA), Hockaday School (Dallas, TX), Marlborough School (Los Angeles, CA), St. Mary’s Episcopal School (Memphis, TN), and St. Paul’s School for Girls (Baltimore, MD).  In addition, the School began expanding its consortium through a Charter Affiliate program, which allowed schools around the country to help build the academic program and enroll students in courses, without contributing a significant financial commitment.  That year, twelve schools joined the School as Charter Affiliates, helping the network stretch to Massachusetts, Virginia, Minnesota, Louisiana, New York, and New Jersey.  The School also hired one of its original Trustees and an experienced teacher and administrator from Harpeth Hall School, Molly Rumsey, as the interim Director for the 2010-2011 school year.

During the 2010-2011 school year, the School expanded much further.  Two additional schools became Members of the consortium network: Miss Porter’s School (Farmington, CT) and School of the Holy Child (Rye, NY).  And, twenty-four additional schools became Charter Affiliates, including the first network schools in Hawaii, Washington state, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania.  Under the leadership of Mrs. Rumsey, course offerings were greatly expanded to include additional AP offerings, and to offer the School’s first courses in the Arts.  During the fall of 2010, the School began to offer its first professional development course to great success and accolades.  By the end of the 2010-2011 school year, more than two hundred teachers from four countries (the United States, India, the United Kingdom, and Canada) and twenty states had taken professional development courses.  Mrs. Rumsey also set the groundwork for a successful new OSG Summer program and for expanded professional development offerings.  In November 2010, the School hired Brad Rathgeber, the School’s first President of the Board of Trustees and an administrator at Holton-Arms School, to become the School’s first full-time Director, effective for the start of the next school year.

In 2011-2012, student enrollment was more than double the levels of the previous year, as the School expanded student course offerings even further, adding its first Foreign Language course, Japanese I, and additional arts, science, and social science courses.  The School also launched OSG Summer and OSG Extension, and expanded professional development courses, including successful collaborations with the National Association of Independent Schools and the Broadway Teaching Group.  And, in October of 2011, the School was given full accreditation by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

While the School is still young, it has been able to grow quickly without compromising quality and high standards because of the strength of the traditions of its Member and Charter Affiliate schools, and the ingenuity, thoughtfulness, and care of the teachers and administrators at those schools who have tirelessly worked to make the Online School for Girls a great success.  In particular, the Board of Trustees for the School, comprised of a group of the finest educators in independent schools and led by Karen Douse, an administrator at Harpeth Hall School, has successfully proven that an independent school and a girls school can be great online.