At the heart is the student community.

-Parent, Class of 2012

Our daughter attends OHS as a full-time sophomore as well as the SF Conservatory of Music Prep Division, where she studies violin.  Previously she and her younger brother attended one of San Francisco's highly rated public elementary schools, after which they chose to pursue full-time online middle schooling with a rich and rigorous curriculum that is notable for its ability to address the otherwise underserved needs of many students. Most parents of the many whom I've conversed with at OHS highly value that the school offers their students a world class faculty, most of whom have PhDs, instructing them in a rich and demanding program that is actively evolving and responsive to frequently sought student and parent survey input. The work they get done under the tutelage of their faculty is exciting and feels phenomenal, in the sense that it is possible for a program like this to exist and thrive. Student learning has great depth and breadth, and they become very skilled in media-rich deliverables that make full use of educational technology assets.

The flexibility of class scheduling allows students actively to pursue their talents, such as acting, singing, ballet, equestrian, swimming, and math and engineering competitions.  It also allows us to design "field trips" beyond the classroom tailored specifically to our children's interests.  One week we attended Philip Glass's opera "Appomattox" with a home school group, which was followed by private attendance of a Commonwealth Club seminar with the leading contributors to the opera and a park ranger from the Appomattox historic site.  We also make visits to the zoo and museum, to NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center.

But the heart of the OHS program is in the student community, which is very vibrant, international and collegial in feeling. The students work in peer groups on the newspaper, in traditional kinds of clubs as well as some untraditional ones.  They meet at regional parties, graduation, and at other social activities. They come together at Summer Session on Stanford campus, which includes leadership courses where students are visited by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who relay their education and career paths. For those who thrive in this school, social and academic enthusiasm is evident, and pride in having friends from many cultures and places is more than evident - it is a constant inspiration.