08/12/2026
Can a child really have both a great education and the freedom to chase what they love?
For a lot of families exploring something beyond the traditional classroom, that's the question underneath all the others. You want your child to be challenged, prepared, and genuinely known. But you also don't want them to give up the thing that lights them up, whether that's a sport, the stage, a business idea, or simply the space to learn in a way that actually fits how their brain works.
Our Head of School, Alyssa Tormala, sat down with Mike McShane on EdChoice's Cool Schools podcast to talk about exactly this, and it's one of the most honest conversations about online education we've heard in a long time. If you've ever wondered what non-traditional school can really look like, this episode is worth your next commute or quiet cup of coffee. ☕🎧
Here's what stood out.
Laurel Springs didn't start as some polished tech company's big idea. It started 35 years ago with a founder, Marilyn, who as a young ballet dancer once had to choose between her passion and her education. She never forgot how that felt. Years later, when a California earthquake shut down local libraries, one of her students asked if he could research his report using the thousands of websites out there instead. Marilyn looked at her husband and said, "Online learning, how hard could it be?" And with that, the first online K-12 school in the country was born. Everything since has been built on one belief: kids should never have to choose between who they are and the education they deserve.
Today that belief serves nearly 3,000 students across almost 100 countries. Student-athletes and performers. Young entrepreneurs. Families traveling the country in an RV. Neurodivergent learners and students who simply thrive when school is built around them instead of the other way around. In the episode, Alyssa talks about how our teachers, many of them former classroom teachers, finally get to do the thing they always dreamed of: sit down one-on-one with a student and walk them through exactly what they need, at exactly their pace.
She's also refreshingly real about something you don't hear school leaders admit often enough. No school is the perfect fit for every child. Ours included. What matters is finding the right fit for your child, and that takes honesty on both sides.
Which leads to the best moment in the whole conversation. When Mike asks what advice she'd give a parent thinking about making a change, Alyssa doesn't talk about programs or test scores. She says: know your child. Before the tours, before the questions, before any big decision. Know who they are as a learner and as a person. Know their struggles and their gifts. Then let that guide every question you ask. It's the kind of advice that works no matter which school you end up choosing.
And for families who want the flexibility of online learning but crave connection too, she gets into how that actually happens here, from 100+ clubs and live weekly workshops to field trips and competitions where students who've only ever met online walk in as instant teammates.
🎧 Listen to the full episode here: laurelsprings.co/edchoice
