Ojai Valley News Blog

Distance learning school known for pioneering online curriculum, few changes for local operation

By Sondra Murphy
A Pennsylvania-based private school operator announced the purchase of Laurel Springs School for $12 million earlier this month. Nobel Learning Communities Inc. of West Chester, Pa. reportedly funded the deal with a mix of cash and credit..

Founded in 1991, Laurel Springs School became one of the first schools in the United States to successfully develop an online curriculum. It has 2,000 students in 50 states and 43 countries, with about 95 percent of those going on to college. In 1998, college preparatory courses were added that conform to the University of California A-G listing, a requirement created to ensure college freshmen will participate fully in the first year courses of study.

“We were approached by Nobel and met with them because they work with 208,000 students,” said co-founder and executive director Marilyn Mosley Gordanier. “We talked about the possibility of working together and they expressed their interest in the acquisition process.” Mosley Gordanier said that the purchase will only have positive impacts on the school.

“I will be staying on for a long time as executive director and Rex Bird, our CEO and president, who is responsible for our strategic planning, as is our staff,” she said. “We’re not moving and we’re not changing our staff. What we are excited about is that we will have support and resources from a company that really has a great educational track record, so we will be able to share best practices.”

Laurel Springs’ 73 teachers are based all over the United States and throughout the world, with the majority of them living in Southern California. Mosley Gordanier said that many students are professional athletes or actors and are often part of the remaining 5 percent that do not immediately pursue college upon graduation. One such student is Caroline Wozniacki, who was a 2009 U.S. Open women’s singles finalist.

“She’s a Laurel Springs senior who came to us from Denmark,” said Mosley Gordanier. “She’s an example of a student who will probably pursue a professional career and then go to college.” Laurel Springs encourages student athletes to take college preparation classes. “This is their moment,” said Mosley Gordanier. “We want to support them and have them follow their dreams, but we want to prepare them.”

Nobel’s purchase is viewed so positively because of the potential increase in their distance learning program. “It enhances our ability to provide students in other countries with a Laurel Springs education. This was a big adventure for us and we see this as an opportunity to assure the legacy of our school, the well-being of our students, staff, parents and community,” Mosley Gordanier said.

In a letter sent out to the school’s teachers, Mosley Gordanier said of her meeting with NLCI’s George Bernstein, chief executive officer, and Susan Race, senior vice president of education, “I had never met another organization with whom we were so closely aligned and this was a motivating factor in our decision to take this big step. We were also excited about their enthusiasm to help us expand our global reach and also share our program with the 180 schools that make up the Nobel Learning Community.”

“I’ve lived in Ojai for 34 years, so I’m very loyal to Ojai,” said Mosley Gordanier. “It’s the best of both worlds for us. We get to work with great people and continue to work in this village that means so much to us. Our staff is happy and our teachers embrace it.”

“We’re very excited to add Laurel Springs to our community of schools,” said NLCI’s Shari Anisman, vice president of marketing. “We believe that their online and distance learning programs provide the highest quality education in that market.” Anisman said Laurel Springs will become NCLI’s online division and will continue to run out of Ojai.

Nobel runs about 180 private schools, summer education and after-school programs. The corporation acquired two Camelback Desert Schools in Arizona in June 2008, Southern Highlands Preparatory in Nevada in August 2008 and Highpointe Children’s Academy in Texas in April of this year.