One Schoolhouse has always been about innovation in education. What began in 2009 as the Online School for Girls, the first single-gender online school in the world, has since grown into a nationally recognized leader in online learning and professional development for independent schools. Over the years, the organization has expanded its programs, embraced personalized learning, and launched the Association for Academic Leaders, all while staying true to its mission of helping schools and students thrive. The story of One Schoolhouse is one of collaboration, growth, and reimagining what learning can be.

One Schoolhouse began as the Online School for Girls in the winter of 2009. Four independent girls’ schools -- Harpeth Hall School (Nashville, TN), Holton-Arms School (Bethesda, MD), Laurel School (Cleveland, OH), and Westover School (Middlebury, CT) -- formed a non-profit consortium to become the world’s first single-gender online school and the world’s first online independent school: the Online School for Girls. They came together with the common beliefs that online education was an increasingly powerful way to learn and that online learning environments could build on the traditions of independent schools and girls' schools.

In the early years, the organization expanded rapidly. During the 2010-2011 school year, Molly Rumsey, an experienced teacher and administrator from Harpeth Hall School, served as the interim Director. By the end of Mrs. Rumsey's tenure, the organization added eight founding schools and thirty-six affiliates, and had started a professional development program.

The organization hired Brad Rathgeber to be the first permanent leader for the 2011-2012 academic year. In his first two years of leadership, the organization's enrollment doubled each year, and the academic program expanded student course offerings even further, adding programming in languages, STEM courses, and social sciences. The organization expanded professional development work, most importantly with the National Business Officers Association. And, in October of 2011, the organization was given full accreditation by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
By the start of the 2013-2014, the Online School for Girls had established itself both as an exceptionally high quality academic program and a thought-leader in online learning. Student and professional development courses expanded to meet the needs of the consortium schools. The academic program also began a journey into the field of personalized learning, discovering how a learner-driven pedagogical approach could more fully meet the mission of the organization, and, more generally, the promise of independent schools to value the uniqueness of each child.

Building on the great success of the organization in the first six years, in the winter of 2016, the Board of Trustees approved a new mission and a new name for the organization, launching One Schoolhouse, and a new all-gender program. All-gender courses launched in the fall of 2016.
By 2017, the academic program committed to two core competencies around which all learning in the academic program is organized, Students: engage constructively in a diverse and changing world; and gain academic maturity.

In 2018, One Schoolhouse began collaborating with the Independent Curriculum Group (ICG) and their Executive Director, Peter Gow, on professional learning for Academic Leaders in independent schools. On July 1, 2019, ICG became a part of One Schoolhouse, with Gow joining the One Schoolhouse staff until his retirement. Gow continues to work with One Schoolhouse in emeritus.
Because of the One Schoolhouse's experience with both online learning and professional development, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the organization was poised to help. One Schoolhouse distributed resources and advice in varied ways: a widely visited resource web page, a weekly webinar series, weekly newsletters, online courses, speaking engagements, and more. Tens of thousands of educators interacted with One Schoolhouse resources over the course of 2020, and the consortium grew to more than 250 schools.

By the beginning of 2022, the organization had: newsletters, courses, meet-ups, in-person events, webinars, and more... all of the components of an association, and so One Schoolhouse launched the Association for Academic Leaders in independent schools: academicleaders.org.

In addition, with a greater need for student online learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the academic program more than doubled in size during this period. This allowed the academic program to recommit and expand its work in equity, inclusion, and belonging, with the introduction of new course standards and an additional instructional designer focused on these efforts.

History of One Schoolhouse