We bring students together from across the United States into regular, bi-weekly seminars where everyone is seen and heard at all times. Students and teachers join class during their school days via video conferencing systems built into their school classrooms. Outside of class, students may watch their teachers’ instructional videos, perform lab experiments, or read, so that they come to seminar prepared to discuss, debate, and collaborate. Students forge real relationships with teachers and students in other schools and gain experiences that prepare them for college and the workplace.

For many intellectually curious students, MSON courses present their only opportunity to go beyond the AP or explore a new field of inquiry. A student might add a two-year MSON Arabic sequence as a third language. Another might advance to Multivariable Calculus or chose to explore the field of Philosophy. MSON schools are known in their areas for their ability to offer these kinds of classes.

The MSON faculty demonstrates the best of independent school instruction; they value small class sizes and personal relationships and promote critical thinking and analysis. All MSON teachers are employed by our member schools and chosen to develop their own courses through a selective process. MSON teachers receive support from the MSON Dean of Instruction in the spring before the year they start and attend the MSON Annual Workshop at Stanford for training and preparation.

All MSON schools received funding from the Malone Family Foundation for scholarships because of their commitment to serving highly capable students. MSON draws on the resources of each member school, including leadership from Maret School, Hopkins School, and the Stanford Online High School. A true consortium, schools pay a yearly membership fee for course seats and may enroll more students if one of their faculty teaches an MSON course.

MSON students must have demonstrated the academic drive, intellectual curiosity, independence, and time management to succeed in our college style seminars. Our students choose to challenge themselves with an MSON course because they have exhausted the curricula at their schools or hold a passion for a subject area they wish to explore.