Our Story

About the Academy

The SVHS Academy is the full-time online diploma program built by technology industry veterans who believe high school should prepare students to lead the future—not just memorize the past.

Why We Exist

A School Designed for the World That's Actually Coming

Traditional high schools were designed for the industrial age—structured around factory schedules, standardized pacing, and the assumption that every student learns the same way. For generations, this model worked well enough. But the world students graduate into today bears no resemblance to the one those schools were designed to serve.

The SVHS Academy was created by people who know this firsthand. Our leadership team didn't read about the technology revolution—they helped build it. They developed early internet browsers, launched iconic technology brands, structured the financing behind companies that became household names, and invested in the startups that would reshape entire industries. They understood that the skills, mindset, and flexibility students would need couldn't be found in a traditional classroom.

This isn't a school that adopted technology. It's a school that was born from it.

Since 2013, the Academy has served students who don't fit the traditional mold—student-athletes balancing training and academics, performers whose careers can't wait for graduation, families seeking more rigorous preparation for the AI-driven economy, and students who simply learn better on their own terms. Every aspect of the program—from self-paced coursework and one-to-one instruction to integrated AI tutoring—was designed with these students in mind.

The result is a diploma program that meets students where they are, and prepares them for where the world is going.

Silicon Valley Heritage

Built by the People Who Built the Tech Industry

SVHS leadership includes professionals who were present at pivotal moments in technology history. Their experience doesn't just inform our credibility—it shapes our curriculum, our platform, and our understanding of what students actually need.

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Early Internet Pioneers

Team members developed some of the first commercial web browsers, children's internet safety solutions, and virtual reality applications—work that predates the mainstream internet by years.

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Venture Capital & Startups

Direct experience as general partners at venture capital firms, evaluating and funding the startups that would shape the technology landscape. Involvement in 500+ financings and 200+ acquisitions.

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Global Brand Leadership

Direct experience managing global brand and international marketing operations for pioneering personal computer companies during their formative growth years.

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Defining Deals of the Tech Era

Legal and strategic counsel on the formation and financing of companies that became household names in electric vehicles, email, and enterprise software—involvement that began before these companies had names.

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Enterprise Software & Hardware

Decades building document management, content systems, and cloud infrastructure. Nearly three decades leading precision timing and navigation technology used in critical infrastructure worldwide.

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Academic Excellence

Advanced degrees from UC Berkeley School of Law, Harvard Business School, and other leading institutions. Multiple team members hold both JD and MBA credentials.

Technology & Infrastructure

A Decade of Engineering Behind Every Lesson

The Academy isn't built on off-the-shelf software. Our learning platform represents over 200,000 hours of custom software development—a decade of continuous iteration by a team with 40+ combined years of application development experience.

Every course, every interaction, and every student dashboard runs on enterprise AWS infrastructure with near-100% uptime. The same engineering rigor that built successful technology companies powers the platform your student uses every day.

And because our leadership understands AI as builders—not just users—we've woven artificial intelligence throughout the learning experience in ways that genuinely help students learn, rather than simply automating what a teacher would do.

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7 AI Assistants

Purpose-built AI tools throughout the platform, including Sage—a 24/7 AI tutor available in every course.

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Video-Based Curriculum

Professionally produced video instruction across 60+ courses spanning all core subjects and electives.

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Enterprise Infrastructure

Built on AWS with near-100% uptime—the same cloud infrastructure trusted by the world's leading technology companies.

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Continuous Development

10+ years of platform evolution. New features, new courses, and expanding AI and programming curriculum in active development.

What Guides Us

Our Educational Philosophy

Every decision we make—from platform design to curriculum development—is guided by four principles rooted in what we know about how people actually learn and what the modern economy actually demands.

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Students Are Individuals, Not Cohorts

Every student has a different pace, a different schedule, and a different set of strengths. Self-paced learning with one-to-one teacher support means no student is held back by the class average—and no student is left behind by it either. Education should adapt to the learner, not the other way around.

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Technology Should Amplify Teachers, Not Replace Them

AI tutoring at 3 AM doesn't replace a credentialed teacher who knows your name and your goals. It extends their reach. Our model pairs human instruction and mentorship with AI tools that provide support between sessions—so students always have help when they need it.

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Preparation Means Building, Not Just Learning

Understanding the AI economy isn't enough. Students need to learn to build within it, lead within it, and create value within it. That's why the Academy goes beyond academics to include real business education, industry connections, and an entrepreneurial mindset embedded throughout the experience.

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Credentials Must Open Doors Everywhere

Flexibility means nothing if the diploma isn't respected. Dual accreditation from Cognia and WASC, NCAA-approved courses, UC A-G approval, and transcripts accepted at 300+ universities worldwide ensure that Academy credentials carry weight wherever students choose to go next.