SSM Online

SSM Online is for students who want the flexibility to organize their time around a deep interest or passion. It is for students who want the freedom and support to develop their curiosity and creativity and who are skilled in organizing themselves and meeting deadlines set for themselves.

It largely depends on how students choose to organize themselves! Have practice in the morning? Then schedule your work to be done in the afternoon. Need a travel day to get to a conference? Then schedule yourself to work later the day before and after. Each student’s schedule will reflect the life they wish to lead.

To support students with this flexible, online learning approach, there will be several required meetings for students to check in with advisors and educators each week and get support in organizing themselves and completing their work. Teachers and advisors are available each week day.

Tuition for the 2021-22 inaugural school year is $19,500. This includes tuition and room and board when attending in-person sessions in Faribault. Students who participate in our supplementary hockey training during in-person sessions will have an additional fee of $1,000 for each of the August and April two-week training sessions. This does not include airfare to and from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Lots! One of the key skills SSM Online students will walk away with is the ability to collaborate effectively in an increasingly digital world. Students will interact with each other as part of an advisory group, a module group, and as a cohort. Additionally, there will be at least two two-week in-person experiences in which students and staff will meet to build community and set academic goals for the year.

Everyone should expect a busy schedule! Each August, we will launch our school year with a 2-week in-person experience on our historic campus in Faribault, Minnesota. Students and teachers will work together to get to know each other, develop community, meet their advisory groups, and establish expectations for SSM Online. Teachers will support students in their transition to our student-centered, online model as they launch the academic experience for our students. Students will return to campus for another 2-week session each spring. Students will stay on our St. James campus, take meals in our Morgan Refectory, and challenge themselves on our ropes course. All students will participate in team-building and experiential learning activities. Students participating in the hockey development portion will have full access to SSM’s Player Development Program which includes structured practices, optional skill sessions, power skating, off-ice training, video analysis, and sports psychology.

For our inaugural year, we are limiting our enrollment to 8th and 9th graders based in the United States. If you are interested in admissions for the 2022 - 2023 school year or beyond, please submit an inquiry indicating your future interest, and we will contact you when admissions opens for 2022-23.

Our schedule is not divided up into class periods or different course offerings, like most of the schools our students attended previously. Instead, we work on the different academic disciplines in an interdisciplinary approach. Our 8th and 9th graders will study a full complement of academic subjects, similar to what our Faribault-based 8th and 9th study: science, social studies, history, arts, math, literature, and writing. Most of our students’ work is project-based, and our approach prioritizes the development of 21st Century skills such as digital and media literacy, critical thinking, collaboration, academic risk-taking, initiative, self-advocacy, and problem-solving.

View a PDF of the Academic Overview