Ryan Teves met David Smith while tutoring Smith’s children in a small, redwood-canopied learning center he operates on Canham Road in Scotts Valley. “I’m the gritty, in-the-trenches teacher and David’s the big-time tech entrepreneur,” joked Teves. “It’s a perfect partnership.” Together the pair have launched Silicon Valley High School, an online institution that just might change the way the U.S. approaches formal education. Recently approved by the University of California system, Silicon Valley High’s state-accredited curriculum provides an ever-growing assortment of innovative, relevant and compelling online programs geared toward high school students, but available to learners of all ages. Having taught on the front lines for well over a decade and authored the book “In Defense of the American Teen,” Teves has gleaned an understanding of what he sees as flaws in U.S. teaching methodologies by spending hundreds of hours in the classroom with students. “They complain about a lack of relevance in the curriculum. They ask, ‘Why do I have to learn this?’” Teves said. “There’s also huge discrepancies between the students’ experiences. The quality of a student’s education varies wildly depending on the teacher, school, county; even the city they live in,” he added. “Silicon Valley High provides the same five-star education to kids in Compton and Boston.” About the Author:
The Silicon Valley High School (SVHS) is a virtual school which provides 19 low-cost high school courses that are offered to students, parents, and teachers. Each class costs students between $50 and $100, and students complete classes according to their own self-directed pace. Founder, Ryan Teves states: “Considering that a textbook in a traditional class costs $150 and our online competitors are charging four or five times that, we’re making a world-class education affordable.” Most SVHS courses currently need to be taken in addition to traditional high school course work rather than serving as standalone credits that could go towards earning students a diploma, however, that may soon change, as recently some of the courses were reportedly approved by the University of California education system.