Pathways of Purpose · Global Online Academy

Woodlawn opens
the door.
GOA opens the world.

Global Online Academy (GOA) extends the Woodlawn curriculum to a global scale. Woodlawn’s membership in GOA gives every ‘Blazer access to rigorous, expert-taught courses alongside students from the world’s leading independent schools, deepening their Pathway of Purpose beyond what any single campus can offer.

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About GOA
100+
Member Schools Worldwide
GOA brings together leading independent schools from the United States, Canada, Asia, the Middle East, and beyond in a shared academic consortium.
Global
Peer Network
GOA courses connect ‘Blazers with students from peer schools worldwide, extending the Awareness outcome to a genuinely international scale.
Expert
Independent School Faculty
Every GOA course is taught by faculty from GOA member schools, recognized specialists in their field with deep experience in independent school education.
What is Global Online Academy

Expert courses.
Global peers.
Independent school rigor.

Global Online Academy is a consortium of leading independent schools that offers rigorous online courses to Upper School students across its member institutions. Founded in 2011, GOA now serves students from more than 100 member schools worldwide. Woodlawn’s membership means that when a ‘Blazer’s inquiry demands specialized expertise beyond Woodlawn’s own faculty, the entire GOA network is within reach.

A Global Classroom

GOA courses are fully online, taught synchronously and asynchronously, connecting students across time zones and institutions around a shared question. Woodlawn ‘Blazers sit in classes alongside students from Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and across North America. That is the Awareness outcome at global scale.

Expert Faculty

GOA courses are designed and taught by faculty from member institutions who are recognized specialists in their fields. Students get access to expertise and perspectives that extend well beyond any single campus, while still receiving the individual attention characteristic of independent school education.

Pathway Alignment

GOA is not a remediation option or a schedule-filler. It is a Pathway extension. When a ‘Blazer’s Pathway of Purpose demands depth in entrepreneurship, neuroscience, architecture, or global justice, GOA offers the specialized coursework that Woodlawn’s own curriculum points toward but cannot always provide in full.

Areas of Study

Coursework as specialized
as the student pursuing it.

GOA offers courses across a wide range of disciplines, many unavailable at any single independent school. The course catalog is updated regularly to reflect emerging fields and the evolving interests of students across member institutions.

Science + Health

Neuroscience, environmental science, bioethics, and pre-medical topics unavailable at most independent schools

Business + Design

Entrepreneurship, design thinking, marketing, and economic analysis with a global lens

Technology + AI

Computer science, artificial intelligence, digital storytelling, and the ethics of emerging technology

Humanities + Justice

Global literature, philosophy, social justice, architecture, and the humanities courses that cross geographic and cultural boundaries

GOA at Woodlawn

Part of the Pathway, not a departure from it.

At Woodlawn, GOA is positioned as an extension of the Pathways of Purpose framework. A student pursuing the STEM Pathway might take a GOA neuroscience or engineering design course. A Global Community Pathway student might pursue GOA coursework in global justice or international development. A Business + Entrepreneurship student might deepen their work through GOA’s design thinking or entrepreneurial leadership offerings.

GOA courses appear on a student’s transcript and contribute to their overall academic record. They are not supplemental. They are part of how Woodlawn ensures that when a ‘Blazer’s question outgrows the campus, the campus expands to meet it.

Explore Pathways of PurposeUpper School
The GOA Consortium

Woodlawn, alongside
the world’s leading schools.

GOA member schools represent some of the most respected independent institutions in the world. Woodlawn’s membership places our students in the same learning environment as students from schools like these.

The Hotchkiss School Cate School The Harker School Phillips Exeter Academy International School of Beijing Singapore American School American School in London The Lawrenceville School The Loomis Chaffee School ACS Athens Canadian Academy Taipei American School

Sample member schools shown. Full consortium includes 100+ institutions worldwide. Visit globalonlineacademy.org for the complete member list.

“GOA gives our students access to the world. When their question is bigger than our campus, the campus gets bigger.”
Woodlawn School, Upper School Faculty

Questions about
GOA at Woodlawn?

Schedule a tour and ask our Upper School faculty and college counselor how the GOA Pathway works at Woodlawn, how courses are selected, and how they connect to the Senior Capstone and college application process.

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