Our Story

Several years ago, Dr. Melissa Shipman, founder and principal of Learnwell, dreamed of a different way to “do school” and still offer students an excellent education.

The Shipman family, with two children who attend Learnwell, wanted what many of us want: an educational path that actually prepares students for the future and contributes to their overall mental health. This type of education:

  • encourages family margin and authentic community
  • strengthens creative development
  • hones real-world skills
  • and provides students freedom to pursue individual interests and learn how they’re uniquely wired.

And they wanted all of this in a context that offered a rigorous, excellent education. Is that too much to ask? The answer is no.

    In 2017, Learnwell Collective was born to help parents provide a high-quality education for their children. Originally, Learnwell provided the services of its Navigator program, and mostly to missionary families all over the world. In 2021, Learnwell North Georgia opened its in-person campus, offering a hybrid school where students learn in the classroom with peers two days a week and at home with their parents or a tutor on the other days.

    What Makes Us Different?

    faith is important

    Many families come to Learnwell after they have tried other hybrid school models. They found those models lacked something they were looking for – flexibility, ownership, individualization of a child’s education, a true partnership between teachers and parents, and a school where students can engage with other students outside of the classroom regularly.

    Learnwell offers a hybrid school model that encourages parents to own the education of their K-5 children and fosters a warm, family-oriented community. Parents are not just homework monitors at Learnwell.

    Our Model

    Beginning in middle school, the Learnwell model begins to transfer ownership of a child’s education, gradually, from parents to students. Learnwell teachers are true partners in that they take student and parent feedback into account and alter lesson plans as needed to support current students. 

    Those same teacher-created, parent-supported lesson plans also offer an excellent education with flexibility. Lesson plans display what needs to be learned, but the “how” is often customizable depending on how each student is wired. This kind of individualization unfolds uniquely in high school where students are discovering how they are wired and what they’re passionate about. 

    Students in ninth, tenth, and eleventh grade will complete job shadowing, career mentorship and internship experiences in the community which align with careers that interest them. We don’t expect students to know exactly what they want to do when they graduate, but we want them to have a good idea of how God made them and what some viable options are that align with their unique wiring and interests.. 

    Students get to engage with an authentic community at Learnwell, and they’re supported by teachers who truly partner with them and their parents to provide an excellent education.

    Our Core Values

    • Intentional Margin: An education that allows for margin leads to healthy children and families. 
    • Deep Faith: Because of our faith in Christ, Learnwell serves families with integrity. 
    • Educational Excellence: We provide high-quality educational services with excellence. 
    • Authentic Community: We look for ways to connect our members of our community with each other.

    Our core values are a reflection of Learnwell’s commitment to approaching education from a wider lens view. We think school is about more than doing the time or filling a seat. Our aim is to partner with families who are intentional about the goals of education. These goals include:

    – Building lifelong learners who become tomorrow’s problem-solvers

    – Achieving mastery that isn’t measured merely by a letter grade but by an in-depth understanding of the subject matter

    – Laying the groundwork for soaring mental health due to the higher level of margin that students experience with their families

    – Fostering an explorative mindset so that students understand how they are uniquely wired

    – Creating independent learners who can overcome setbacks and own their education as they approach high school

    – Inviting students and their families to a community that encourages connection and service

    Come learn about Learnwell by the numbers!

    12: The StoryLab@Learnwell produced twelve projects in the 2022-2023 school year.

    15: Learnwell North Georgia students have opportunities to learn alongside peers from fifteen other nations.

    8: Eight “Fun Friday” opportunities are offered for K-9th grade students. These monthly experiences are open to the community and led by guest teachers.

    3: Three school-wide service opportunities are hosted each year for our Learnwell families. These service moments are a critical part of an excellent education.

    10: Keeping class sizes small supports great learning and age-appropriate skills of self-management and responsibility. Grades K-5 have a maximum of 10 students, while middle and high school classes max out at 15 students.

    90%: Twenty-five percent of Learnwell students who participated in optional standardized testing scored above the 90th percentile (higher than 90% of students in the same grade) in math, reading, or both.

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