Our mission, values, and the person behind Academic Pathways
Academic Pathways was founded on a simple observation: homeschool and charter school families are deeply invested in their children's education, but certain subjects require facilities, expertise, and collaborative environments that no home can fully provide. Academic Pathways was founded to be the trusted partner that fills those gaps — not by replacing the parent educator, but by strengthening and extending their work with professional instruction and real-world learning experiences.
Ellie is a dedicated homeschool mother with years of experience developing curriculum, writing lesson plans, and teaching students through both charter schools and independent homeschooling. She has taught numerous homeschool students in small, hands-on classes she created to support the community — gaining extensive experience managing multi-student learning environments and designing engaging projects.
The enthusiastic response from parents made it clear that the demand for high-quality enrichment was real and growing. With 18 years of entrepreneurial experience co-owning and operating a business, Ellie founded Academic Pathways to meet that need.
Academic Pathways exists to provide homeschool and charter school students with high-quality, hands-on enrichment education in the sciences, history, arts, and world languages — subjects that are among the most challenging for families to teach independently.
Academic Pathways envisions a future where no homeschool or charter school student is limited by their family's ability to provide laboratory science, structured history projects, studio art, or world language instruction.
Every class is capped at 10 students so every child participates in every lab, discussion, and project. We will never scale class size to increase revenue — small is a feature, not a limitation.
Every course is aligned to California State Standards. Families can trust that what students learn at Academic Pathways counts — for educational plans, charter school reporting, and college preparation.
Students do not sit and listen to lectures. They conduct wet labs, build projects, analyze primary sources, create art, and practice language with peers. Active learning is at the center of every class.
We do not replace the homeschool parent. We strengthen and extend the work families are already doing at home — providing facilities, expertise, and collaborative experiences that complement parent-led education.
Every student deserves a classroom where they feel safe, respected, and included. Our policies and practices ensure a structured, positive learning environment for all.
We work with charter schools and accept instructional fund vouchers so that cost is not a barrier to quality education. Academic Pathways is committed to making enrichment accessible to every family.
Minority and women-owned business based in Vacaville, California.