Ohana Institute is a fully accredited independent school built around project-based learning, class sizes of 12 to 15, and the kinds of real-world experiences most schools save for "someday." From flying lessons to Congressional internships to recording in a professional studio, our students do the real thing.
Every family who walks through our doors is looking for something different than what they had before. What they find is a school where teachers know each student's learning style, where engagement is the standard rather than the exception, and where the experiences your child has at twelve shape the adult they become at twenty-two.
Our students don't memorize standards from a checklist. They work on collaborative, cross-disciplinary projects where math, science, history, and language overlap the way they do in the real world, and where the finished product has to hold up in front of a real audience.
How a project worksClass sizes typically run between twelve and fifteen students, which means teachers truly know each child's learning style and what lights them up. The result is a classroom that feels like home and a faculty that notices when something changes.
Learning the Ohana wayEvery high school student completes a meaningful internship. Our students have worked in veterinary offices, law offices, marketing agencies, and even on the floor of the U.S. Congress and the Florida House of Representatives.
The internship programOur music program is anchored by a professional-grade recording studio built on campus by Lee Brice and his team. Students learn instruments, record original songs, and travel to perform at venues and schools across the region, with annual trips to Nashville.
Ohana Records and the tourEvery student has the chance to take an annual cultural trip designed to pull them out of their comfort zone and into the world. Our students have studied language in France, served families in Nicaragua, and partnered with communities in Peru.
Where we've beenStudents design and build competition robots, earn pilot ground-school credentials in our aerospace program, work in AutoCAD, and pursue certifications that give them a head start on careers in engineering, architecture, and the trades.
Inside the STEM labThe clearest picture of what Ohana feels like comes from the people who walk our halls every day. These are their words, not ours.
It was about two or three months in. I noticed this drastic change. The smile on his face where there hadn't been one for a while, a little skip in his step, a joy about learning. Once you experience Ohana, you are locked in.
Ohana ParentLower School Family
I brought him here and he was wildly successful at Ohana. He started making straight A's. I didn't even check his grades because I knew that if there was a problem, I was going to get a phone call. I never had to worry about him.
Ohana ParentMiddle School Family
I did my first internship with the United States Congress. I worked over five hundred hours that summer for a Congressman. Then I started a non-profit during my sophomore year. Ohana works with you, so students like me have the space to actually pursue things like that.
Ohana StudentHigh School Senior
You walk in here and you think, this can't be real. The teachers know each child so well that they steer them along based on what they're seeing light the kid up. We could not have ended up at a better school. We really couldn't.
Ohana ParentMulti-Child Family
This school is a home. Every classroom has a couch in it. You feel free, you feel comfortable, but you are still learning in a serious, professional environment. Ohana has really cracked the code on that, and I think every school should learn how to do it.
Ohana StudentHigh School Junior
When your child is excited to get up and go to school, and comes home excited to learn, then you don't change what's not broken. That's the simplest way I can describe what Ohana has done for our family.
Ohana ParentFive Years at Ohana
A sample of the experiences your child gets to choose from at Ohana, from a professional recording studio on campus to internships in working offices and trips that pull students out of their comfort zone. None of this is extracurricular. It is the school.
Ohana began because one of our daughters did not thrive sitting still in a traditional classroom. As a mother, I had to get creative about how to help her learn the way she actually learned. What started as a private experiment in love became a school, and the school became a community.
Every family who is now part of Ohana is, in one way or another, reaping the benefits of a mother trying to find something better for her child. We treat every student here the same way: as an individual whose passions matter, whose voice matters, and whose education should be built around who they actually are.
Most parents tell us the difference is something they could only feel once they were standing in our halls. We would love to host you for a tour, walk you through the campus, introduce you to our teachers, and answer every question you have about whether Ohana is the right fit for your child.
Tours run Monday through Thursday at 3:00 p.m., after classes let out. Prefer to talk first? Call 850-231-1140.
We'll follow up within one business day to schedule your visit.
We respect your privacy. Your information stays with our admissions team.