The Savannah Country Day School is one of four independent schools in the state – and the first school outside metro Atlanta – to be invited to participate in the Global Online Academy, a nonprofit consortium of leading independent schools around the world. As a result of this unique affiliation, Country Day currently offers more than 40 innovative online classes to Upper School students.

“The Global Online Academy is strategically advancing our commitment to teaching and learning at Savannah Country Day, providing our students with exciting new opportunities for growth,” said Head of School Kef Wilson. “This is just the next step to offer SCDS students a first-rate education.”

Savannah Country Day offers state-of-the-art online classes in a wide range of subjects, from filmmaking to bioethics. Global Online Academy classes are designed to be interactive, challenging and relevant, encouraging students to become more independent learners. The course offerings are treated as electives and complement existing Country Day core classes, emphasizing active learning while encouraging discussion, collaboration and creativity.   

“This program allows our Upper School students to collaborate with top students and faculty members around the world and to explore their interests in even deeper, more meaningful ways,” said Upper School Head Jonathan Day. “We’re thrilled to offer students this amazing opportunity to expand their horizons and to pursue their passions.”

Junior Zoe Rehamn enjoyed her Anatomy class at Savannah Country Day so much, she decided to sign up for a Global Online Academy course on Medical Problem Solving, gaining insight into a field she is interested in pursuing in the future.

“I definitely want to work in the medical field one day,” she said. “I’ll probably major in biology in college, but my goals for right now are to get as much exposure to science classes as I can in high school.”

Sophomore Bonnie Henneman elected to take a Global Online Academy class about Genocide and Human Rights because she wanted to engage with new political viewpoints and to understand this important topic in greater depth.

“It seemed like a great opportunity to interact with people from different backgrounds and with different opinions from myself and those around me,” she explained. “This was especially interesting because of the political nature of the course, as we were able to have very interesting discussions because of varying viewpoints.”

Geena Panzitta, a sophomore at Savannah Country Day School, chose Global Online Academy classes devoted to writing poetry and fiction because she wanted to work on her writing in greater depth. Although she enjoys writing, she knew the structure of the online class would hold her accountable and would encourage her to write more regularly.

“I found my peers to be immensely supportive and compassionate, open-minded and kind,” she said. “Particularly in my poetry class, we were asked to write about topics that meant something to us, and there was a lot of vulnerability involved. I opened up far more than I expected I would, and I’m so happy I did because it resulted in some of my best work.