About Jump Education

We moved to Oregon from Vermont in 2007 to enjoy the benefits of living in a small community. As our son, Orion, navigated school, we found that the traditional environment wasn’t supporting his style of learning or his developmental timeline. He was socially comfortable and academically capable, but he was just “surviving” school, and his motivation and interest were declining. Like all parents, we wanted our child to thrive, not just survive. We spent most of his 8th-grade year in long discussions about the few possibilities that lay before us.

During this time, I (Tom) was working as a mental health counselor and faculty advisor at our local community college. I was witnessing firsthand the rising number of high school age teens attending college. Intrigued by this customized education pathway and impressed by the self-confidence these teens displayed in my office and classroom, I was inspired. So, we began to consider the real possibility for our son to attend Early College instead of high school. Researching this educational opportunity was fraught with some emotion and fear. But we worked through our fears as a family and came to the decision that Early College was worth trying.

Orion started Community College at age 14. It’s been a wonderful experience. His newfound motivation, increased sleep, and better learning environment has helped him achieve excellent grades and membership in the Alpha Zeta Pi honor society. He has more free time to pursue his personal interests in piano, chess and skateboarding. He can still play on our local high school sports teams with his friends and has time for his part-time job at the record store.

When other parents in our community heard about Orion’s success, we found ourselves telling our story and offering advice over and over. We realized just how important it was for us to share the details of how to do the Early College path so that other families would have support for making this important educational change. We wanted all teens and their parents to know that Early College is an outstanding option with incredible benefits.

So, we launched Jump Education.