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Built on belief, backed by results.
Dr. Jessica Spallino co-founded Method Schools in 2013 with a simple conviction: students learn best when school is built around them. More than a decade later, that belief still drives every decision we make.
Dear Method families,
When Mark Holley and I founded Method in 2013, we weren't trying to build another school. We were trying to end the factory model of education for the Southern California families. The student athletes traveling for competition, the kids who needed a fresh start, the families who simply wanted school to fit their lives instead of the other way around.
I started my career in 1999 as an independent study teacher, and I've never let go of what I learned that first year: when you build a learning experience around a single student, something extraordinary happens. Curiosity returns. Confidence grows. Pace becomes a tool, not a punishment. Independent study isn't a workaround. Rather, it's a superpower, and it's at the heart of everything Method does.
Excellence in schools doesn't happen by accident. It happens by design, and design starts with leadership.
Over the last few years, we've poured ourselves into a Leadership Development Program that treats school leadership as an operating system, not an afterthought. The results have been hard to ignore: massive gains in math and ELA, higher graduation rates, lower absenteeism, and a culture that's moved from reactive to proactive. Our families feel the difference, and so do our students.
But the data only matters if your child feels it. So my promise to you is the same one I made to the very first Method family I met: your student will be known by name. Their path will be designed, not assigned. And the adults in their corner will be relentlessly invested in who they are becoming.
Thank you for trusting us with the most important years of their life. We don't take it lightly.
With purpose,
Dr. Jessica Spallino
Co-Founder & CEO, Method Schools
Four beliefs that shape Method.
Independent study is a superpower.
When students own their pace, their schedule, and their goals, learning becomes personal — and personal learning sticks.
Leadership is an operating system.
Great schools aren't built on great moments. They're built on coherent leadership practiced every day, across every classroom.
Flexibility shouldn't mean less rigor.
Our students compete, perform, work, recover, and accelerate — and they still earn a diploma worth carrying into the world.
Every student deserves to be known.
Behind every name on a roster is a story, a strength, and a family. We design for that — not against it.
A career built on independent study and leadership.
Dr. Jessica Spallino is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Method Schools and SmartFox K-12. A seasoned educator, author, and change-management leader, she has spent more than two decades advancing innovative approaches to K–12 learning — with a focus on personalized, flexible, and high-quality opportunities for students who thrive outside the traditional model.
She began her career in 1999 as an independent study teacher, where she discovered the power of individualized instruction. Since then, she has held leadership roles in charter school organizations, curriculum-development firms, and educational technology ventures. As CEO of Method, she leads strategic planning, instructional design, and organizational growth — blending data-informed decision-making with human-centered leadership.
Dr. Spallino is also a Leadership Performance Coach at Brown University's School of Professional Studies, and a co-founder of School CBO, where she writes regularly on the finance, marketing, operations, and leadership decisions that drive stronger public schools.
Education
- Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction
New Mexico State University · Specialization in educational technology and critical pedagogy - M.A., Educational Leadership
California State University, San Marcos - B.A., English / Education
California State University, Northridge
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She reads every email — whether you're a current family, a prospective one, or an educator curious about how Method works.