THINK Global School: Parent Guide to a Traveling High School
THINK Global School is a private traveling high school for older students. It describes itself as the world's first traveling high school and offers a two-year program in which students live and learn in multiple countries while completing project-based academic work. The school states that students in grades 11 and 12 earn a WASC-accredited diploma. [1][2]
The school is one of the clearest fits for SchoolDecision's global and travel-based model category. It is not an international school with a single campus, and it is not a conventional boarding school with occasional trips. The travel is the core setting for the academic model. [1][2]
Snapshot facts
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name | THINK Global School |
| Recommended slug | think-global-school |
| Operating status | Active, based on current official admissions and tuition pages. [3][5] |
| Offering type | Private nonprofit traveling boarding high school. [1][2] |
| Primary location | Administrative address in New York, with the academic program conducted across host countries. [8] |
| Grades served | Grades 11 and 12; the school describes applicants as generally ages 16 to 18 and having completed grade 10 before entry. [2][4] |
| Founding | Founded in 2010; official materials identify Joann McPike as founder. [2][7] |
| Educational model | Project-based, place-based, travel-based, and competency-oriented global learning. [1][2] |
| Tuition | Full annual tuition is published as USD $94,050, with a sliding-scale tuition model based on demonstrated need. [5] |
| Admissions | Application, project-based challenge, interviews, and fit review. [3] |
| Accreditation | The school states that it issues a WASC-accredited high school diploma. [2] |
| Publication recommendation | Publish as an active private traveling high school profile. |
What it is
THINK Global School is a full-time high school, not a semester-abroad vendor or a gap-year travel program. Its public materials frame the school as a two-year journey across eight countries, with students moving between host locations and conducting academic work through projects, local experts, and place-based study. [1][5]
The school is small and selective by design. Its public materials emphasize a low student-to-adult ratio, a small global cohort, and an admissions process that screens for maturity, adaptability, resilience, English readiness, and fit for a demanding residential travel environment. [2][4]
Educational model
The school describes its academic model as a Changemaker Curriculum built around project-based learning, real-world problem solving, place-based work, and student autonomy. The school is not simply adding travel to a conventional schedule. It uses country placements as part of the curriculum and expects students to build work around local contexts, community interactions, and public questions. [1][2]
The model overlaps with project-based learning, global citizenship education, and competency-based learning. Its most distinctive feature is the combination of full-time high school enrollment and repeated international relocation during the school year. [1][5]
Student experience
Students should expect a residential, mobile, small-cohort experience. The school says the two-year program takes students across eight countries and that tuition is structured to cover most major components of that experience. [5]
This is a high-independence setting. Students live away from home, travel internationally, work across cultures, and take part in projects that may not resemble a conventional high school day. Families should ask how supervision, advising, health care, mental-health support, visa logistics, safety planning, and emergency communication work in each host country.
Curriculum, assessment, and progression
THINK Global School states that students complete a two-year high school program and receive a WASC-accredited diploma. It describes project-based learning and a student-centered curriculum rather than a traditional menu of courses. [2]
Parents should ask for a sample transcript, credit map, graduation requirements, and examples of student projects from recent years. They should also ask how the school handles math progression, lab sciences, writing, world language, standardized testing, college counseling, and course prerequisites for students applying to universities with specific admissions requirements.
Public, charter, private, nonprofit, program, network, conservatory, or archive status
THINK Global School should be labeled as a private nonprofit traveling boarding high school. It is not a public school, district program, charter school, or supplemental travel program. [2][8]
The nonprofit status and small-school design do not remove the family's practical constraints. Enrollment depends on admissions fit, age, academic readiness, family willingness to accept international residential travel, and the tuition or financial-aid process. [3][4][5]
Locations and availability
The school is administratively tied to New York, but the program is conducted across host countries. Current and future itineraries should be verified with the school because country placements can change for educational, safety, visa, health, and logistical reasons. [1][5]
THINK Global is not broadly available in the way an online school is. It is available to admitted students who can participate in a mobile residential school, obtain any needed travel documents, and meet the school's expectations for maturity and independence. [4]
Tuition, admissions, and eligibility
The school publishes full annual tuition of USD $94,050 and says all families pay according to demonstrated financial need under a sliding-scale model. The tuition page says tuition is intended to cover nearly every aspect of the two-year, eight-country experience, though families should review exclusions carefully. [5]
The admissions process includes an application, a project-based challenge, and interviews. The school says applicants should generally be 18 or younger, have completed grade 10, demonstrate advanced English, and show maturity, adaptability, and resilience. [3][4]
Credits, transcripts, diplomas, certifications, and accreditation
THINK Global School states that students earn a WASC-accredited diploma. [2] Families should still ask for sample transcripts and college-counseling materials because universities differ in how they evaluate project-based, international, or nontraditional transcripts.
Parents should also ask how credits are assigned for projects, what course titles appear on transcripts, whether AP or externally benchmarked coursework is offered or supported, and how students document work for universities in different countries.
Evidence and outcomes
The school reports a 100 percent graduation rate and a 92 percent matriculation figure in its public materials. Those figures should be presented as school-reported, not as independent proof of program efficacy. [2]
The strongest evidence for THINK Global School is that its model, tuition, grade range, admissions process, and accreditation claim are publicly described with unusual specificity. The weaker evidence is independent outcome evidence. Families should ask for recent graduating-class size, college matriculation lists rather than acceptance lists, attrition data, and examples of postsecondary pathways for students with different academic profiles.
Best fit
THINK Global School may fit mature older students who want a small, highly mobile, project-based high school experience and can handle boarding, frequent travel, ambiguity, cultural adjustment, and intense peer proximity. It may also fit families who see international context and experiential learning as central, not incidental.
It may be a poor fit for students who need a stable home base, predictable routines, intensive athletic or arts specialization, a large course catalog, or proximity to family support. It is also not a casual travel option. The academic, social, logistical, and emotional demands are part of the model.
Questions parents should ask
- What countries and host cities are planned for the next two academic years, and what could cause itinerary changes?
- What is included and excluded from tuition, including flights, visas, insurance, technology, spending money, and medical costs?
- How does the school supervise students in each location, and what are the health and safety protocols?
- What does a sample transcript look like, and how are credits assigned?
- How many students begin each cohort, how many graduate, and where do graduates actually enroll after graduation?
- What support is available for mental health, homesickness, executive functioning, and academic remediation?
- How does the school support college applications in the United States and outside the United States?
Research notes and open questions
School Decision found enough public information to describe the school's model, availability, and parent-facing considerations. Families should still verify the following items directly with the school before applying.
- Confirm the current itinerary, health and safety protocols, and visa expectations.
- Verify what tuition covers and what costs remain outside tuition.
- Ask for current cohort size, attrition data, and recent matriculation data.
- Treat graduation and university-placement claims as school-reported unless independently verified.
Sources
[1] "Home," THINK Global School, https://thinkglobalschool.org/, accessed June 7, 2026. [2] "THINK Global School At A Glance," THINK Global School, https://thinkglobalschool.org/tgs-at-a-glance/, accessed June 7, 2026. [3] "Admissions," THINK Global School, https://thinkglobalschool.org/admissions/, accessed June 7, 2026. [4] "Who Should Apply?," THINK Global School, https://thinkglobalschool.org/admissions/who-should-apply/, accessed June 7, 2026. [5] "Tuition and Financial Aid," THINK Global School, https://thinkglobalschool.org/admissions/tuition-and-financial-aid/, accessed June 7, 2026. [6] "The Admissions Process," THINK Global School, https://thinkglobalschool.org/admissions/the-admissions-process/, accessed June 7, 2026. [7] "Our Story," THINK Global School, https://thinkglobalschool.org/about/our-story/, accessed June 7, 2026. [8] "Contact," THINK Global School, https://thinkglobalschool.org/contact/, accessed June 7, 2026.