Our MISSION is to help empower young adults to prepare for life and realize their dreams now, using the best practices from around the world.

Who We Are

Vita High School is a modern, learner-driven Montessori environment for teens seeking an education that transcends rote memorization and standardized tests. We place the student at the heart of the learning process—our faculty members guide, inspire, and empower adolescents to discover their passions and take ownership of their education.

Founded on the belief that every young person deserves the freedom to learn and grow at their own pace, Vita High School incorporates proven Montessori methods with 21st-century skills. Our goal is to equip students with the critical thinking abilities, resilience, and sense of purpose they need to succeed in college and beyond.

Our Learner-Driven Montessori Philosophy

Student-Centered Classrooms: Teachers act as mentors, offering structure and support while allowing students to direct their own studies.

Mastery Over Grades: We focus on mastery-based assessment—students progress once they’ve truly understood a concept, rather than being pushed along by the calendar.

Real-World Application: Project-based learning and community engagement help students connect classroom concepts to practical, real-world scenarios.

Holistic Development: Adolescence is a crucial period of growth. Vita’s integrated approach fosters independence, empathy, leadership, and social responsibility.

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Our Story

Vita High School was born out of a vision to reimagine industrial style education. Our founders (Founder Andrew Lee and Co-Founder Rio Stinger), both Teach for America alumni, recognized the need for a more relevant, empowering educational model for teens. What began as a small summer camp has grown into a vibrant high school, where each student’s unique gifts are honored and cultivated.

Brief Timeline

May 2016 - 2018

Teach for America

May 2016 - 2018
Teach for America
Andrew & Rio serve in Teach for America, earning their M.Ed's and teaching certificates in Arizona. Andrew's high school math class is scoring 80-90% averages on exams, outperforming his placement school by 20-30%.

June 2017

Passive Income
Founder, Andrew Lee, discovers "passive income" and works to build passive income to supplement his $38,000 teacher salary. Founder invests in online courses and later has his first 5 figure month - through art, Amazon FBA, and social media. Founder learns that personal development (inner-work, self-image) is crucial to success. Founder wonders why school doesn't teach this.

February 2018
"Serial School Founder"

Founder meets a "Serial School Founder" at a Teach for America workshop, Andrew Collins, and something sparks! Ideas begin brewing about what school could look like. Master's courses discussions conveniently aid in this process. Founder is suggested to visit schools and apply to different incubator programs like Moonshot, Camelback, 4.0 Schools. He applies to many and is rejected by most...

August 2020 - 2022

Incubation

February 2020

4.0 Schools Round 1

Founder, Andrew Lee, is accepted into 4.0 School's Essentials Fellowship! They provide curriculum to test out ideas, a mentor, $300 to pilot the idea, and a data infographic of your pilot! Founder attends the LAST in-person training in New Orleans before COVID-19 strikes. Founder pilots exercise about discovering one's purpose via zoom with 9 participants during COVID-19. Every student completes the exercise with impressive results and newfound clarity.

August 2020

Life School of Atlanta

Founder's 4.0 Schools Mentor's (Denise Streeter) Daughter (Mikala Streeter) runs an independent high school similar to Vita. Founder completes school founding apprenticeship at the Life School of Atlanta in Georgia, researching and journaling 100+ pages/documents for Vita, visiting schools, helping to run the Life School (setting up ACT, organizing supplies, events, teaching, etc.).

January 2021

Nonprofit Status

Vita Education Foundation (dba Vita Schools of Innovation) is officially recognized as a nonprofit 501(c)3 entity.

June 2021
4.0 Schools Round 2 (Rio Joins!)

Founder, Andrew Lee returns to home. Rio joins the team! Vita completes 4.0 Schools' New Normal Fellowship. In this fellowship, there is still coaching and curriculum, but now there is $10,000 in funding to pilot. Vita pilots their Purpose and Life Curriculum in 4 different high school classrooms and hosts their first summer camp. Vita completes 4.0 Schools' pilot "Pathways Fellowship," developing organizational documents vital to securing Vita's future partnership with Edkey.

May 2021

New School Creation Fellowship
Vita is accepted to High Tech High's New School Creation Fellowship ($10,000 funding). Founder visits many different innovative schools with fellow school founders and leaders. Founder's mentor, Sam Seidel, suggests he connect with a certain CEO to learn about how their school finances work...

November 2021 - 2022

Launch

November 2021

Edkey Partnership

Founder's email to the CEO of Edkey (as suggested by mentor, Sam Seidel) leads to a partnership. Vita will be a high school program! Students enroll with Sequoia Choice (accredited online charter high school within Edkey), but attend Vita, using Vita's programming. It's time to get rolling! Vita's first year begins August 2022!

March 2022

Facility Secured

While enrolling students at Phoenix International Academy, their founder recommends local church as facility. Founder tours it with Executive Pastor in that moment and it is perfect. The next week, Vita had a facility. The Vita team furiously recruits through summer, knocking on doors. Rio's father paints the facility walls for free. Furniture is procured. Friday, August 5th approaches!

August 2022

Vita Opens

Vita begins its first year with 24 students and 2 educators, Rio and Andrew. First day of school was Friday, August 5th. Vita receives $80,000 from the Innovation Fund from A for Arizona to pilot Vita's first year.

May 2023 - Present

Vita Grows

May 2023

Vita End of Year 1

Vita ends its first year with 30 students and 4 staff. The first year is a wild success. See Testimonials. Highlights: massive credit recovery, student businesses generating thousands of dollars, 40% ACT score increase, Vita's 1st graduate, and the heartwarming stories shared by Vita's families!

March 2025

Vita Year 3 Update - Rebranding!

Vita serves approximately 50 students with 5 staff members in its third year (or seasons for years, episodes for weeks). Co-Founder Rio Stinger serves as school director, leading the school daily. Founder Andrew Lee focuses on school business, innovating learner-driven education through collaboration. Vita has improved its program and processes each year and is preparing to assist other schools to become more successful and "Learner-Driven". Vita changes its name from "Vita Schools of Innovation" (vsihq) to "Vita High School" (vitahighschool). New logo! This is done for business purposes, to allow people to easily understand who we are.

Meet Our Team

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