Directory

Independent · Burlingame (Peninsula)

Lydian Academy

“Unique and Unrivaled in One-on-One Education”

Students
~50
Ratio
1:1
Tuition
Per course

Tuition is billed monthly per course and pace; no annual sticker price.

What makes this school special

  • One-to-one classes on the student's own clock: year-round, self-paced, no set start dates, with most full-time students finishing a year's coursework in 8 to 8.5 months
  • Priced by the course rather than the year, billed monthly — the published rates work out to roughly $105 an hour or less for most students
  • A real catalog behind the model: UC A-G approved courses (the sequence California's public universities require), French, Spanish, and Korean, plus an Early College path through local community colleges
  • Courses on Demand lets a student at any school pick up a single class — an AP their school doesn't offer, or a course to repair college eligibility
  • Two campuses: Burlingame, the newer of the two and the one this page describes, and a grades 6-12 campus at 410 Sherman Avenue in Palo Alto, where the school moved after nearly two decades in Menlo Park

Academics

Curriculum

One-to-one instruction, year-round and self-paced — most full-time students finish a year's coursework in 8 to 8.5 months; UC a-g approved

Advanced coursework

28 AP courses · 11 UC-approved honors courses

See the list filed with UC

World languages

French, Spanish, Korean

Signature programs

  • One student, one teacher per class, on campus or live online
  • Courses on Demand — take a single course while enrolled at another school
  • Early College path with concurrent community-college enrollment
  • Mastery learning with no set start dates

UC admissions · For fall 2025 entry

applied
5
admitted to at least one campus
3
enrolled at a UC
fewer than 3

UC withholds counts this small to protect students’ privacy.

What these numbers can and can’t tell you

Life there

Learning support

Individualized by design — the school names athletes and performers, students with attention challenges or learning differences, gifted and twice-exceptional students, students managing health challenges, and homeschoolers; "we don't have a typical student"

Often on the same list

Fusion Academy San Francisco

Independent

Headlands Preparatory School

Independent

Tilden Preparatory School

Independent

Sources

  1. Admissions — rolling enrollment, full-time vs. Courses on Demand, the consultation process
  2. Tuition & Fees — the per-course monthly rate table, hours of direct instruction per course, the ~$105/hour and below-competitors claims, monthly billing for full-time
  3. Burlingame Campus — the address, "just 16 miles south of San Francisco," the five-minute walk to Caltrain
  4. Curriculum & Courses — the AP list and languages
  5. 2025-26 School Profile (PDF) — one-to-one model, UC/CSU a-g approval, NCAA-approved courses, Early College program, college acceptances
  6. Mission & Philosophy — founded 2006, mission
  7. CDE Private School Affidavit, 2025-26 — enrollment (72 total; 52 in grades 9-12)
  8. Lydian homepage — motto ("Unique and Unrivaled in One-on-One Education", the site-wide tagline)
  9. ACS WASC Directory of Schools — accreditation status: Accredited, grades 6-12 (checked August 2026)
  10. Campuses — the two campuses; Palo Alto as the relocated original ("after nearly two decades in Menlo Park"), Burlingame as "Lydian's newest campus"
  11. Palo Alto Campus — the 410 Sherman Avenue address, grades 6-12
  12. UC A-G course list — Lydian Academy — the 2026-27 course list the school files with the University of California: 28 AP courses and 11 UC-approved honors courses beyond AP. The school's own curriculum page counts 26 APs; we carry the filed number

Details checked August 2026