What Mountain Education Ctr does

Mountain Education Center, Inc. operates a public charter high school system headquartered in Cleveland, Georgia, delivering accredited evening and virtual secondary education across approximately 18 campuses in North Georgia counties. Founded in 1993, the school serves a primarily 16-21-year-old student population that has either dropped out of, fallen behind in, or cannot attend a traditional daytime high school due to work, family, or scheduling constraints. Its core instructional product is a self-paced, mastery-based curriculum built on TRAILS, an internally developed learning management system aligned to Georgia Standards with pre-testing capability and a "courses cannot be failed" progression model, supported by a 14:1 student-to-teacher ratio and Cognia/NCAA accreditation. The product portfolio also includes a Credit Recovery program for students referred from traditional high schools, a Dual Enrollment program providing free college-credit coursework through partnerships with eight Georgia technical colleges and universities, six CTAE career pathways (Entrepreneurship, Early Childhood Education, Workforce Ready, Criminal Investigations, Financial Services, Plant and Landscape Systems), Work-Based Learning credit, and ESOL/Special Education services.

The business model is that of a publicly funded charter school: tuition-free full-time enrollment funded by state QBE allocations and federal Title programs, supplemented by a per-class fee on credit-recovery program students, modest adult meal revenue ($5.00/meal), and in-kind business partnerships at the campus level. Enrollment is distributed across individual students with no disclosed enterprise or district concentration; students register via the Infinite Campus portal, in-person campus kiosks, or referrals from traditional high schools. Technology architecture consists of TRAILS (proprietary LMS), Infinite Campus (SIS/enrollment), KRONOS (payroll/time), Classlink (SSO), and third-party tools for assessment (YouScience), language learning (Duolingo, Rosetta Stone), and digital citizenship (Neptune Navigate). No AI/ML capabilities are evident beyond third-party aptitude assessment. The school is governed by a multi-county Governing Board, accredited by Cognia (formerly AdvancED), NCAA-approved for core courses, and currently expanding physical capacity with a new 11,000-square-foot building in Habersham County.

Name

Mountain Education Ctr

Legal name

Mountain Education Center, Inc.

Website

https://www.mymec.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Mountain Education Center is a Georgia public charter high school operating approximately 18 campuses across North Georgia, providing self-paced, mastery-based evening and virtual instruction for students aged 16-21 seeking an accredited diploma or credit recovery.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charter High School Education

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Adult High School Diploma Completion Programs (EDAAABAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

High-Intensity Tutoring / Response to Intervention (RTI/MTSS Tier 2–3) (EDAKADAH)

Keywords

• Secondary education
• Charter high school
• Credit recovery
• Evening high school
• Diploma programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Cleveland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices20 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Public School Funding: Mountain Education operates as a public charter high school funded through state and federal education funding. Full-time students attend free of charge.
2. Credit Recovery Services: Program students from traditional high schools pay a reasonable fee to attend ME at night to make up failed classes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Mountain Education Center is a public charter high school operating evening and virtual classes across 18 campuses in North Georgia. It offers an accredited Georgia High School Diploma through a self-paced, mastery-based learning model, along with credit recovery, dual enrollment, and CTAE career pathways for students ages 16-21 who cannot succeed in traditional daytime high schools.

Product overview

Mountain Education is a public charter high school offering a single unified educational program - an accredited evening high school diploma. The institution operates 20 campuses across North Georgia with virtual support during the day. The core product is their self-paced, mastery-based educational program built on their proprietary TRAILS learning management system. Supporting programs include credit recovery, dual enrollment (allowing college credit while in high school), and CTAE career pathways (Entrepreneurship, Early Childhood Education, Workforce Ready, Criminal Investigations, Financial Services, Plant and Landscape Systems). Students can also participate in work-based learning experiences. Classes are held Monday-Thursday evenings from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM with additional virtual support available during daytime hours.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mountain Education High School Diploma Program Accredited evening high school program granting Georgia High School Diplomas through self-paced, individualized, mastery-based coursework held Monday-Thursday evenings from 4:00-8:00 PM. Intended for students ages 16-21 who cannot attend traditional daytime school.
• Credit Recovery Program Credit recovery service for students who have failed classes at their local high school, allowing them to retake courses in the evening at Mountain Education while remaining enrolled at their home school.
• Dual Enrollment Program Georgia's Dual Enrollment program allowing ME students to take approved college-level coursework for credit toward both high school and college graduation requirements, funded by the state with up to 15 free credit hours per semester.
• CTAE Pathways Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education programs including Entrepreneurship, Early Childhood Education, Workforce Ready, Criminal Investigations, Financial Services, and Plant and Landscape Systems pathways.
• Work-Based Learning Program allowing students who have completed CTAE courses to earn high school credit for work experience that matches their ME life action plan goals through partnerships with local employers.
• Virtual Learning Support Online support available Monday through Thursday 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, providing students with virtual access to teachers and academic assistance alongside face-to-face evening classes.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% of students complete Life Action Plans
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• North Georgia Technical CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDual enrollment partnership allowing ME students to take college-level coursework for credit toward both high school and college graduation requirements. Students can participate in 11th and/or 12th grade with tuition, textbooks, and materials free for up to 15 credit hours per semester.
• Lanier Technical CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDual enrollment partnership allowing ME students to earn college credits while completing high school. Part of Georgia's Dual Enrollment program with free tuition for eligible students.
• University of North GeorgiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDual enrollment partnership enabling ME students to take approved college-level coursework for credit toward both high school and college graduation.
• Georgia Military CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDual enrollment partnership allowing students to earn college credits while working toward their high school diploma.
• Chattahoochee Technical CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDual enrollment partnership providing career-focused and academically rigorous courses for ME students.
• Young Harris CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDual enrollment partnership allowing ME students to explore college-level coursework and earn credits toward their degree.
• Georgia Highlands CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDual enrollment partnership with variety of course options from career-focused to academically rigorous.
• Athens Technical CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDual enrollment partnership providing technical and career education pathways for ME students.
• Local Employers (Work-Based Learning)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWork-based learning partnerships with local employers allowing students who have completed CTAE courses to earn high school credit for work experience aligned with their career goals.
• Local Business PartnersminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCampus-level business partnerships with organizations like Whydrate, Towne Lake Rotary Club, and Buffalos Cafe that support ME students through donations and community engagement.
• Pioneer RESAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional educational service agency used as meeting location for budget approvals and governance activities.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Graduation Alliance (now part of K12/Stride): A program focused on dropout recovery and high school completion for nontraditional students, now part of Stride. Comparable to Mountain Education's credit recovery and adult diploma completion model, with similar target learners and outcome-based funding considerations.
• Georgia Virtual School: Georgia's state-funded virtual school serving high school students seeking accredited coursework. Comparable as a nontraditional secondary education provider in the same state regulatory and funding framework, with similar master/paced online learning and NCAA-approved coursework.
• Georgia Cyber Academy: A Georgia-based online public charter school serving K-12 students, including high school completion. Directly comparable to Mountain Education's nontraditional accredited diploma offering, with overlapping target students (at-risk, credit-recovery, nontraditional learners) in the same state funding environment.

Emerging players

• Penn Foster: An accredited online education provider offering high school diploma completion and career-track programs. Comparable to Mountain Education's adult/nontraditional high school diploma completion offering, though Penn Foster is a private paid model rather than publicly funded.

Broad incumbents

• Charter Schools USA: One of the largest U.S. charter school management organizations, operating public charter schools funded through state per-pupil formulas. Comparable to Mountain Education's charter governance and funding model, though at much larger national scale.
• Stride, Inc. (formerly K12 Inc.): A large national operator of online K-12 schools and learning platforms, including K12-powered state charter schools. Competes with Mountain Education in serving nontraditional and at-risk high school students through self-paced, online, mastery-based learning — at far greater scale and geographic reach.
• Connections Academy (Pearson Online Academy): A national network of online public charter schools offering full-time K-12 enrollment, including accredited high school diplomas. Comparable in model (online, self-paced, public charter) and target learner profile (nontraditional and at-risk students), with broader geographic footprint than Mountain Education.
• National Heritage Academies: A charter school management organization operating public charter schools across multiple U.S. states. Comparable as a charter operator with similar regulatory exposure (state authorizers, per-pupil funding), though NHA focuses on K-8 traditional schools rather than nontraditional high school.
• KIPP Foundation: A national network of college-preparatory public charter schools. Comparable to Mountain Education as a long-standing public charter operator with similar funding dependencies, though KIPP focuses on K-8 traditional in-school models rather than nontraditional evening high school.

Others

• Imagine Learning (formerly Edgenuity): A provider of online curriculum, credit recovery, and supplemental learning tools used by many school districts. Comparable to Mountain Education's TRAILS LMS and credit recovery program as an enabling/adjacent technology provider rather than a direct operator.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/mountain_education

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mountain Education Ctr