Andrea Leib has long been ahead of the curve. Twenty years ago, the former public school teacher, guidance counselor, and tutor was also a motocross mom, travelling the country as her son competed at the highest levels. Soon she found herself not only teaching him in between races, but helping more and more other athletes.
It quickly became apparent that a bigger solution was needed.
Brick-and-mortar schools either couldn’t or wouldn’t accommodate this unique group, whose elite talent and grueling schedules rival those of Olympic athletes. In the vacuum, some were dropping out.
“The schools did not understand this was a real, competitive sport. We were just getting a bunch of busy work. And my kids were learning nothing,” Leib said. “I realized this was ridiculous and we decided to do our own thing.”
In 2004, Leib created On Track School, a nonprofit, internationally accredited online school for K-12 students.
“The school that goes where you go” has been going places ever since.
Most On Track students compete in extreme motor sports, with more than 70% in off-road motorcycle racing. Others compete in four-wheel racing, equestrian events, gymnastics, rodeo, tennis, golf, even fishing.
“Public school has a place,” Leib said. “But our place is, if you’re passionate about something, you need a program that fits your lifestyle.”
Growing numbers of families agree.
In 2010, On Track was serving 45 students in a handful of states.
In 2025, it’s serving 535 students in all 50 states and 13 countries. About 30% are siblings of athletes.
In motor sports, On Track is a household name. Recent graduates include big-time motocross riders Haiden Deegan, Ryder DiFrancesco, and Jo Shimoda; race car drivers Connor Zilisch, Jesse Love, and Gray Leadbetter; and Dakar Rally racer Sara Price.
Alumni also include Ricky Carmichael, widely considered the greatest motocross racer ever, and another legend in the sport, Jeff Emig. Both graduated later in life, because programs like On Track didn’t exist when they were younger.
“What an incredible accomplishment that was for me,” Carmichael, now 45, told a news crew after earning his diploma in 2023. He thanked his wife and kids for motivating him but also “everyone and the teachers at On Track. If I ever needed them, they were there.”
On Track is poised for even more growth.
A total of 20 states now give families funding and flexibility to create exactly the learning regimen they want through education savings accounts or robust individual tax credits. More states are poised to start or expand programs this year, including Texas.
“We’re about to see real change,” said Leib, who now lives in Florida. “And we’re prepared.”
Leib’s story is another example of education entrepreneurship surging as more families get more control over education funding. In choice-rich states like Florida, the education landscape is rapidly evolving to include not only hundreds of new brick-and-mortar schools, but thousands of diverse providers like On Track.
This year, Florida has more than 100,000 students doing “a la carte” learning, thanks to two scholarship programs that allow families to personalize education outside of full-time, brick-and-mortar schools. That number is likely to keep growing. Nothing on this scale is happening anywhere else in America.
On Track also represents a small but growing number of schools that cater to top-tier athletes using choice scholarships. In South Florida, Pathways Schools serves soccer phenoms, while Nest Hockey Academy fills a similar niche in the Tampa Bay area. There’s no reason why more such schools couldn’t rise.
On Track offers more than 300 classes and employs 45 staff, including 33 teachers, tutors, and aides. Its students are assigned academic coaches who help them customize learning programs, keep tabs on progress, and, if need be, line up additional support like tutors.
“It’s the best homeschool program we’ve ever done, hands down,” said Tracy Arico of Orlando, who has three children at On Track and a fourth who graduated in 2023. “They know you. They know your children. It’s more personal than brick-and-mortar.”
Arico’s oldest, Joey, started motocross when he was 6 years old and competing nationally when he was 8. The lifestyle included traveling the country in a motor home for seven or eight months out of the year. “It’s a little wild,” Arico said.
In that environment, On Track offered flexibility and accountability, she said.
It set deadlines but gave students and families leeway to figure out their own, optimal schedules. In the meantime, teachers and coaches constantly communicated with students and parents.
Arico’s three youngest use Florida’s Personalized Education Program scholarships, an ESA better known as PEP. They’re all athletes as well, excelling in softball, baseball, and competitive cheerleading.
Arico said her family tried traditional public schools and multiple homeschool programs. But nothing stacked up to what Leib created.
On Track “allows kids to live their dreams,” she said, “and parents not to pull their hair out.”
The school also offers a distinctive community, she said.
Its students share similar interests and challenges. They get to know each other during lessons. And the school strengthens those bonds by organizing proms, homecoming, and graduation ceremonies.
“They have a sense of belonging,” Leib said, “which all of us as humans need.”
On Track continues to expand its offerings. It recently established an apprenticeship program for students who want to work in the extreme sports industry. It’s also in the process of partnering with athletic facilities to provide the online educational component for the students who train there.
The bottom line, Leib said, is giving more families what they want – which, in many cases, is the ability for their kids to learn anywhere.
“I could not imagine being a kid today, in a classroom all day,” Leib said. “The world is your classroom. You take your computer and you go.”
