OUR PURPOSE

LightPath Learning was founded by a family of lifelong educators who have spent three generations helping students succeed academically and access college opportunities. Education is not only our profession but our heritage, our ministry, and our calling.

Shawn Porter, Director of Curriculum and Instruction and uncle to the founders, has played a pivotal role in developing and leading a successful dual-enrollment program at Dunedin Academy, a small private day school where our family has served for decades. His work has helped countless students pass placement tests, earn college credit during high school, and graduate with years of college already completed. With a long record of proven success, Shawn has seen firsthand what students can accomplish when they receive the right support.

Our family comes from an environment where academics were emphasized, nurtured, and expected. We were raised in a school founded by our parents and grandparents, a place where education was a priority, where passing placement tests in middle or early high school was normal, and where the advanced track was expected for many students.

Shawn played a personal role in shaping this legacy. As middle schoolers, the twins were guided and coached meaningfully by their uncle Shawn. Under his support they excelled academically and eventually graduated high school with more than two years of college already completed. LightPath Learning is not only a business to them but a way of giving back.

Outside of our school environment we began to see a very different reality. As the twins traveled across the state, visiting churches, homeschool groups, and community gatherings, they met gifted and capable students who were unsure how to access college. These students were not lacking potential. They simply lacked guidance. Some had attempted a placement test, scored lower than expected, and assumed they were unfit for college. Others had not been shown that college credit could be earned differently. What was normal for our family was unfamiliar for many others. We realized a solution was needed.

Shawn Porter had seen this same issue for years. Bright young people would not attend college because of one discouraging exam. That frustration, combined with the twins’ experiences, sparked the vision for LightPath Learning: a program where students can access college pathways without unnecessary barriers and where success is measured by growth.

The founders are third-generation educators. Shawn Parker, Director of Enrollment and Advising, and Matthew Parker, Director of Student Success and Outreach, met students overflowing with promise. They met homeschool students excelling in art, leadership, trades, and ministry, yet disconnected from college because their academic journey looked different. These students did not lack ability. They simply needed a new starting point and a guided path filled with encouragement, clarity, and opportunity.

LightPath Learning exists for them.

Together with their uncle Shawn Porter and supported by Grace Parker, Student Care Administrator, the team created LightPath as an independent program designed specifically for students who need an alternative pathway to higher education. We provide curriculum support, college-credit guidance, placement-test preparation when needed, and most importantly a bridge to college that does not require perfection. It requires only willingness and direction.

As three generations of educators working side by side, our mission is simple:

To clear the obstacles, light the path, and guide students toward the futures they were created for.