About Us
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Experiential Learning Since 1962
Located in the breathtaking Vail Valley, Vail Mountain School offers a dynamic and enriching educational experience for students from kindergarten through upper school. Our commitment to academic excellence is complemented by a holistic approach that emphasizes personal growth, outdoor adventure, and community engagement. With small class sizes and a diverse, supportive environment, we empower students to thrive academically and socially, preparing them for success in college and beyond. Whether through our rigorous curriculum, innovative programs, or unique outdoor education opportunities, Vail Mountain School cultivates a lifelong love of learning, making it the perfect place for your child to grow and excel.
Key Pillars
Vision
Educating and elevating humans for good.
Mission
We inspire tomorrow’s ethical leaders by developing character, seeking knowledge, and building a community of lifelong learners from the heart of the Colorado mountains to the world beyond.
Values
Character | We practice kindness, develop moral courage, cultivate self-discipline, and seek individual purpose that connects us to the greater good. We speak with honesty, express respect for self and others, act with humility, and embrace differing perspectives to engage with the world and lead with integrity.
Knowledge | We challenge with high expectations and nurture with support, meeting learners where they are and taking them further than they think possible. We foster joy and intellectual curiosity in acquiring knowledge, stimulating creativity, and creating a lifetime love of learning. We pursue meaningful questions and instill concrete competencies, habits, and knowledge that learners transfer to the real world.
Community | We are an inclusive community of students, teachers, parents, alumni, and local partners rooted in a culture of trust and a deep sense of belonging. We grow through collaboration, cross-age interactions, and a commitment to service and experiences that encourage us to see the world through a lens of empathy, respect, and appreciation of others.
Leadership | We feel authentic responsibility to ourselves and our community. We understand our role as citizens to act for the greater good and seek solutions for a complex world through learning, reflecting, and ethical decision-making.
Environment | We venture into our mountains and valleys to discover a sense of place in the natural world. We learn to love our environment and reflect on our role within it so we can be responsible stewards for future generations.
What Makes VMS Unique
Senior Projects & Academic Symposium: Seniors present sophisticated inquiry-based, experiential research projects as a capstone to their K–12 journey.
K–12 Connection: Cross-grade mentoring and community traditions enrich relationships from Kindergarten through graduation for every student.
Integrated Arts: Viewed as integral to the fabric of critical thinking, creativity, and long-term success, music, theater, and visual arts are core to our curriculum—not extracurriculars.
Honor Councils: Students lead with integrity and mutual respect through peer-elected honor councils, which deliberate on disciplinary infractions and other ethics-related matters.
AI & Technology Literacy: Students begin coding in Kindergarten and continue through Upper School, where they help shape the school's approach to Artificial Intelligence in education through our nationally-recognized student-run AI Literacy Committee.
Inclusive Athletics: With 10 competitive teams, many league champions, and an “all are welcome” approach, VMS champions both excellence and participation.
Snow Sports Program Support: Our partnership with Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV) allows student-athletes of all ages to excell both on the mountain and in the classroom.
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
At Vail Mountain School, the guiding philosophy for providing a dynamic, academically challenging education is experiential learning. We implement experiential learning alongside a variety of pedagogical approaches in a college preparatory environment in order to clarify values and develop students' knowledge, skills, and capacity to contribute to their communities. We enable transformative learning opportunities by engaging students in a cycle of experience, reflection, analysis, and experimentation.
We utilize direct and individualized academic instruction, collaborative seminar-style discussion, project-based and service learning, and place-based outdoor and expeditionary education to express our mission. In each of these methods, teachers are subject-area experts and students actively participate in collaborative, real-world projects that allow them to apply their theoretical knowledge in practical contexts. We maximize individual academic outcomes in order to prepare students to flourish in college and in life.
Our approach incubates leaders, the kind who make a lasting impact on the world. We cultivate integrity, empathy, purpose, and a profound appreciation for our natural environment. Our students and teachers use these tools to apply their knowledge to their own endeavors and connect them to the needs of the community. The intentional approach at Vail Mountain School creates a comprehensive and enriching educational experience that prepares students for a lifetime of learning, leading, and acting as responsible global citizens.