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Additional Classes

Ethics Courses

All Upper School students will take classes that examine the ethics beyond the demands of the academic day. These classes are offered to teach students real-life skills and knowledge and to consider the ethical dilemmas one faces in everything from finance to time management. Ethics courses are targeted for students’ developmental needs and last one semester. 

Ninth grade students will take a full semester of the Ethics of Relationships and Sexuality and another full semester of Digital Ethics. Both courses examine the decision students are faced with in personal relationships that play out online and in person. 
In tenth grade, students are again exposed to real-world ethical dilemmas. In one semester, they will explore Environmental Ethics, examining  water, waste, and air quality, specifically using the local environment and entities to better understand how limited resources are used in the Valley and state. During the opposite semester, students in 10th grade will explore life skills, like cooking, vehicle maintenance, grocery shopping, and consumer economics in Ethics and Society. 

Students in 11th grade will work on mindfulness and meditation collaborating with outside practitioners to coach them through intensive self-care techniques in a course titled Ethics of the Mindful Individual. During the opposite semester, 11th grade students participate in a Diversity and Equity seminar, learning about equity and justice in today’s society. 

In a course titled Living Ethically Beyond Graduation, 12th grade students explore a senior seminar of sorts, where they meet members of our community to learn about life after Vail Mountain School. Seniors learn about campus resources, how to interact with their professors and what their rights and responsibilities are once they turn eighteen. In past years, seniors have learned from VMS alumni about college and life experiences. 

Intraterm

Intraterm is a week-long program led by faculty and staff during which all 9th-12th grade students choose a course of study designed to enrich the traditional curriculum and the student’s intellectual curiosity. Course titles from previous years include: The Ethical Dilemmas of a Resource Rich State, the study of Texas; Wolves in Yellowstone; Avalanche Level One Course Certification; Costa Rica Spanish Language Immersion; Water, Wilderness and Conservation; Psychology and Film; Marine Science in Baja Mexico. 

Senior Project 

All seniors will participate in a one-semester capstone project during the second semester of their senior year. Senior Project is a graduation requirement. A true experience in project-based learning, Senior Project is a seminar style class where seniors will collaborate with small cohorts to ideate, create, research, prototype, exhibit, write, and present. 

For the second semester, seniors will continue their yearlong studies in mathematics, science and world language (or Music Theory). They will replace their history and English class with their project process as well as take a one-semester humanities course. 

During the second semester, students are encouraged to follow their interests and passions by studying a topic of choice. Through research, reading scholarly sources, working with experts, and building a large annotated bibliography, student gain information about their chosen topic. Shadow days, expert interviews, and internships will play a role in the projects. Real-life, authentic learning opportunities will be integrated into all projects. 

All seniors have the opportunity to earn an honors designation for their Senior Projects. Honors designations for Senior Projects are awarded after project completion, during Class Night in late May. 

In order to achieve an honors designation, a Senior Project must meet the following minimum requirements: 

  • Evidence of a strong, consistent relationship with a project mentor/outside advisor, inclusive of 6+ hours of meaningful internship experience, job shadowing, or real-world mentoring during the spring semester 
  • Evidence of curated feedback from a professional in one’s field of study on a student’s research and annotated bibliography 
  • Assessment scores of 90% or above on all major project components: annotated bibliography, writing portfolio, product, presentation, oral defense 
  • Evidence that the student received iterative feedback on product from multiple constituencies outside VMS 
  • Demonstration of ethical leadership and active engagement in cohort model with peers and teachers