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Your Impact

Vail Mountain School is able to offer extraordinary experiences to our students and community today, only because of the many parents, grandparents, alumni, current and former teachers and staff and other friends of the School who have given so generously right throughout our 55+ year history.

The ability to realize the remaining key actions of our current Strategic Plan for the benefit of current and future generations of VMS students, is dependent upon similar generosity.

Why Give?

Nurturing, challenging and inspiring students requires inspiring teachers, superior facilities, exceptional materials and the resources to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Vail Mountain School is able to offer extraordinary experiences to our students and community because many parents, grandparents, alumni, current and former teachers and staff, and other friends of the School have given generously throughout our almost 60 year history.

Why does VMS need philanthropic support?

Tuition and fees at VMS are substantial. What many people do not realize, however, is that our fees are calculated with a clear intention to remain as affordable as possible. Our tuition fees cover our personnel costs and expenses for educational materials, ongoing professional development, maintenance of our facilities, utilities, security, cleaning and other routine spending. 

Initiatives Funded Through Past Giving

  • The Julie and John Kaemmer Endowment for Social Emotional Health in honor of Dr. Kate Drescher's parents and her contribution to the school
  • Taft Conlin Scholarship Fund
  • New faculty positions including a school resource officer, nurse, and technology positions

"We joined the VMS community when Anthony started Kindergarten in August 2016. Since that time, we have volunteered for the Gala, Garage Sale, teach appreciation breakfasts, The Day of the Arts, and Ski Fridays. We have volunteered on field trips and make it a point to support teachers in every way possible. We are a Welcome Family for Lower School new families and members of Parent Partners. We feel that parent involvement is an important part of how VMS achieves its missions. We are also very fortunate to be able to volunteer the time generously, for VMS to succeed, and continue to support the community. We are now entering our sixth year at VMS and the community is an integral part of our family and our daily living."

Mark, Toko, and Anthony Wimberly

Dr. Kate Drescher leads the psychological services team at VMS and has been instrumental in expanding the social-emotional support and programming available to students. Her work in individual counseling runs the gamut from everyday issues like executive functioning and building social skills, to more complex conversations such as sexuality and gender identity, or how to balance the pressures of being an elite-level scholar-athlete. The area of greatest need for social-emotional support is primary prevention. Toward that end, Dr. Drescher oversees small groups in Lower School to encourage healthy social dynamics. In Middle School, there is a new advisory curriculum and the school has partnered with the Caring Schools Network at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. In Upper School, Dr. Drescher advised the Student Leadership Council on how to create a positive and supportive culture and collaborate with faculty to develop curriculum related to social justice.

The Julie and John Kaemmer Endowment for Social Emotional Health is named in honor of Dr. Kate Drescher’s parents and her contribution to the school.