Steamboat Mountain School

In 1957, when Lowell Whiteman founded the school, he knew that students need both a strong academic education and radical adventure. With his vision, Lowell Whiteman struck gold: he simultaneously ensured the well-being of the school’s students and the quality of its faculty. Teachers had to love the classroom and love adventure. Built into Lowell’s vision was the underlying foundation of a strong college preparatory education through strong student-teacher relationships that remains at the heart of the school today.

Steamboat Mountain School is first and foremost a college preparatory school. Philosophically, we embrace a solid liberal arts education. Students study literature, grammar and composition, math, history, geography, science, Spanish or Chinese, and art (be it film, computer graphics, or drawing and painting). We maintain our clear college prep focus. Our classes remain small, with the largest at fifteen students. We do give homework- meaningful homework that prepares students for independent work in college.

You can learn a lot about life at Steamboat Mountain School by dropping in on one of their many all-school conversations. Whether it is a Campfire Talk, All-School Meeting, The Penguin Huddle, or one of their unique speaker series learning through their community is unforgettable.

During Penguin Huddle, students, faculty, and staff gather from their most recent class, morning chores, office, or dorm around the open, three-story wood interior of the Main Building. A building constructed by students and teachers. Community members offer announcements, updates, news of things on the horizon: the service trip that afternoon, the study session for the AP test, the meeting for film class, skiers results from competitions over the weekend and more.

You will see a similar scene in our theater for our Campfire Talks and Speaker Series. As the stories and conversations of backcountry campfires go, our school wide Campfire Talks are a time when a student, faculty or staff, will stand before the community and tell a story of triumph, failure, passion, or life lessons. Alternatively, during our speakers series guests from around the Steamboat Springs community provide lessons, stories or guidance for our young adult population by sharing their own experiences of navigating this important time of development, the responsibly of independence, and the choices they made that lead to the careers and the people they are today.

Upon joining Steamboat Mountain School community, students, parents, and faculty are expected to support the school’s mission and core values. We believe that by working together toward these common goals, we create a vibrant community that supports the growth of each individual student.

Steamboat Mountain School is a coeducational boarding and day high school that blends academics and adventure, combining an outstanding college‑preparatory curriculum with extraordinary programs out of the classroom and around the globe to build students’ knowledge, develop their conidence and independence, and prepare them for meaningful and fascinating lives. The School is in the Rocky Mountain wonderland of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, a vibrant town surrounded by breathtaking natural beauty and offering limitless outdoor opportunity. Students engage with rigorous academic work in small classes taught by skilled faculty, getting the challenge and support they need to succeed. Outdoor adventure, service learning (on and off campus), recreational skiing and snowboarding, and other out‑of‑classroom activities teach students valuable lessons about themselves and the world around them. Our competitive ski and snowboard program – run by the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club ‑ offers top athletes an opportunity for high‑level competition. Through activities such as these, students connect on meaningful levels with each other and with faculty as they learn about leadership, responsibility, self‑reliance, resilience, stewardship, and possibility.

We build global understanding in ways no other school can match. Our one‑of‑a‑kind Global Immersion Studies program combines cultural immersion, adventure, community building, and self‑discovery as students spend four weeks each year in a developing‑world country. By the time they graduate, students will have spent four months in four different countries on at least three continents. Learning inside and outside the classroom complement each other in ways that shape a student’s future. Programs on campus, in the community, in the wilderness, and around the world build leadership skills, self‑conidence, and poise in the face of challenge.

If a student can summit a 14,000‑foot mountain in challenging conditions, she’ll be able to igure
out quadratic equations. This one‑of‑a‑kind high school produces one‑of‑a‑kind graduates. Our graduates use their lexible skills and the sense of conidence to go on to build rewarding lives and careers in just about any walk of life you can imagine – plus many you can’t, because they haven’t been thought up yet.