Rock Point School

Rock Point School is a coeducational, independent boarding and day school for grades 9-12 in Burlington, Vermont; we are a positive alternative to traditional high schools. We encourage you to explore and learn about the huge impact our intentionally small community can have in your life!

Rock Point School is an intentionally small, independent, co-ed boarding high school in Burlington, Vermont on the shores of Lake Champlain. We are proud to have been founded in 1928 with a mission to serve young people that remains strong to this day. Rock Point School is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

We serve students from a variety of backgrounds who have struggled to find their place in more traditional schools. Our students are young people seeking purpose, acceptance, and community. They want to change their lives for the better and are open to help to achieve their goals.

Our college-preparatory academics develop students for life after high school, wherever it may take them, and our residential program challenges and captivates student interest in new and exhilarating activities. We are a community in every sense of the word where young people can find a place where they are valued, understood and where they belong. The student experience at Rock Point School is based on relationships and one of our greatest assets is our dedicated educators.

We treat each of our students as individuals and are constantly helping them to identify ways in which they can be successful, both in the classroom and in interactions with their peers. Rock Point School is located on 130 acres of lakefront property in beautiful Burlington, VT. Our students thrive in a unique environment that combines easy access to nature with a small, safe, fun city just down the road.

Rock Point School provides a close-knit, supportive educational community, where high school and postgraduate students who have experienced challenges can become successful academically, build self-confidence, and develop skills for their future. Rock Point School offers academic, cultural, recreational, and spiritual opportunities that support intellectual growth and help students become their best selves at their own pace.

Time and again, we have observed how, given the right environment, students grow in the direction of their natural desire to do well. They make academic progress, contribute to the community, and develop healthy relationships. We view students as whole, unique people, and we focus on their positive qualities and help them see their strengths. Because we celebrate students’ success and potential, they grow to see themselves for the good, whole people they are. As they develop their skills and confidence, they come to believe in their ability to create joyful, meaningful lives for themselves.

Our staff and our students work together, learn together, clean together, and play together. In all of these facets, our staff builds honest and genuine relationships with students. We get to know our students for who they are, and they get to know us as real and caring people in their lives. Students are encouraged to open up to staff about their struggles, and to speak up when something bothers them. Rock Point students feel that they are truly known, which allows them to take risks and make progress.

Rock Point is a small school, and a wonderful place for students to learn about belonging to a community. Everyone has an active role in creating our environment. With so many opportunities for inclusion and leadership, all of our students find that they are an important part of life at Rock Point. They learn to communicate, take responsibility for themselves, initiate activities, and contribute. Even our quietest students find their voice, and they learn that their community wants to hear it.

Though Rock Point is an exceptionally supportive and loving community, we know that students need firm boundaries and challenges in order to grow. Once students have found their footing at Rock Point, we give them opportunities to leave their comfort zone. Their time here is never stagnant, but a slow and steady trajectory. Students know that a caring community supports them, which allows them to take small steps, and accept new challenges. This balance of support and challenge allows students to successfully launch from Rock Point into the next exciting chapters of their lives.