Students at the Mountain School in Vermont, United States, engage in a distinctive semester-long program that blends academic learning with hands-on farmwork. Participants are involved in various activities such as harvesting crops, caring for animals, and maintaining their living and learning spaces through tasks like cleaning classrooms and washing dishes. Families invest approximately $40,000 (around Rs 3,835,386) for this immersive experience, which emphasizes communal responsibilities and operates in a technology-free environment.
The programme attracts high-school juniors from across the US and other countries. Many students see it as an opportunity to step away from screens, gain greater independence, and strengthen their college applications.
Thomas Whitney, father of a current student and a Mountain School alum himself said: “I don’t think of it as chores”. Another key aim is “learning to be an adult,” he added.
The school stated that students also have the opportunity to live in a low-tech environment and focus on their in-person experience. Each semester balances independence and self-reliance with the work and joy of building an interdependent community of peers, it added. The school stated that students leave Vermont with more than memories: they gain skills, confidence, and perspective that shape their futures.
A semester at The Mountain School provides 10th, 11th, and 12th-grade students with the experience of working together on a farm, exploring systems and critical thinking through courses, and participating in programmes on forestry and natural history, according to the school’s official website. “Every semester, our alumni go on to thrive at top colleges and in purposeful lives rooted in curiosity, responsibility, and care for the world,” the school’s official website stated.
