Lead a discussion. Teach your peers. Write a lab. Pursue your passions.
Our upper school program is a unique secondary education opportunity that you will not find in many high school settings. Starting in ninth grade, students engage in challenging academics both in and out of the classroom, as experiential learning is both encouraged and supported here. In class, you may find yourself studying geomorphology on a glacier or hiking through old mining ruins to inspire your poetry. We hold you to high academic standards, while fostering a sense of adventure and citizenship.
In your senior year at Peak, you develop your own capstone senior project, which serves as a cornerstone of your studies for the year. In third-quarter, we pause classroom academics for the senior class, while you embark on an internship or experiential opportunity that offers a real life experience of your project.
Our mastery-based learning philosophy not only cultivates critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills, but also character-building and life-long learning skills that serve you well beyond your years at The Peak School.
Ninth Grade
As a Ninth grader at The Peak School, you spend your first year of high school connecting with a new Base Camp, learning how to balance course work with increased freedom during the school day, and establishing important foundational skills in class, which you will build upon throughout the high school program.
Ninth graders can expect:
- Six required courses: World Literature, Earth Science, History of the Ancient World, your level of mathematics, your choice of an elective each quarter, and the choice of a world languange—spanish, chinese, or an independent study;
- A week-long outdoor education trip in the spring with students in the tenth grade;
- Access to Summit High School extracurriculuars, including athletic teames and speech & debate team.
- Freedom to walk down Main Street for lunch off-campus
» Find out more about the upper school curriculum here.
Tenth Grade
Your tenth grade year at The Peak School focuses on continuing to hone pertinent critical thinking and creative problem solving skills. In many core courses, you are paired with eleventh graders and challenged to develop stronger leadership and communication skills both in and out of the classroom.
Tenth graders can expect:
- Six required courses: literature (Identity in "American" Literature or Knights, Magic, & Monsters: British Literature to Magical Realism); science (Biology or Chemistry); history (The Modern World to 1900 or 20th Century World History); your level of mathematics; your choice of an elective each quarter; and continuing study of a world language—spanish or chinese.
- The option to take an elective with Colorado Mountain College
- A week-long outdoor education trip in the spring with students in the ninth grade;
- Access to Summit High School extracurriculuars, including athletic teames and speech & debate team.
- Freedom to walk down Main Street for lunch off-campus
» Find out more about the upper school curriculum here.
Eleventh Grade
As an eleventh grader at The Peak School, you are not only expected to continue to challenge yourself academically and foster a strong commitment to your extracurricular activities, but you also begin an extensive college counseling process with substantial one-on-one support for you and your family.
- Six required courses: literature (Identity in "American" Literature or Knights, Monsters, & Magic: British Literature to Magical Realism); science (Biology or Chemistry); history (); your level of mathematics; your choice of an elective each quarter; and continuing study of a world language—spanish or chinese.
- The option to take an elective with Colorado Mountain College
- A comprehensive college preparation program, including:
- Required ACT/SAT Test prep
- Required college essay & interview prep
- Day trips and tours to in-state colleges & universities
- A week-long out of state college trip with your junior class
- Access to College Consultants of Colorado
- Access to Summit High School extracurriculars, including athletic teams and speech & debate team.
- Freedom to walk down Main Street for lunch off-campus
» Find out more about the upper school curriculum here.
» Find out more about our college counselling program here.
Twelfth Grade
As a senior at The Peak school, you don't just learn about your passions, you live them.
For three out of four quarters, you engage in an academically challenging college-level curriculum. Schedules are designed to offer more flexibility and ownership of your learning, while also fostering time-management skills crucial for post-secondary success. In addition to core classes, you focus on a self-designed, year-long capstone project. In third-quarter, you embark on an experiential internship to further research and "live" your project.
- Four required courses: Power and Empowerment in the Novel; Sustainability; Physics; and a senior capstone course to support your independent project.
- A break from classroom academics in third-quarter to conduct an internship or experiential opportunity off-campus that adds real life experience to your senior capstone paper
- The option to take a mathematics or elective course with Colorado Mountain College
- The option to take a world language—Spanish, Chinese, or an independent study.
- A later start time and earlier end time to the school day, which allows you to develop an understanding of the freedom and flexibility of a college/university schedule
- Access to Summit High School extracurriculuars, including athletic teames and speech & debate team.
- Freedom to walk down Main Street for lunch off-campus