Senior at The Peak School, Selah Kreeger, produced, directed and casted her own play based on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe as one of her three plays for her Capstone Senior Project.
Brain Awareness Week is something that we’ve been apart of at Peak for a few years now. This year, we will be partnering with the Dana Foundation, for the third year in a row, and Colorado State University during the week of March 13th. The Dana Foundation is a philanthropic organization whose mission statement states that they are “committed to advancing brain research and to educating the public.” The Dana Foundation helped their partners bring Brain Awareness Week to the country-wide educational initiative is today. This year, we plan on focusing our brain activities on how our brains are affected by technology, developing empathy for brain disorders and injuries, and local options found in Summit County related to positive brain health. “It’s so important to understand our brains and it’s functions and capabilities,” said Peak student Elli VanDeYacht. “People can be ignorant on this topic, students especially. Brain Awareness Week has been a great success at Peak because it’s interactive and easy to participate in, just like lots of our classes.”
Dr. Leslie Stone-Roy will be visiting on Tuesday March 14th with a group of Colorado State University undergraduate and graduate students as part of their CSU’s Brain Awareness Week outreach program, and will be bringing a number of interactive stations directed at Middle and High School aged students. Additionally, the Peak School will continue to provide students with materials and information so that they can connect with local resources, including Safe2Tell Colorado and local affiliate High Country Colorado of the National Alliance of Mental Illness to educate about suicide and substance abuse.
Our hope is that by educating young people, they will be able to employ better decision making skills and develop greater empathy towards mental and brain disorders.
“Brain Awareness Week is a great opportunity to learn more about mental illness, substance abuse, and proper brain protection,” another Peak student, Olivia Brown-Wolf said. “I believe every week should be treated like Brain Awareness Week. Education about mental illness is extremely under taught in our society, and I believe Brain Awareness Week is the first step to further educate youth about these illnesses.”
If you would like to get more involved with Brain Awareness Week, the Peak School would love your help. The program runs March 13-17, 2017 at The Peak School during school hours.
The Peak School stands on three pillars: choices, ten common principles, and forum. Forum is one of the more unique and cherished parts of our school’s philosophy that allows students to have a voice and address their entire community with just about anything they want. On Tuesday afternoons, students are either divided into Middle School or Upper School, or forum involves the whole school. Before each forum meeting, two to three student representatives are selected to run the meeting. Their job is to facilitate each portion of the agenda that is laid out before the meeting. A typical forum agenda starts with connections. This is a two minute segment where any student can say just about anything they want; what they’re excited about, what they’re not excited about, something interesting to share with the group. Literally just about anything that would make a connection with someone else. Following that are a few minutes dedicated to any announcement that a teacher or student might have. Next, they move into “shout outs,” which is a time for students or staff members to acknowledge something they appreciate someone else doing. We also use this time to bring attention to recent birthdays in our school’s community. Last is a section of time dedicated for students to discuss current events, whether they be local or global.
Once all of the mandatory forum topics are covered, the rest of the time is used for whatever the teachers have planned. Sometimes it’s a group activity or game, and other times it can be issues to discuss among the community. For example: a few weeks ago, the school needed to come up with a new policy for lunch rules. For this scenario we had the students involved in the conversation.
The main focus of forum is to give students a voice in our school and also on decisions being made among our community. Students find it to be empowering when they have a say in policies and changes in our school and so do the staff. Forum is something that The Peak School values, and it’s part of what makes us who we are.
At Peak, our Division IV students benefit a unique experience, one where they can truly own their education by creating their own carefully crafted schedule. Division IV students this year have been splitting their time between taking courses at The Peak School, such as Lives of Moral Leadership, and at Colorado Mountain College, where they earn college credit. We call this final year for our seniors at Peak a Capstone Year.
A larger piece of the Capstone Year is creating a senior project. The sky's the limit when it comes to these projects, as long as they meet certain educational parameters for growth. Division IV students chose any topic they want to spend an entire school year studying and researching and doing. It should be something they are passionate about -- something that inspires them. This year, we have six division IV students who have a wide range of exciting topics as their senior projects. Grant Morgan, a pianist, is working on a sonata on his Piano. He plans for it to be 15-30 minutes long with varying pieces to his movement. Tye Brown-Wolf chose politics and is studying what party young voters (ages 18-25) are affiliating with and the influences parties/young voters have on one another. Arel Svenson, a passionate snowboarder, is studying film and working on shooting a snowboard film capturing the emotions a snowboarder experiences as they are flying down a run. Kira Benson, passionate about country music, is recording and producing a country music album that features herself on all the instrumentation and vocals. Jared Lincenberg is studying city planning while using a new software to map Summit County while also studying cultural and historical aspects of city planning. Selah Kreeger, founder of the Peak Theater Club, has been working hard to reach her goal of producing, adapting, directing and acting in three plays this year: Every 17 Minutes the Crowd Goes Crazy, Chronicles of Narnia and Clue.
At the halfway point of our academic year, these six seniors are well on their way to success. These students are being challenged with the biggest project thus far in their academic careers, while also learning about topics that get them excited for future study. A Capstone Year is meant to ignite a passion for learning in a field that these students are interested in, and we are definitely seeing that happen at The Peak School.
Tye Brown-Wolf, a senior at The Peak School, is one of only two recipients from Colorado to be accepted into the Youth Senate program.
Read the article by clicking here
Travis Aldrich named our new Head of School starting in the 2017-2018 academic year.
To learn more, click here
Dear Peak School Families,
We are delighted to announce that Travis Aldrich has agreed to become The Peak School’s third Head of School on July 1, 2017. An educator for more than 20 years, Travis has taught English and History; served as an admissions director, dean of students, middle school director and upper school director; coached basketball, soccer and lacrosse; led telemark trips in Colorado and cultural immersion trips to Costa Rica and Thailand; and served as 
Division Director at three nationally-recognized wilderness/educational camps.
Travis is a terrific fit with The Peak School’s needs and mission, having experience with the unique challenges and strengths of independent schools in mountain communities. He is dynamic, a proven educator, and a skilled outdoorsman. He was impressive and comfortable in his meetings with students, faculty, staff, parents and Board members. His recommendations were outstanding. Currently the upper school director at Vail Mountain School, Travis already knows Peak well and is eager to start working here.
Travis was selected, after a nationwide search, by a unanimous vote of the school’s Search Committee (led by Dana Karin) and our Board of Trustees. We are all confident that Travis is the right person to lead the school forward, and to build on the progress that Peak has made during Steve Coleman’s term as HOS.
Steve will be returning to his East Coast home upon completion of his three-year contract. His accomplishments have included stabilizing the school’s finances, increasing enrollment, expanding the school’s educational programs, recruiting its first international students, achieving early accreditation and adding grades 10-12 to the Upper School. We’re very grateful to Steve and wish him and his family all the best.
Best regards,
Your Board of Trustees
John Vincze, Co-Chair Dan Wolf, Co-Chair
Art Albin Dana Karin
Bart McGuire Mary Anne Johnston
Carol Craig
Our sixth grade students had an outdoor education trip all to themselves for the first time in Peak history. To learn more click here
At The Peak School, we are always preparing for the future. Whether it’s our staff planning ahead for lessons, our community preparing for an event, or our student’s gearing up for an outdoor ed. trip. The same is true for our Division III and IV students who are looking ahead to life after Peak: college.
Going to college is such an exciting time in a young person’s life. Moving out of the house and discovering life on your own, making new friends and learning a lot. But planning for college, and deciding which is the right school for a particular student, is something that we take very seriously at The Peak School. Our college counselor, Nick Smith, has been working very hard and getting universities to stop in and chat with our students. Just this past week, we had representatives from Dartmouth College and the University of Vermont that sat down with some of our Division IV students that are working hard on their college applications. We are also very fortunate to be working with Travis and Amy Macy who work with our Division III student’s to help them find a university with that is the right fit for them, along with getting them prepared for every step of the college application process.
With more colleges visiting Peak in the near future, our students are going to have a great idea of where they want to go for school and what they want to study. It’s no question that when the time comes, our students will be well prepared for their transition from The Peak School to university.
We welcome international students and faculty to bring new perspectives for students. To learn more about this, click here
Mountain Day, one of many things that sets us apart from other schools in the county, is a tradition held at The Peak School where classes are canceled for the day and student's enjoy a day outdoors. To learn more about this specific fall mountain day, click here
A Harvest Gathering to Benefit The Peak School If there is one thing that is certain about autumn in Summit County, it’s that it doesn’t last long. Since this wonderful season is so short, let’s take a moment to step back and celebrate the quiet of a Summit County fall with it’s beautiful blue skies and the orange and gold hues of the aspen trees.
Please join us for the annual Harvest Gathering celebration. This year, the event takes place Thursday, October 6th, at the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant in Frisco, Colorado. It runs from 6:00pm until 9:30pm. You’ll be treated to an evening of tastings of more than 100 wines, beers and spirits, along with food pairings provided by Basecamp Wine & Spirits, Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant, Whole Foods Market, Tavern West and Sauce on the Blue. Along with food and drinks, there will be an extensive silent auction, including 2 pairs of skis, private tour of the Coors brewery, private tour of the New Belgium brewery and much more. The popular “Beer Barrel” and “Wine Barrel” raffle will be back, too.
Tickets are $40 in advance and $45 at the door. Tickets can be purchased online at http://thepeakschool.education/event/harvestgathering, in the Welcome Office at The Peak School or at Basecamp Wine & Spirits. This event benefits The Peak School as well as Summit Education Foundation. If you have an item or something to contribute to the silent auction – a night of lodging, tickets to an event, a restaurant gift certificate or more, it is not too late! Contact The Peak School with any inquiries about donating silent auction items.
Save the date for Thursday, October 6th. Invite your friends, family and neighbors to this great event that helps benefit The Peak School. Feel free to contact The Peak School with any questions regarding the Harvest Gathering. We look forward to having you join us celebrate this remarkable time of year.
For new families looking for information on Peak's programs and/or our daily routines, please click the link below
Summit Daily News | Wednesday May 25, 2016 Peak students enjoy a California road trip!
This summer while Peak students are enjoying the rivers and mountains that make up our Colorado backyard, new Chinese teacher, Luke Wander will be making his way to Summit County from Hangzhou, China. Luke is a young American, reared in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, and graduated summa cum laude from University of North Carolina with majors in History and Asian Studies (Mandarin). After studying Chinese for 4 years at UNC, Luke has been living in China these past 3 years, teaching for 2 years and continuing his language studies. His experience also includes coaching soccer and directing Youth Theater and choral singing. Nothing could please Luke more than participating in the outdoor activities so abundant here in Summit County.
Here is Luke’s message:
大家好， Not too long ago, a stranger on a train turned to me and asked, "What exactly do you do here in China?" This is a fairly common question and so I gave my standard small-talk reply: that I study Chinese. Not satisfied, he asked, "Why?" For years, there have been many answers to this question. I've explained it using my curiosity, my admiration of the culture, my inexplicable desire to be able to communicate with people so different from myself, and a thousand other reasons. But I had a different answer for this man. I told him about The Peak School. I told him how excited I am to take everything I've learned while working and studying and living here and to pass it on to a group of students who, like myself, share that inexplicable curiosity for China and the Chinese language. I told him how much I miss living in the mountains (I did not, however, explain the difference between the Rockies and the Appalachians) and how thrilled I am to get back in touch with nature. I told him how lucky I was to be joining a small, close-knit community of people who share a hunger for knowledge and a willingness to find their own way. I could have gone on, but at this point I sensed that the stranger had gotten far more than he had bargained for, so I stopped. Odd anecdote aside, I truly am humbled by the opportunity to get to know you all, to speak and to listen, to work and to play, to teach and be taught, and to coach and be coached. 八月见！ -Luke
More about Luke:
Education:
BA, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Beijing Institute of Education
Zhejiang University
Hometown & other places he's lived:
Asheville, NC
Carrboro, NC
Beijing, China
Jiaxing, China
Hangzhou, China
Jobs he's had:
History Teacher
Camp Counselor
House Painter
Farmhand
Bouncer
Dog-walker
Interests:
The Written Word
Soccer
Theatre
Hiking & Backpacking
Skiing
Laughing
Biking
Fishing
For a second consecutive year, Peak is hosting an intern from the Scarsdale Alternative School (A-School) in Scarsdale, New York. Eliza Auchincloss, a senior at the A-School, will join the Peak community from May 9-27 as part of her senior project. In her role as in intern, Eliza will help Peak map out the Senior Year and graduation plans for our first graduating class next year in Spring of 2017. She plans to survey and interview students, teachers, and parents about building strong community in a small school environment. Eliza will also help outline the first Peak graduation,scheduled for Thursday, May 25, 2017, making suggestions about everything from caps and gowns to voting on a speaker.
To get to know the Peak class of 2017, Eliza joined many students from that first graduating class on a college campus tour in California. Along with six students and two teachers, Eliza flew to California and drove down the coast from San Francisco to South of Los Angeles, looking at more than fifteen college campuses before driving East through three national parks.
Peak School Accomplishments 2015 – 2016
Each year, we reflect on the academic and extracurricular achievements of our students by compiling a year-end achievement list. Please take a moment to review our student's outstanding achievements!
Academic Achievements
Students participated in more than 20 field trips, including visits to the Cadaver Lab with Arapahoe Community College, Hiking St. Mary Alice glacier, and visiting the Denver Museum of Nature and Science Planetarium.
Students Completed:
- 51 National History Day Projects
- 40 STEM Fair Projects
- 17 Gateway Projects
- 15 student-driven 20% Projects
- 31 CommuniTeach Courses
20% Projects
The 20% Project was introduced by Literature teacher, Monica Mills, who heard about it at a Google professional development conference. All 10th and 11th graders created a student-designed project aimed at giving back to a community, and twenty-percent of class time was dedicated to students’ developing and carrying out a plan.
- 15 student-designed projects aimed at giving back to the community
- Kira Benson, Henry Boyd and Arel Svenson taught song-writing, robotics, and engineering workshops to middle school students during CommuniTeach
- Conor Craig helped develop new Outdoor Education curriculum and led the Division I/II hut trip
- Selah Kreeger founded the Peak Theatre Club, whose first performance, “Alice in Wonderland,” was entirely student-led and directed and included students from SMS and SHS
- Hope Armstrong is building two Little Free Libraries using a $300 grant she received from Summit County Rotary. The libraries will be a free book exchanges located at FIRC and Summit County Pre-School
- Will Sharp built a solar-assisted electric bicycle
HSSSE Survey Results
Upper School students took the HSSSE survey, a national survey of high schools, developed to solicit student input on their experience at school. This survey is an effective tool in helping schools improve teaching and learning, and to enhance student engagement. The survey revealed that…
- 100% of Upper School students feel good about being at Peak, care about the school, feel safe at Peak, and feel supported by their teachers.
- Almost all students agree that Peak emphasizes understanding of information and ideas, analyzing ideas in depth in class, and has contributed to their development in thinking critically, reading, writing, and speaking effectively, and treating people with respect.
Accreditation
The Peak School received official accreditation on June 30, 2015 and enjoyed its first year as a fully accredited school.
Outstanding Academic Student Achievements
National History Day Projects
- Jorie Benson won 1st place, Junior Exhibition, at the National History Day regional competition and represented Peak at state finals in Denver.
- Olivia Brown-Wolf placed 3rd in Junior Documentary at the National History Day regional competition and represented Peak at state finals in Denver.
- Tye Brown-Wolf won 1st place in the Senior Paper category at the National History Day regional competition and represented Peak at state finals in Denver, where he came in 4th Tye also won two Awards for Excellence, including Best Regional Project and the Library of Congress Award for outstanding research.
- Selah Kreeger won 1st place, Senior Documentary, at the National History Day regional competition and represented Peak at state finals in Denver.
- Grant Morgan earned 2nd place in the Senior Paper category at the National History Day regional competition and represented Peak at state finals in Denver.
Model United Nations
- Kira Benson and Arel Svenson were awarded Best Delegation at three Model UN Conferences around Colorado, competing against students from 15 other High Schools.
Tye Brown-Wolf secured an internship with County Commissioner, Dan Gibbs.
Outstanding Student Extracurricular Achievements
More than 90% of students participate in clubs or teams outside of Peak with 50% of students participating in sports or extracurricular activities through Summit School District. Students participated in football, volleyball, track, basketball, Nordic and Alpine skiing, lacrosse, Model UN, rugby, speech & debate, hockey, dance & theater.
Tye Brown-Wolf and Grant Morgan placed 2nd in the Western-Slope division for Speech & Debate, co-captained the Speech & Debate team, and advanced to state finals.
In April, Jared Lincenberg served as a delegate at the State Democratic Nominating Convention in Loveland.
Jorie Benson was invited to perform as part of the Café Concert series on her violin at the Silverthorne Pavilion and in the Summit County Orchestra.
Grant Morgan won first place in the Summit Music & Arts Young Composers Competition with a solo piano composition he wrote called “Finnegan’s Fall.”
Will DeLaRosa received his First Class Boy Scout Rank at the young age of 12.
Lauren DeLaRosa earned the Castle Rock Stake Presidents Award, given to outstanding seminary students.
Elli VandeYacht passed her US Figure Skating Intermediate Moves in Field and Juvenile Free Skate tests.
Tye Brown-Wolf and Grant Morgan were listed in the top 30 Public Forum Debate Teams in Colorado.
Conor Albin was elected to Order of the Arrow in Boy Scouts.
Olivia Brown-Wolf and Ali Elston skied for SMS, helping the girl’s team take 2nd in the state.
Luke Mathis earned the defensive MVP award and helped the 7th grade SMS football team place 2nd in the league.
Cole Perkins helped the 8th grade SMS football team finish 2nd in the league.
Sally Rodli finished 2nd in a Big Mountain ski competition in Winter Park.
Phin Smith finished 3rd in a GS race at Breckenridge and had another top-ten finish this season.
Jack Renner, Joey Hodge, Phin Smith and Wylam Mocatta all played on the undefeated Summit Strikers soccer team.
Joey Hodge placed 9th in a slalom race at ElDora.
Conor Craig captained the Summit Renegade men’s rugby team and was the highest scoring player on the team.
Henry Boyd won his age category in the Imperial Challenge, a winter mountain race involving biking (or running), skinning to the summit of Peak 8, and skiing down Peak 8 at Breckenridge.
Henry Boyd participated on the SHS mountain bike team and finished 16th at state finals.
Henry Boyd participated on the SHS alpine ski team and qualified for state finals.
Elli VandeYacht, Piper Miller, Alex Goode, PK Vincze and Madi Rothey helped the Summit Hockey U14 team win their league this season. The Summit Girls U14 hockey team finished 4th in the state and PK and Elli scored their first goals!
Will Bird received his First Aid/CPR/AED card.
Jake Mallory got accepted to two AAA hockey-training camps and goalie clinics in Denver and Colorado Springs.
Summit Extreme Baseball
Luke Mathis played on the U12 Summit Extreme Team that won the 2015 CABA Colorado State Championship.
Koa Rashidi and Luke Mathis are on the U13 Summit Extreme Team that took 1st place at the 2016 CABA Spring Blast Tournament.
Community Involvement
Jorie Benson and Kira Benson both participated in the Summit Youth Orchestra.
Olivia Brown-Wolf, Jorie Benson, Arel Svenson, and Selah Kreeger performed in The Little Mermaid at Backstage Theater.
Connor Albin represented Peak on the SMS Alpine ski team.
Wylam Mocatta & Phoebe Smith represented Peak on the SMS Nordic ski team.
Olivia and Tye Brown-Wolf collected over 100 books and donated them in Nicaragua.
AnnaRose Craig was part of a Destination Imagination team that competed at regionals.
Sally Rodli and Phin Smith represented Peak on Team Summit.
Joey Hodge, Jack Renner, Arel Svenson, Cassidy Citron, Ethan Fulkerson, Kayla Fulkerson, Jorie Benson, Kira, Benson, Lauren DeLaRosa and Hope Armstrong all performed in Peak Theatre Club’s inaugural performance of “Alice in Wonderland,” cast, directed and produced by Selah Kreeger.
Maggie Hoehn, Brielle Quigley, Marina Ganceva, PK Vincze, Alex Goode, Natalie Anderson and Piper Miller played on the SMS girl’s rugby team.
Riley Lineaweaver participated in The Jungle Book at Backstage Theater and a Halloween dance show and year-end recital with Alpine Dance.
Selah Kreeger performed in Backstage Theatre’s The Jungle Book.
Will Bird participated as a Junior Sherpa in SOS, helping a group of 2nd graders learn to snowboard.
Tye Brown-Wolf was a member of the SHS Football and Basketball teams.
Summit Daily News | Monday, May 16, 2016 Read the story on Page 3 here.
Next week, thirteen 9th and 10th grade Peak students will be participating in a 6-day long rafting adventure as part of our cornerstone Outdoor Education curriculum at Peak. Students depart from Peak on Monday, May 16 and head for Sand Wash, Utah where they will camp one night and meet up with guides from Adventure Bound Rafting Company. Students will spend the next 5 days rafting the Desolation Canyon section of the Green River in eastern Utah. During the trip, students will learn specific aspects of river safety, equipment and the use and precautions of such equipment, river etiquette, resource management and general information pertaining to the Geology and History of the surrounding area and Governing Agencies. They will also continue their STEM curriculum on the trip, guided by Peak STEM teacher Laura Davies. The Peak School's Outdoor Education program is a cornerstone of our curriculum, giving students an opportunity for environmental education fieldwork, to challenge themselves, use teamwork, and develop leadership skills.
Six Peak School 11th grade students and two teachers will embark on a college trip to California next week that is part road trip, part campus tour. The group will fly from Denver to San Francisco, where they will spend a day touring the campuses of Stanford, UC Berkeley, and USF. They have rented two cars, so students can pick and choose which campuses they see and activities they do at each stop. The teachers and students will spend three days driving down the coast of California, making stops in Santa Cruz and Los Angeles to tour UC Santa Cruz, Cal Poly, UCLA, Loyola Marymount, Occidental College and more than five other college campuses along the way. After four days of touring colleges, the group will spend three days driving back to Colorado, with overnights camping in Joshua Tree, Zion, and Arches National Parks. They will be gone for a week in total, on a journey that incorporates several cornerstones of a Peak School education. They will receive personalized instruction and counseling from dedicated teachers who know each student well; they will learn what they want in the next step of their education; and they will continue their appreciation for environmental stewardship and nature.
Over Spring break, two students flew back to New York with Head of School, Steve Coleman to tour East Coast colleges and universities in New York, Washington DC, and Philadelphia. Both trips are part of Peak’s unique and comprehensive college counseling program, and most of the students attending will be a part of The Peak School’s first graduating class next year in Spring of 2017.