History

In the spring of 1998, the citizens of Winhall voted to close their existing public elementary school and support establishing an independent community day school, maintaining a high-quality education choice for its local residents.

The Mountain School at Winhall (MSW) was created on Town Meeting Day on March 3, 1998, and opened its doors to just under 40 students that fall. The citizens also voted to close Winhall Elementary, the town's public school, that same day. The newly formed Mountain School primarily served students in Winhall and Stratton, choice districts, but also accepted private tuition students for other local towns. Nestled in some of Vermont's most beautiful regions, the school has continuously offered an exceptional educational program from its first year of operations, leveraging its access to the outdoors to extend the learning beyond the school walls.

The establishment of an independent school presented an opportunity to provide a high level of academic excellence for all students in the town at a cost that was significantly lower per pupil, more manageable to taxpayers (per-student costs dropped by several thousand dollars that very next year) and held accountable by an independent board of governors, the Board of Trustees. 

Through the years, The Mountain School at Winhall has been home to hundreds of students in the region and continues to this day to provide an educational program of excellence to support the growth of the whole child. It now operates with approximately 50 students in grades K-6 and remains progressive in its approach to actualizing the potential in each child within a joyful school environment.