Community

Community Meeting, Community Dinner, Community Day – you’re probably sensing a theme.  Community is a word that precedes many events here at VVS, and it’s at the heart of all we do. Students, faculty and staff recognize that the community we live in is the one we create, and we chose to live in a place that values knowledge, respect and compassion.
At VVS we strive to hold each other up. We intentionally keep our school small to ensure that each student is known well by faculty members and by each other.  The moment you step foot on the VVS campus you’ll feel that the community here is a little different, a little kinder, a little more accepting.

Julia Richter, Class of 2010

For me, the VVS community means family. Even four years after graduating from VVS, I have no doubt that if I go back I will still be welcomed with open arms. Not too long ago, I was able to catch up with one of my dorm parents and although so much happened in my life, her life and in VVS, nothing changed between us. The trust was still there and I still felt like I could share my story without being judged and without having to explain myself.

Community Meeting

Twice a week, the chapel bell rings calling students and faculty to that day’s Community Meeting, a time for announcements, skits and senior speeches, talks where seniors share their experience.  Students sit with their advisee group and each Friday students are treated to the Happy Box, a reading of anonymous notes left in a box by the reception desk that week.
    • Group of people eating on the lawn

Community Dinner

Each Monday night students and faculty gather in the dining hall for Community Dinner. Students eat with a different faculty family each week and the dining hall staff pull out all the stops with the meal . . . and the dessert. Other than getting us all together for a slower, more reflective dinner, we’re able to ensure that at the end of the year pretty much everyone on the VVS campus has shared a meal.


Community Day

Each May students and staff give back to VVS in the form of Community Day. From building benches for the amphitheater to refinishing the tables in the library, everyone has a job and at the end of the day, a bit achier, we can all stand back and look at what we’ve accomplished.
Verde Valley School is an International Baccalaureate boarding and day high school for students in grades 9-12.