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Overview

Verde Valley School is a boarding and day school for students in grades 9-12. Founded in 1947 by Hamilton and Barbara Warren the school brings together students from all over the world to live, work and study together on our campus in Sedona, Arizona.

- Founders Hamilton and Barbara Warren

To this day at Verde Valley School we continue to value the original principles upon which Hamilton and Barbara Warren founded the school. We do this by challenging our students to fulfill their own potential in every area: academics, service, sports, physical work, the arts and by stressing competition with oneself rather than with others.

Campus and Locale

Located under the rim of the Colorado Plateau at an elevation of 4,500 feet, Sedona is blessed with four mild seasons, plenty of sunshine and clean air. Our red rock valley campus is surrounded on three sides by national forest land and offers beautiful surroundings for year-round outdoor activities, including horseback riding, mountain biking, rock climbing, soccer, golf, basketball, and trail and cross-country running.

People

List of 4 items.

100

Total Enrollment
60

Boarding Students
40

Day Students
85%

Teachers with advanced degrees

Academic Programs

IB + Dirt
We deliver the prestigious International Baccalaureate curriculum through a fully developed experiential model. We take our classroom outside, we roll up our sleeves, we get a little dirty, we try out theories, we live out our learning. Students earn a VVS diploma after satisfactory completion of coursework, and IB diploma candidates also take IB exams at the end of the senior year, leading to the IB diploma. Our IB pass rate is consistently between 85 to 90%.
9th and 10th Grade Foundation
Our 9th and 10th Grade Foundation prepares students for the work they will undertake in the IB by meeting them where they are and basing most class time on hands-on, collaborative work in each discipline. We focus our study on three guiding questions: Who am I and how do I know that? How do I fit into the world around me? What is my responsibility to my community?
Beyond the Classroom
Whether it’s Field Expeditions, Decembermester or Project Period, a lot of learning happens beyond the classroom. During Field Trips students and faculty leave campus for two-weeks on trips that combine anthropological research, outdoor sports and service work; Decembermester is an experiential program where students work on long-term projects in and out of the traditional classroom; we end our year with Project Period, a chance for students to chose projects ranging from learning digital animation to hiking into Clear Creek Canyon on a solo backpacking journey.
Residential Life
While living at VVS, we know that your dorm, your dorm parents and your dorm community constitute your home away from home. Because of this we approach our residential life with forethought, intentionality and warmth. There are seven dormitories on campus – three for boys and four for girls – and each dorm has its own character.
College Counseling
Our comprehensive college counseling program guides students and parents through the process from start to finish. A group of approximately 10 students work one-on-one with a member of the VVS college counseling team. The team knows students well and is able to help find the best match for their strengths, interests and personality.