Our Mission

The Peak School, a private school in Summit County, Colorado, seeks to ignite a passion for learning, to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity, and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their roles as local and global citizens.

Peak Principles in Practice

  • We welcome intellectually curious, motivated, and resourceful students who are eager to join our progressive learning community.

  • We stretch all students to reach their intellectual, ethical, creative, and social potential through in-depth and personalized explorations of essential concepts.

  • We develop graduates who write and speak with clarity and confidence, think critically and analytically, possess intellectual curiosity, and pursue their individual passions.

  • Small class sizes give teachers the opportunity to truly get to know their students and personalize the path to high achievement.

  • Teachers are expected to act as learners, coaches, leaders, and mentors. Students are expected to act as friends, stewards, mentors, and teachers.

  • Students are assessed and progress through our program based on their ability to master concepts, processes, and skills; and demonstrate this mastery in their Gateway experiences from one Division to the next.

  • Decency, trust, generosity, and tolerance are values that we extend to and expect from students, teachers, administrators, parents, and board members alike.

  • We encourage family commitment to the life of the school.

  • We attract and support a dynamic faculty with a shared passion for educating the whole child and empowering students to take an active role in their education. The Peak School focuses the majority of our administrative time and budget on personalization, curriculum, equipment, and programs that enhance the curricular programs, mission, and principles of the school.

  • We maintain a commitment to democracy and equity in all facets of governance and education. We honor diversity in culture and thought, encouraging our students not only to demonstrate respect for others, but to deliberately and explicitly challenge all forms of inequity.

Philosophy

At The Peak School, we combine personalized, progressive education with high academic expectations. Our academically motivated students create a community built around common goals and intellectual curiosity. Peak's 10 Common Principles—adopted from The Coalition of Essential Schools—guide our values from the classroom to the hallways to the wilderness. 

Among our principles, you will find "Demonstration of mastery," which is just one of the many educational choices that sets The Peak School apart. There is no one-size fits all conveyer belt at Peak when it comes to teaching and learning.  Rather than assessing students on the traditional A - F scale, teachers at The Peak School use a set of skills called Division Mastery Objectives (DMO). 

Division Mastery Objectives are a set of skills that allow students to demonstrate learning before moving ahead to the next grade level, and guide them toward becoming lifelong learners. 

Students are assessed using skills-based rubrics that allow them to work towards a skill on a four-prong scale—Just Beginning (JB), Approaching (A), Meets (M), and Exceeds (E). These stages of development do not correspond with traditional letter grades; rather, the skills-based system allows teachers to guide and coach students toward understanding. As such, learning is more personalized and holistic.

Interested in learning more about our independent private school and mastery-based assessment? Click here to learn more.