When students embark on their path toward graduation at The Peak School, they don’t just leave with a degree at the end of four years. They leave with a wealth of knowledge and real-world experience through their nontraditional coursework that ends up leaving a lasting impact on the local community. 

The Class of 2025 is continuing a long tradition of securing a 100% graduation rate, and while their senior capstone projects were amazing on their own, they are even more impressive when you factor in how Peak School seniors collectively volunteered 4,000 hours in Summit County.

“Our senior class represents diverse interests and skills, and have made a significant difference for our community,” Peak School Executive Assistant Emily Shepardson wrote. “This class was able to balance multiple demands on their time throughout their senior year, including working multiple jobs, volunteering, ski competitions, rugby (matches), lacrosse games, climbing club, speech and debate, AP exams, (Colorado Mountain College) classes, school clubs, travel to Europe, Japan, and across the U.S., outdoor education trips, and more — and they were still able to be present in the classroom, build community in our school and find success in their college application process.”

As a private institution, The Peak School challenges its seniors to take on a college-level curriculum, where schedules are designed with more flexibility in order to foster independence since students must stay up on top of their assignments with less structure than typical school. 

At the beginning of the year, each senior chooses a yearlong capstone project before capping off the third quarter of the year engaged in an internship where they “live” their project. 

The topics included things that directly relate to issues and challenges faced by Summit County’s community, like wildfires, water scarcity and ski racing safety, while others focused on gaining knowledge on the firearm industry, the art of tattooing, equine health, artificial intelligence, car mechanics and film production. 

The senior class is walking away with more than $1 million in merit-based aid from colleges and universities. Many students received their top choices of colleges, Shepardson said, and some are even prepared to start working at local organizations, like Summit Fire & EMS. 

Their studies took them all over the world and country, from Washington, D.C. to Europe, and the students gained leadership experience through leading local field trips for middle school students. 

Much like their unique learning, families and friends will celebrate their accomplishments during a graduation ceremony unlike any other on the ski lifts at Copper Mountain Resort. 

Students are expected to ride up the mountain with their students and take part in a commencement on Friday, May 30, from 3:30-4:30 p.m.

For more information about the graduates and The Peak School, visit ThePeakSchool.education/.