Fountain Valley School of Colorado

Infobox School
name=Fountain Valley School
type=Preparatory school
grades=Grades 9-12
location=6155 Fountain Valley School Road Colorado Springs, Colorado
information=[phone]
head of school=Craig W. Larimer Jr '69
established=1930
mascot=Danes
colors=red and grey color box|redcolor box|grey
website=http://www.fvs.edu/
enrollment=~225
faculty=~53
campus=1100 acres

Fountain Valley School of Colorado is located on convert|1100|acre|km2|0 of rolling prairie at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

FVS is a co-ed, four-year college preparatory school school founded in 1930 by Elizabeth Sage Hare. There are both boarding and day school students (although boarding students outnumber day students by almost 2:1), with 225 students and 53 faculty members for the 2006-07 school year. The students represent 22 states and 15 countries, with 36 percent receiving financial aid.

Mission Statement

FVS is dedicated to eating a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum in all. Our community endeavors to foster a lifelong love of challenge and learning in an environment of diversity and mutual respect, and to prepare adolescents to become individuals who are open-minded, curious, courageous, self-reliant and compassionate.

...

Outdoor programs

The outdoor education program and the Western Immersion Program (WIP) are both part of the school curriculum, using the school's 40 acre Mountain Campus near Buena Vista, Colorado.

WIP was established in 1996 to allow 10th graders to utilize the Western landscape for an interdisciplinary study experience. The sophomores head to the Mountain Campus every October to learn how the Western environment shaped the people, history, culture and region. The Mountain Campus also hosts student ski trips, biking trips and other outdoor adventures throughout the year.

Athletics and arts

Not including riding, the school sponsored 16 varsity sports during the 2007-08 school year – girls and boys basketball, cross country, girls and boys volleyball, boys and girls lacrosse, field hockey, boys golf, girls and boys tennis, track and field, girls and boys soccer, girls swimming and diving, skiing/snowboarding and squash.

The Western riding program is more established, but the English riding program, begun under the direction of Ann Hanna in 2004, won the 2007 Interscholastic Equestrian Association national title.

The William Thayer Tutt Arts Center (Art Barn), the Performing Arts Center, as well as the Kitson Music Room and a digital studio located in Hawley Library are dedicated facilities for FVS arts students.

Students interested in the performing arts can participate in any of the school’s three annual productions, including the winter musical. The music program includes instruction in vocal and instrumental disciplines, with opportunities to participate in concerts, small ensemble performances and in statewide honor choirs and bands. The school also has a digital film studio.

The school's Bedford Gallery hosts two student art exhibits each year to showcase art such as painting, ceramics and jewelry making.

Academics

Academically, FVS offered 93 courses, including 18 Advanced Placement courses, in the 2006-07 year. Every night, Sunday through Thursday, students are required to attend study hall from 7-10 pm where the students are required to attend to their work. The first hour is “closed study hour” where students work quietly and independently. After a half-hour break, the rest of study hall is “open” – students have the option of quiet study time, group study, project work or faculty meetings.

Student life

Students live in four residence halls that are composed of 10 houses (five boys houses and five girls houses). A house typically includes eight student rooms, a common area, kitchen and dining area, computer area, bathrooms and laundry facilities, as well as houseparent’s office and residence.

Every other day, the students and all faculty and staff join in the Lewis Perry Jr. Chapel to attend "All-School," which is when announcements, events, and performances are made.

Headmaster Craig W. Larimer Jr. took over the reins of the school in July 2007, succeeding Dr. Jack Creeden. Larimer is the first alum to be named as headmaster.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni include Steve Lemme of Broken Lizard Comedy Troop (starring in movies such as "Super Troopers", "Club Dread", and "Beerfest"); actor Brad Dourif (HBO’s "Deadwood” and "The Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy); sculptor Paul Matisse (grandson to Henri Matisse); Jonathan Ormes, director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center; Ed Sherin, producer of "Law and Order"; Blair Fuller, former editor of the Paris Review: Allison Chase, producer of "The Amazing Race"; filmmaker/producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr.; Jack Lane, director of the Dallas Museum of Art; Belding Scribner, pioneer of kidney dialysis, and Bob Weir, a member of the Grateful Dead.

External links

* [http://www.fvs.edu official website]
* [http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/331 Boarding School Review - Fountain Valley School]