Academics – Gutenberg
Academics
We Make Learning Relevant at Mountain Academy
At Mountain Academy, we make learning fun and relevant through real-world experiences. In addition to acquiring knowledge in the classroom, our students learn about our community, our country, and our world through interviewing experts, going on local and extended Journeys, and engaging in hands-on projects within the classroom that they will remember for a lifetime. Through inquiry and project-based learning, students delve deep into issues that are relevant to our community and world, becoming problem solvers and critical thinkers who make meaningful contributions.
Educational Approach
At Mountain Academy, we use Project-Based Learning (PBL) to allow students to learn authentically about the world through in-depth inquiry, design, and sharing with a public audience. This dynamic approach to teaching and learning compels students to explore real-world questions and challenges while simultaneously developing interdisciplinary understandings and interpersonal skills. Projects can be as short as a few weeks or as long as a few months.
The Mountain Academy Journey
Early Childhood
The Mountain Academy Early Childhood program for children ages 3-5 empowers children to construct their own learning.
Lower School
As students transition from Early Childhood, Mountain Academy’s Lower School continues to focus on learner-centered education to allow children’s ideas and interests to drive the curriculum.
Middle School
The Mountain Academy Middle School program focuses on pairing essential academic skills with authentic, real-world learning.
Upper School
The Mountain Academy Upper School program is housed on the Jackson Campus. Our small class sizes allow students and teachers to work closely to develop an academic path tailored to each individual student’s needs.
Message from the Director of Studies — Heather Zuckerman
At Mountain Academy, student growth is at the core of who we are and what we do. We believe that rigorous learning experiences coupled with high standards of accountability are the best path towards this growth. Throughout all grade levels and disciplines, students are encouraged to think deeply and critically about their own learning. This metacognition is paramount for self-aware young learners to balance robust creativity, with thoughtful collaboration, and critical questioning.
At Mountain Academy, student growth is at the core of who we are and what we do. We believe that rigorous learning experiences coupled with high standards of accountability are the best path towards this growth. Throughout all grade levels and disciplines, students are encouraged to think deeply and critically about their own learning. This metacognition is paramount for self-aware young learners to balance robust creativity, with thoughtful collaboration, and critical questioning.
Each learning discipline is reviewed, reimagined and revised on a three-five year rotating basis. As this revision occurs, we delve deeply into the curricular materials, pedagogy, journeys and assessment that focus students toward becoming more powerful
scholars with the ability to assimilate new understanding from the world around them.
Educating students is a responsibility we take very seriously. Each student is known as an individual and supported by a team, empowered and eager to make common-sense decisions in that student’s best interest of growth. This team of teachers, parents and
support staff communicate frequently to make sure forward progress is maintained.
Experiential learning is accomplished through myriad methods, though two of our constant methods include journeys and project/place-based learning. These learning experiences allow students to connect with communities outside of our school and fosters a better understanding of how the world works. These experiences lead to learning that is truly authentic, relevant, and ultimately sticky in the sense that students do not forget lessons gleaned.
Explore Our Academics
Farm and Garden
All learners at Mountain Academy gain first-hand experience in sustainable food production, healthy meal preparation, humane farm animal care, and ecological land stewardship. The Teton Valley Campus is home to MA’s farm, and all learners participate in planting the campus garden and greenhouses in the spring, composting and mixing soil, selecting, maintaining, and harvesting crops, cooking garden meals, preserving food, and caring for farm animals (chickens, goats, and cats).
Outdoor Education
Outdoor education at Mountain Academy creates an awareness of the relationship between the environment and human life, harnesses an appreciation for the environment, and encourages students to learn about human and natural systems while using problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Students focus on learning outcomes from health and wellness, science, and community to culture domains.
Journeys
A Journey is a direct, off-campus experience in the ecological or cultural environment that serves as an essential part of learning. We take both single-day and extended multi-day Journeys into our local and global communities. Our Journeys include thoughtful faculty planning and meaningful student inquiry, integrating curriculum, and creating and deepening one’s sense of place by connecting our curriculum to real-world issues and needs.
Learn More
College Placement
Our college placement team prepares Mountain Academy students to lead and succeed following graduation. As they head to many of the most selective colleges and universities in the country and around the globe, they’re prepared to thrive on whatever path they choose.
Learn MoreMountain Academy Faculty & Staff
Our dedicated faculty and staff remain grounded in place and inspired by project-based learning.
Shawn Kelly
Chief Executive Officer & Mountain Academy Head of School
Shawn Kelly
Shawn Kelly was named TSS Chief Executive Officer in September 2021. He also serves as the Mountain Academy Head of School.
Shawn’s professional journey in education started during his time working with the U.S. Agency for International Development in Sri Lanka on a reef conservation project and assisting with the development of a shrimp farm. He had the opportunity to lecture at several universities and international schools on the importance of marine resources in the tropics. Shawn also had previous summer experience teaching filmmaking and physics to high school students, and all together, these educational opportunities convinced him to dedicate his professional life to the pursuit of education.
Over the course of his career, Shawn has taught a myriad of courses in both the sciences and in the humanities to students ranging from preschool to the undergraduate level. He values the transformative power of experiential education and has made it a point to help students engage with their learning in a way that connects course material to their lives. Most recently, Shawn held head of school roles at two independent schools, St. Peter’s School in Philadelphia, PA and The McClelland School in Pueblo, CO. Shawn graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a B.A. in Marine Affairs. He earned a M.A. in teaching and learning from Harvard School of Education.
Shawn and wife Tiffany have two children, Eva (8) and Jack (11 months). Relocating from Colorado Springs, Co, they look forward to exploring their new backyard and connecting with the local communities.
Claire Lewis
Executive Assistant to the CEO and Head of School
Claire Lewis
Claire Lewis joined Teton Science Schools in the fall of 2022 as Executive Assistant to Shawn Kelly, CEO. Previously, Claire worked in Enrollment Management at an independent all girls school in the Philadelphia suburbs. Claire supports Shawn in his leadership role in the daily operation of Teton Science Schools and Mountain Academy, and the Board of Directors and standing committees in their ongoing governance. Claire enjoys belonging to an organization which has, at its core, the principles of best practice in placed-based education. She was drawn to TSS by its committed educators and connections to people, place and nature.
Claire loves daily early morning walks with her two dogs, and likes to read, knit, and cook dinner for friends. She is actively involved in stream restoration work, stormwater management and the preservation of green space in her community.
Heather Zuckerman
Director of Studies
Heather Zuckerman
Heather joined Mountain Academy in 2021 and is currently the Director of Studies. She was drawn to Mountain Academy because of its amazing students, collaborative teachers and the opportunity to be creative in her pedagogy.
When Heather isn’t at school she enjoys spending time with her family, Dan and her daughter Waverly, skiing in the Tetons and exploring our beautiful surroundings.
Nate Musser
School Counselor
Nate Musser
Nate is the school counselor for Mountain Academy and started this role in the summer of 2022. He was drawn to the history of what Mountain Academy and Teton Science Schools represents and for the potential of what the organization can be.
In his free time, Nate can be found spending time in the mountains with his dog Murphy or playing pickleball (without his dog Murphy)