Outdoor and Out of the Classroom Exploration

When we say our natural setting inspires, we mean it. Our outdoor program calls on each student to appreciate the marvels of our physical setting while setting themselves on a course of fun, adventure, and self-reliance.

At the beginning of each school year, the whole school climbs Mount Nebo, a strenuous ascent up to a 12,000-foot elevation. Students, faculty, and staff alike put their bodies and minds to the test. Only a third of the group may reach the top to enjoy the view, but everyone learns lessons in willpower and how to push beyond perceived limitations.

Your student may not be a snowboarder, skier, or rock climber when she arrives on campus, but she soon becomes one or more of them. Bikers, hikers, and horseback riders also safely explore our quiet valley ringed by mountains while swimmers, whitewater rafters, and kayakers take to the water.

In addition to growing in agility and endurance, your student’s curious mind also benefits from this healthy outdoor lifestyle. He discovers new plants and animals, identifies rock formations, finds fossilized remains, and reads the story of erosion and plate tectonics etched into the surrounding landscape.

Out and Beyond

When you stand in the middle of our campus and slowly turn in a circle, here's what you see: orange-hued mountains, flowering meadows, the aspens and evergreens of Manti La Sal National Forest, the bright blue sky. It's clean. It's fresh. It's full of adventure - and our Outdoor Program gets your student out of his desk chair and into nature, where he can hike, climb, ski, snowboard, skate, paddle, orienteer, backpack, learn wilderness survival techniques.

We're surrounded by a national forest and within a short drive of six national parks (Bryce Canyon, Zion, Canyonlands, Arches, Escalante Grand Staircase, and Capitol Reef). Far from the noise of the city and the distractions of suburban sprawl, your student can focus on what matters - his education.