#verdevalleyschool

[krauseshawn]

Wanna watch a great concert for a good cause?? Check it out! Love #verdevalleyschool ! Looking forward to joining in this weekend. #music #musicians #vvs #jacksonbrowne #shawncolvin #michaelfranti #wesleyschultz #edwardsharpe #brucecockburn (at Verde Valley School) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGDJPVzj9yC/?igshid=1mzu6m7q1eut3

[krauseshawn]

Enjoying som nice, hot coffee in my favorite mug #verdevalleyschool (at San Francisco, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-SmsObDbhs/?igshid=3eiyutrg5mc4

[bonmillerphoto]

Posting too many from this shoot yet I can't get over my obsession with expression with movement @bonmillerphoto #sedonabride #verdevalleyschool #redrockhighschool #seniors2017 #sedonaseniorphotographer #cottonwoodhighschool #flagstaffhighschool (at Verde Valley School)

[verdevalleyschool]

Advisor System at VVS

By: Annise Green, VVS '17

One of my favorite parts of Verde Valley School, would have to be the advisor system. Basically most, if not all, of the faculty is paired with four to five students at the beginning of the year. Together, this group of students and this one teacher make an Advisee family. I’ve recently learned that apparently lots of schools in America have teacher advisor’s but not in the same way VVS does. Here, advisors are like our stand-in parents. Once a week, we have lunch with them and catch up on what's going on with all of us. Sometimes we’ll get into the heavy deep stuff, other times you’ll spend the whole time laughing.  About once a month,  you’ll have an advisee activity, like going on a campout or having tea around a fire together. At VVS, advisors and students really tend to form a bond, and get to know each other on a personal level as well as academically.  My Advisor,  Peter Reynolds, is amazing. So far this year, Petes other advisers and I have sat around eating cookie dough, and talking together in Pete’s backyard. We went camping out behind campus together and have had countless lunches together. I think it’s also safe to say that advisers are role models to their advisees. They’re someone you can go to if you’re having a bad day, if you just got the best news ever, or if you just want to hang out. All in all I think the advisor system is pretty unique and amazing.

[verdevalleyschool]

Art at VVS by Maddie

At Verde Valley School, you’ll find a lot of different people. The most notable of all the different sorts of people here would be the artist. One of my favorite things about VVS is the art program. When I came to visit VVS, (prior to committing to come here) the amount of student art (welding, paintings, ceramics, murals) on display all around the campus was astounding. When I saw the things VVS students were able to produce, I immediately thought, "I want to go here - if this school is going to teach me how to make stuff like that - this is where I want to be".  Walking into the visual arts classrooms is like walking into an artists studio. It’s exactly what an art room should be; there’s paint everywhere, random jars, odd assemblage pieces, beautifully obscure indie music, bobs and bits of still lifes and almost no where to walk. The space itself is a work of art, not a permanent installation though, as Jeremy the visual arts teacher, is always moving around the setup. Just to make sure no one gets too familiar! Over the last twelve months at VVS, I’ve had some of the best times in the art room. I’ve painted in there, doodled for hours, had field trip meetings, covered Bon Iver’s Holocene (when that song was still cool), painted over-sized dears for target practice and best of all gotten to know people. I’ve had the pleasure of familiarizing myself with Seffa-Bee Klein, Mollie McElligott, Tatsuko Otagawa and Bea Kruse, four now VVS graduates, who’ve inspired me. They were all apart of VVS’s IB art program last year, and the pieces they made were absolutely astounding. I’m sure all four graduates mentioned would deny it, but in my eyes they are artists, role models and go-getters. Best of all - they created themselves. VVS gives us this creative space and just encourages and supports us, pushing us towards greatness, telling us to cross the line and think outside the box, making artist of those students who chose to be.

[verdevalleyschool]

Interview with a Four Year Senior by Annise

  Up, Up, and Away!

Vlad John Hightower, a four year senior, is eager yet disappointed to leave VVS.  "I love it - the community and people," he tells me. We sit on the platform in front of the dining hall as he reminisces on his favorite memories throughout the years -  his last Cross Country meet, Movie Marathons in the library and climbing Brady Hall with his friends. He loves being a role model for underclassmen and getting more responsibility and is very grateful to have loyal friends that have his back. He sighs and stares at Cathedral Rock, a sight he sees everyday. “ I just take the good with the bad,” he says in conclusion. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

[verdevalleyschool]

VVS Social Media Team

This year at VVS, we have started a Social Media Team. Along with helping us here in admissions with the various forms of social media, the students have begun to blog about VVS and their experiences. Check back  soon for updates and student blog posts!