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Mission & Values

Students select flowers and leaves from a table to create cyanotype prints

The Mission of the Altamont School is to improve the fabric of society by graduating compassionate, well-educated individuals capable of independent thinking and innovative ideas. To this end, the school attracts, nurtures, and challenges students whose commitment to truth, knowledge, and honor will prepare them not only for the most rigorous college programs, but also for productive lives.Five Core Values--Respect, Integrity, Balance, Curiosity, and Leadership--guide us in the fulfillment of our mission.

Respect - We value and have compassion for every individual in our diverse school community. Through our curriculum and school activities, we emphasize the importance of respecting and understanding cultural, religious, intellectual, and social differences that constitute our global and local societies.

Balance - We motivate students to align their passions with their strengths. We encourage and support our students as they discover the arts, pursue athletics, and delve into academics in a manner that not only equips them with the skills to navigate life’s varied circumstances, but also promotes personal growth, emotional health, and physical well-being.

Integrity - Because we embrace integrity as the heart of Altamont’s mission, we challenge students to demonstrate honorable words and deeds, to make courageous choices, and to exhibit personal responsibility at all times.

Curiosity - We nurture intellectual curiosity by celebrating learning, discovery, and innovation. We encourage our students to ask questions, seek truth, and put ideas into action.

Leadership - We foster every student’s unique capacity to lead and improve society through active discourse, student driven initiatives, and service to others.

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA)

Altamont actively works to create an inclusive, equitable and respectful culture where all individuals feel welcomed and valued. Our work in recent years has included development of an inclusive curriculum, regular training related to IDEA, improvement of our student handbook and incident reporting mechanisms, encouragement of diverse representation among students, employees and trustees, and a new Non-Discrimination Statement:

The Altamont School admits students of any race, disability, color, creed, religious belief, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national or ethnic origin, or disability to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The non-discrimination policy extends to the administration of its educational, admissions and financial aid policies, faculty and staff recruitment and hiring, and athletics and other school-administered programs and activities.

Portrait of an Altamont Graduate

Compassionate

  • Respects views, customs, and beliefs of individuals in a diverse community
  • Improves society through civic engagement and stewardship of natural resources
  • Displays humility and willingness to live outside the self

Well-educated

  • Balances academics with arts, athletics, and community engagement
  • Analyzes and evaluates information in order to articulate and support personal views
  • Appreciates beauty in the natural world and the arts

Independent

  • Inspires others through authentic self-expression, passion, values, and deeds
  • Demonstrates integrity, honor, and responsibility in all actions
  • Strives for physical and emotional well-being, acknowledges personal limitations, and knows when to ask for help

Innovative

  • Takes risks to effect change for the common good
  • Embraces discovery and the mistakes essential to learning
  • Collaborates with others in order to solve problems and put ideas into action