The Wolves (8^th and 9^th )

Students in the 8th & 9th-grade Band are the “Social Animals” or wolves, iconic animals of the Intermountain West, and like wolves, tend to run in packs and play hard. The 8/9 Band is the fulcrum of our program as years three and four out of seven, and students are in the heart of adolescence.

8/9 students are intensely interested in their peer group and are marked by a desire to assert their independence and individuality. They are no longer children but not yet adults, a space of confusion and opportunity, as students begin in earnest to explore and shape who they want to be when they enter society as adults.

Developmentally, the chief preoccupation of 8th and 9th graders is relationships; they are defining and redefining their identity in relation to other adolescents, their families, teachers, and coaches, their home and regional environment, and themselves. We see them asking the questions: Who am I? and What will my role and impact be both in society and in the landscape? To meet our students at this stage, we have designed a two-year curriculum that is all about relationships—one year focuses on human relationships to the natural world, and one year focuses on human relationships to one another and how those are defined, organized, and regulated.

Daily Schedule Sample

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Field Study Overview

Each year, students spend between 20 and 25 days “In the Field” in what we call Field Study. These experiences serve many roles: to ground the year academically, to immerse the students in special areas of focus, and to build relationships with teachers, fellow students, and experts in the field.

Field Study enables a deeper understanding of the overarching curriculum through real, first-hand encounters with the natural, social, and built environments in the Intermountain West, where students can be a part of their curriculum in action.

Field Study is not simply “outdoor education” or “adventure-based education.” Our goal is to explore the people, places, and events that support and create the economic, ecological, and social systems where we live, work, play, and study.

Each Field Study is tailored to the appropriate developmental level of each Band. Academic, physical, social, and emotional, Field Study is an anchor to the adolescent journey.

The costs of all field studies are included in tuition.