At the Mountain School in Vermont, United States, students spend their semester harvesting crops, caring for animals, cleaning classrooms, and washing dishes. Their families pay around $40,000 (around Rs 3,835,386) for the programme, which combines conventional academics with farmwork, communal responsibilities, and a technology-free environment.
The programme attracts high-school juniors from across the US and other countries. Many students see it as an opportunity to step away from screens, gain greater independence, and strengthen their college applications.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), students spend most of their time scraping, scrubbing and stowing kitchenware and cutlery. They are responsible for “commons work,” that is, cleaning classrooms, prepping vegetables and checking irrigation systems. They also do farmwork, like harvesting corn, herding sheep, caring for cows and chopping wood, the report added.
According to the school’s official website, a semester at The Mountain School provides 10th, 11th, and 12th-grade students with the experience of working together on a farm, exploring systems and critical thinking through courses, and participating in programmes on forestry and natural history.
The school stated that students also have the opportunity to live in a low-tech environment and focus on their in-person experience. Each semester balances independence and self-reliance with the work and joy of building an interdependent community of peers, it added.
The school stated that students leave Vermont with more than memories: they gain skills, confidence, and perspective that shape their futures. “Every semester, our alumni go on to thrive at top colleges and in purposeful lives rooted in curiosity, responsibility, and care for the world,” the school’s official website stated.
A student Max Sherman shared that he recently cleaned the compost toilet for a week, and it encouraged peers to thank him if the facilities were nice or “get at them” if they were not cleaned properly.
According to WSJ, some students and alums consider the Mountain School a secret path to top universities, part of an increasingly competitive college-admissions atmosphere. Several families also seek a wider perspective beyond traditional schooling and a rare reprieve from technology.
Thomas Whitney, father of a current student and a Mountain School alum himself said: “I don’t think of it as chores”. Another key aim is “learning to be an adult,” he added.
