Welcome
- An intentional education
  
  This is our mission: Aspen Country Day School, through its commitment to rigorous academics, creative arts, and outdoor education, ignites curiosity, confidence, and critical thinking. In an inspiring mountain setting, our nurturing community encourages students to strive for individual excellence and instills in them a lifelong love of learning, sense of purpose, and responsible citizenship.
Admission
- An intentional choice
  
  Aspen Country Day School brings the ethos of mountain life into an education that rivals what you’ll find at the top schools in big cities. Whether you are considering a move to the Roaring Fork Valley or have already made a home here, we’d love to meet you, welcome you to our beautiful campus, and show you what makes Aspen Country Day School outstanding.
Academics + Arts + Outdoors
- The power of three
  
  Academics. Arts. Outdoors. Each of our programs is strong on its own, but the true value of an Aspen Country Day School education lies in the synergy of the three. The families that founded our school in 1969 drew inspiration from the Aspen Idea — the philosophy that true balance comes from cultivating mind, body, and spirit in a place of natural beauty and inspiration.
People of Country Day
- An intentional community
  
  The strength of any school comes from its people: the teachers, leaders, parents, and alumni who are committed to a shared purpose. Meet the adults who challenge and nurture Aspen Country Day School children to build confidence, resilience, and joy in learning.
School experience
- A sense of place
  
  At Aspen Country Day School, children grow up immersed in a remarkable landscape that feeds the growing soul. Year after year, they become steadily more prepared for the next steps in their journey. Soon they are ready and eager for lives of meaning and purpose.

Stories

Learning to debate in Second Grade

April 16, 2025

Fire or water? Books or movies? Students create Smash Boom Best podcasts to practice essential skills in critical thinking and communication

When it comes to graduate outcomes — what we strive to ensure Aspen Country Day School students become — “critical thinkers and problem solvers” is number one on the list. And practice in this essential skill starts in the earliest grades.

Second Graders tackle the important practice of thinking critically as they engage in a debate project each spring. As teachers Alexandra and Tori explained to parents, “Second Graders are learning the difference between opinions and facts and have started writing their own opinion pieces. To work on expressing opinions, we will have a class debate using the award-winning podcast, “Smash Boom Best” as a guide. Students will choose topics as a class (example: Dog vs Cats) and use facts, history, science, stories, jokes, and passion to make their case against their opponents. We will record these debates in our very own podcast to share with parents.”

These podcasts are now ready for your enjoyment! Take a listen!

Builders of Worlds

There’s no place like ACDS: where authenticity takes center stage