Signature programs
Building community
There is something special about being an Aardvark. (The unlikely mascot was chosen back when the original ACDS high school first fielded a soccer team.) Community spirit grows out of shared experiences in the outdoors, in classrooms, and on stage. But it’s also something we intentionally cultivate, knowing that traditions and connections are what weave a community together. With the experiences they have at Aspen Country Day School, children learn what it feels like to part of something larger than yourself. A feeling of belonging helps create the solid foundation for lives of meaning and purpose.
The Community Code
Blue and Green Teams
Children become part of either the Blue team or Green team when they first start at school. They receive a special t-shirt with our Aardvark mascot, and when Blue Green Day arrives (three times per year), they join a mixed-grade patrol led by an Eighth Grader for an afternoon of games all over campus. School spirit shines on these days of good-natured competition.Buddy Grades
In the spirit of our school motto, de amicitia, “of friendship,” children from a younger and an older grade are paired up for events throughout the year. A Buddy Grade afternoon might find Eighth Graders reading story books to PreKindergarteners, Fifth Graders showing the Kindergarteners how they take water samples from Castle Creek for their science projects, or Fourth Graders presenting their Egypt projects to the First Graders. Younger buddies are always excited to see their older friends around campus or on the school bus, and the friendships that result from these connections give Aspen Country Day School its welcoming family feeling.The school song
Ski afternoons
Raising responsible citizens
The core values of our school guide students’ participation in innovative educational opportunities in their classrooms, in the wider community, online, and even overseas. Teachers, children, and parents share enthusiasm for the exposure children get to a broader world beyond the Roaring Fork Valley. With this exposure comes responsibility for representing our community by being your best and always asking, “What can I do for others?”
Service learning
With a goal of graduating students whose environmental awareness is grounded in a sense of place, Aspen Country Day School focuses much of its service learning work on the natural world. In partnerships with Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers and the Independence Pass Foundation, children have planted trees, cleared trails, and cleaned up campsites.Sister Cities
Middle Schoolers at Aspen Country Day School are offered the opportunity to participate in an exchange program with students in four of Aspen’s Sister Cities: Abetone, Italy; Chamonix, France; Shimukappu, Japan; and Bariloche, Argentina. This is a competitive process, requiring an essay, interview, and recommendations.Field trips and other travel programs
Igniting curiosity, confidence, and critical thinking
What do we mean at Aspen Country Day School when we say our mission is to “ignite critical thinking?” As one graduate recently put it in his speech at commencement, above, “I learned to make up my own mind — to think for myself.” From the earliest grades, children practice the elements of critical thinking: analysis, interpretation, inference, explanation, self-regulation, open-mindedness, and problem-solving. They graduate with a solid foundation in these essential skills for a life of meaning and purpose.
It’s one thing to sit in a classroom and listen to a teacher talk or take a quiz on what you read in a textbook. It’s yet another to put that content in a real-world context. For instance, when children study history in Third Grade, they choose a particular character who has helped create positive change in the world. They then research that person, looking at the character traits that contributed to their works, and write a paper with their findings. They prepare presentations using technology tools and create a soft-sculpture doll of their character (imagine Amelia Earhart, right down to the cockpit goggles). At a final presentation, they portray their figure in character (and in costume) for an audience of classmates, parents, and children from other grades.
Too many children grow up without opportunities for real challenge and growth. And one of the toughest challenges at any age is to stand up in front of classmates, parents, and friends to demonstrate what you have learned. But whether it’s a dancing on stage at the Wheeler Opera House, delivering lines in a Shakespeare drama, narrating a slide deck about a science project, or speaking at graduation, Aspen Country Day School students are prepared. We build essential presentation skills gradually over each year of the journey so that by the time they are ready to graduate, students have plenty of experience. They may still have butterflies, but they know how to get their points across and connect with an audience.
Families frequently ask whether Aspen Country Day School has a high school. Although the school once did continue through grade 12, it no longer does. Fortunately, our graduates have a wide range of choices for their secondary education, and they report being extremely well prepared, no matter which option they choose.