Will my student follow his or her sending school’s curriculum or the OMS curriculum? . . .
Your student will follow the sending school’s curriculum for each of his or her individual courses while here at OMS. Our goal is to cover your student’s curriculum in a manner similar to that of his or her sending school teacher. We work to keep your student on track or ahead of his or her sending school classmates. In the case that a student is ahead, we also look for ways to enrich the curriculum.
What courses do you facilitate at Okemo Mountain School?. . .
We work to facilitate any course that a student is taking at his or her sending school. However, given the broad spectrum of elective courses that are offered at the various schools with which we work, it is not always possible to do so. Additionally, it may be in students’ best interest to focus on core curriculum and leave elective courses to fall and spring. We facilitate all courses within the departments of English/Language Arts, Science, Social Studies/History, and Mathematics. We also facilitate Spanish and French and have dedicated staff members to teach these courses. We facilitate courses in Visual Arts, such as drawing and painting, printmaking, digital photography, graphic arts, and fiber arts. Beyond these courses, we cannot guarantee to having the appropriate staff each year. If your student has an elective course that cannot be facilitated here, we can offer alternatives from our own curriculum for them to take during their time here. We also encourage the exploration of online courses if your student has a specific interest in a subject that is not facilitated here. Please contact Ashley Belcher, Dean of Academics, at abelcher@okemomountainschool.org to discuss academic courses, schedules, and electives
How do I approach my student’s sending school?. . .
We recommend introducing the idea of Okemo Mountain School early to your student’s sending school. We know that sometimes as a parent you might be apprehensive to approach your student’s sending school about OMS – particularly if it is a new school for him or her – but we find that beginning the conversation early is best. You can use the letter to educators enclosed here, as well as the Collaboration Tool and Vermont State Statute, to introduce the idea. However, your student’s teachers will not fill out the Collaboration Tool until the same school year in which they are attending OMS. We also encourage you to provide our contact information so that they can contact us if they wish. Additionally, if you meet any initial resistance to the idea, please let us know if you would like us to make contact first to further explain the program. As we move into the fall OMS will contact all sending schools to begin the process of collaboration. You will also want to contact your student’s sending school to remind them of his or her plans to attend OMS. During the fall and throughout the winter, you as the parent may at times act as a liaison to facilitate the transfer of information from sending school to OMS.
What should I tell my sending school about how to best collaborate with OMS?. . .
Sending schools collaborate with us in varying ways. At a minimum, we require a course outline or syllabus and a student copy of the textbook. Some schools also opt to send more – daily assignments, tests, quizzes, major writing assignments or projects, and midterms. We also leave open the option of who will grade the student’s work. However, we feel that in most cases it is most fair for the student to be graded by our teachers while they are here. If your school is open to suggestion on how to collaborate, the best case scenario is one in which each sending school teacher provides a course outline, two copies of the textbook (one for the student and one for the OMS teacher), a clear indication of the content and format of assessments (either in the form of actual copies of assessments or copies of review sheets), and is open to weekly communication with our teachers. We do administer midterms here at OMS if requested by the sending school. However, we request that we receive either the midterm a week in advance of when it is going to be administered or a thorough review packet well in advance. This allows our teachers to ensure that your student is amply prepared. We believe that this is the best way for us to ensure that material is covered and assessed in a similar manner, which will ensure a smooth transition home. It is important that our teachers are able to move through the material for each student at a pace that matches the ebb and flow of training and competition schedules. When teachers are given the latitude to move through material at their own pace, they can forge ahead through material and then back off a bit during the height of the competitive season.
What if my school asks me to withdraw or un-enroll my student?. . .
This is a common formality for most schools and is a function of the fact that, without being withdrawn, each day that a student is at OMS shows up as an absence from his or her sending school. Many schools require a withdrawal but are still open to communication – this is important. Please encourage your school to remain open to communication from OMS. It will make your student’s transition home much easier and in turn make the sending school teachers’ jobs much easier. Additionally, sometimes being withdrawn de-activates a student’s log-in to his or her electronic assignment board – “Blackboard” or “Google Classroom” – ask your school to keep your student’s log-in active if at all possible.
How long should I enroll my student-athlete at OMS?. . .
Many factors may play into the decision of how long to enroll your student-athlete at OMS. We encourage everyone to consider the full Winter Term option. This option allows student-athletes to most fully take advantage of what our program offers. Academically, it gives our teachers here the most latitude to tailor the workload appropriately to the student-athlete’s training and competing schedule and also allows student-athletes to get to know their teachers before the chaos of the competitive season. Athletically, it gives him or her a strong pre-season period in which to work on dry land conditioning and on-snow fundamentals before moving into the competition season. It also provides time at the end of the season to continue the cycle of training with an eye on preparing for the following winter. However, if the full Winter Term is not an option for your student-athlete, the next best options available are the 3 month Target Terms – A or B. Target Term A works out best for U16 athletes and Target Term B works out best for U14/U12 athletes and Snowboard or Freeski athletes. We keep the option of Target Term C, which is a ten-week term, open mainly for our youngest athletes. Please feel free to discuss enrollment options further with us before deciding.
What is the daily schedule like for my student-athlete?. . .
Academic classes are conducted daily Monday – Friday from 12:30 – 5:37 in seven, 42 minute blocks; 6 academic classes and 1 strength & conditioning period. Athletic on-snow training takes place in the mornings Tuesday – Friday. Student-athletes arrive at Okemo at 8:15 am Tuesday – Friday, to load the lift early for on-snow training. They return to school by 12:00 pm for lunch, which they bring with them each day, and then attend classes. Pick-up is at OMS. All student-athletes should be picked up at 5:45pm. Additionally, once a week, students have a "long-day" on snow, which is spread out throughout the week based on discipline. During the long-day, students do not attend academic classes and training until 2:30pm. They will then be transported back to OMS for video review, sports education, tuning, or trampoline work. They are then picked up at OMS at 4:30pm.
Where will my child live while at OMS?. . .
Most children live with a family member while at OMS. Either they are from the local area or a parent, grandparent, or extended relative stays with them locally for the winter. However, children who do not have this option available are housed with host families. Some host families have children in the school currently or are alumni families. Others have younger children in the weekend program at Okemo. Others yet are staff members or Ludlow community members with whom we have had a relationship who enjoy hosting student-athletes from OMS. If you are in need of a host family for your child, we will provide you with contact information for a few possibilities and help make an initial connection for you. Beyond setting up the initial contact, all arrangements are made privately between you and the host family.