OMS Student-Athletes learn about molecular structure through a hands-on lab
Students are selected for admission to OMS based on various criteria. These include, but are not limited to, academic performance, athletic performance, recommendations, and extra-curricular activities. In addition, the ability to balance a demanding physical training program with a rigorous academic schedule and the desire to become a better competitor are necessary qualities for each student to possess.
Unlike many other snow sports academies, Okemo Mountain School remains entirely focused on meeting the needs of winter term participants. Students spend their mornings focused on athletics, training in their respective on-snow disciplines on Okemo Mountain. Academic classes are conducted in the afternoon in six 42 min periods with an additional period dedicated to dryland conditioning, cardiovascular workouts, strength training, yoga, and special programming in sports psychology, nutrition, injury prevention, and more.
OMS’ student-athletes hail from a multitude of other public and private schools where they participate in additional competitive sports, such as cross country, soccer, lacrosse and football. The athletic coaches at OMS encourage and push our student-athletes to pursue their dreams of success with an emphasis on personal best. A low coach to athlete ratio allows for much individualized attention during on-hill and off-hill training sessions. Being a winter term academy allows our student-athletes to not only excel in snow sports, but remain well-rounded four season athletes.
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 dryland 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 three 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 Freestyle athletes. We keep the option of Target Term C, which is an eight-week term, open mainly for our youngest athletes. Please feel free to discuss enrollment options further with us before deciding.