Pond Brook School
The Willowell Foundation is excited to embark on year-two of our experiential middle school! Apply for the 2024-2025 school year below.
At a glance
For an in-depth look at Pond Brook curriculum and semester cycles, view the links below.
OVERVIEW
Pond Brook Project is an approved independent school pursuant to 16 V.S.A. § 166 (b).
Embedded in the natural and human communities of Vermont, the Pond Brook Project inspires adolescent learners to cultivate their relationship to self, society, and the natural world.
During each semester at Pond Brook, 12- to 15-year-old students embark on different interdisciplinary explorations of science, society, mathematics, culture, art, literacy,
technology and health through the lens of the Vermont landscape. Students spend much of their time in hands-on engagement with the natural world as well as in a variety of creative projects, problem-solving challenges, community service and team building activities. Classes take place around a fire, in woodland yurts, in repurposed school buses, in libraries, on town greens, or around a table in the woods. We see our niche as the liminal space between the individual and society and between humans and the rest of the natural world.
Early adolescence is a time of changing priorities and allegiances; of developing social consciousness and the ability for abstract thought; and of some amount of emotional turmoil. At Pond Brook we are committed to honoring this time of life with all of its opportunities and challenges, helping to provide a supportive space to explore and be heard. We engage students in an authentic way, developing a learning community where students have agency and their individual voices build a collective from their own creativity, passions and connection to the world around them.
Pond Brook is committed to actively including and supporting students from traditionally marginalized communities to help fill the opportunity gap for accessing experiential and outdoor programs. We embed diversity, equity, inclusion and justice into all aspects of our program, from recruitment to curriculum and pedagogy to student agency in the co-creation of our community. We are committed to working collaboratively with public school districts in our area. We hope that all students at Pond Brook find a community that cultivates their expression and identity, physical and mental health, sense of belonging, and academic empowerment.
Pond Brook Project admits students and families of all socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, and disability.
If your child requires assistance to participate fully in our programs please reach out to schedule a call with us.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Once we receive your application, we will email you a registration form to complete enrollment!
Note: Students will be admitted on a first-come first-serve basis and admission is capped at twenty. Students may attend multiple semesters and years.
Please email us at pondbrook@willowell.org if you want more information.
Calendar
The school 2024-2025 calendar will be updated as it becomes available.
Please note: We follow MAUSD’s calendar and guidance for in-service, holidays, and inclement weather closures.
Tuition
The fall 2024-2025 tuition is to be determined and is based on the incoming state annual average tuition report. The 2023-2024 tuition is $18,266.
Scholarships
We are working to make the program accessible however we can, including reaching out to public schools for collaboration in making this program a public/private hybrid. We plan on a large fundraising effort to make this program available to anyone who wants to attend, regardless of ability to pay.
If you are need of financial assistance, please complete our online Financial Aid Application.