Admission to Fountain Valley School is selective. We seek success-oriented students with sound character who have demonstrated a commitment to excellence both inside and outside the classroom.

Admission is based on academic record, extracurricular activities, test scores and character. A personal interview is required.

Tuition for boarding students is $45,000 yearly plus extra fees and for day students it is $21,700 plus extra fees.

Basketball
Cross Country
Field Hockey
Golf
Lacrosse
Ice Hockey
Outdoor Education
Riding
Skiing & Snow Boarding
Soccer
Swimming & Diving
Tennis
Track & Field
Volleyball

Fountain Valley School's beautiful setting on the rolling prairie of Colorado Springs offers a great backdrop for the School's equestrian program. Both boarding and day students can take advantage of training in both English and Western riding, regardless of experience level.

While Western riding has been offered for more than 75 years, the School's English riding program was started in 2003 by Riding Director Ann Hanna, creating one of the more comprehensive riding programs of its kind in the Western region. Hanna has now experienced the ultimate success with the English program, as the team won the national title at the 2007 Interscholastic Equestrian Association championships last April.

The equestrian program is offered as a part of the afternoon program in fall, winter and spring and is geared toward riders of all levels and experience. Similar to any athletic team, FVS riders practice on weekdays from 3:30-5:15 p.m. The program prides itself in teaching highly experienced students as well as those new to the sport. The School maintains a herd of 40 horses that are available to riders who do not board their horses at the School.

English Riding:
Home of the 2007 IEA National Champions!
The English riding program has shown tremendous competitive success in its four years of existence. But the program is certainly not all about competition. The versatile program allows riders to design their own program based on their interests and level of experience. Horsemanship, control of horse, safety, as well as skills in day-to-day care of horse, grooming and injury maintenance are essential components of the program. Once a year, the program invites nationally recognized clinicians to work with riders on specific skills. The program includes riders with top regional and national rankings in hunter jumper and dressage, intermediate riders as well as beginners. Beginning and intermediate riders compete in local schooling shows and join lower levels of IEA as their skills improve. Highly experienced riders compete at upper levels of IEA in fall and winter and advance to the IEA national championship in the spring.

Western Riding:
The Western riding program at FVS is the oldest athletic program on campus. Colorado Springs and the rolling prairies of the Fountain Valley School campus are one-of-a-kind settings for the horse lover. True to its roots, the program is more than just about competition, it's about building character and learning responsibility. This is a fundamentals-based program that teaches basics of horsemanship skills from understanding basic veterinary needs, proper care for the horse, feeding and management, horsemanship, safety, and how a barn operates from farrier to haying.

Both beginning and advanced riders are welcome in the program, and much of what a student accomplishes depends on his or her level of skill. For beginning riders, safety is first, as students learn how to act around horses, saddle and catch before riding. Advanced riders will begin immediately honing current skills and learning new ones.

The goal of the program is developing overall skills and knowledge. Western Riding Director Beth Ettleman wants riders to understand both horse and ranch management, and learn from a variety of experts. Horse industry veterans visit students to talk about their experiences, and Ettleman makes it a point to have students participate when the dentist or farrier comes to the ranch.

As a riders' skills progress, they may join accomplished riders at shows. Students who join the Western program often progress at a rapid speed. Some students who did not know how to ride in their freshman year go on to place in local events within a couple of years. The Western program competes in local shows and regional shows in Western Pleasure, Western Horsemanship and Reining classes as well as Gymkhana and Ranch Horse events. Clinicians for Western Riding, Western Pleasure, Western Horsemanship, and speed events visit the FVS campus to fine-tune the competitors. Students are also involved in all aspects of the Western lifestyle from going to area ranches for branding as well as basic cutting skills and roping. The program also goes on three-day pack trips into the mountains and day rides to Garden on the Gods and at the Mountain Campus.

Students can board their own horses for a fee, but the FVS herd includes horses that have competed in the World Show and Congress in Western pleasure and horsemanship. FVS also has competitive gymkhana horses, and cattle are leased occasionally to teach roping.

All riding participants currently pay a feed and tack fee of $275 above the cost of tuition each month they are in the program. Horse boarding is an additional $145 per month, and students with their own horses clean their stalls and are part of a feeding rotation.

Students in the Outdoor Education Program explore some of the most spectacular scenery in the Rocky Mountains. Several mountain ranges are a short distance from the Colorado Springs FVS campus, offering unique opportunities to hike in pristine wilderness and climb remote peaks.

At Fountain Valley, outdoor education is a varsity team sport, offered in both the spring and fall. The program's primary aim is to help students develop skills, build physical stamina and exercise the judgment necessary for safe travel in the backcountry. During the week, students work on physical conditioning and acquiring outdoor skills. On weekends, they head to the mountains to climb a peak, traverse a rugged canyon, or rock climb on one of the many local rock formations. By the end of each season, a student will have spent at least three weekends outdoors.

In addition to mountaineering, basic rock climbing is also taught. Colorado Springs and all of Western Colorado also enjoy a significant climbing scene. Garden of the Gods, Red Rock Canyon, Ute Pass, Ute Valley, Cheyenne Canyon and Table Mountain are within 30 minutes of campus. More advanced students have a chance to go on a multi-pitch climb with instructors. In the spring season, students take advantage of the snow to do some ski mountaineering and snowshoeing in order to gain access to 14,000-foot peaks.

During the winter, a competitive indoor climbing program is offered, allowing students to compete in one of the most competitive regions in the nation. The local competitions often include the top climbers in the United States. And yet there is still plenty of room for beginners. Last year, the FVS Open was the first high school team competition in Colorado Springs.

Visual Arts
The Freshman Arts Program, unique to FVS, is an introduction to a breadth of artistic experiences and a foundation for subsequent focused study in specific disciplines. To learn by doing is the basic approach of the Arts Department. The focus is on developing both aesthetic literacy and technical skills that are the cornerstone of artistic work. The program strives to build confidence and proficiency in artistic skills and to develop a sense of personal creativity.

Two student art exhibits a year offer opportunities for students participating in several visual arts courses to showcase their artwork in the Bedford Gallery.

Performing Arts
Dance: Dance was added as a winter offering in 2007. Colorado Springs instructors Lindsey Mercier and Sarah Tietje are giving lessons in ballet, modern, jazz and hip-hop styles during the afternoon program times Monday through Friday. Mercier and Tietje will instruct students in stretching techniques, and warm-up and cool-down exercises. There will also be some instruction in dance history and basic dance theory. At the end of the winter season, the group will participate in a dance concert consisting of a piece choreographed by the students and instructors in which all participants will perform. The concert will also showcase individuals and smaller ensemble pieces.

Theater: Three annual productions, fall play, winter musical and spring play, offer performing opportunities to students interested in theatre. In addition, students are involved in all technical aspects of productions including set design and construction, sound and light, as well as costume design and construction. In the 2008-09 season, FVS students will perform Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple - Female Version) (Oct. 3-5); Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods" (Feb. 13-15); and "A ... My Name is Alice" (April 24-26).

Music: The music program develops in students an appreciation of musical expression. Students have the opportunity to learn to perform, create and appreciate music and thereby acquire a basis for developing informed musical understanding, taste and judgment. A strong program in music instruction is offered in vocal and instrumental disciplines. Performance opportunities include fall and spring concerts, plus several solo and small ensemble performances throughout the year, and in statewide honor choirs and bands.

Film: Filmmaking has been a passion of FVS faculty and students who for the last 30 years have also sponsored one of a few international film festivals dedicated to showcasing the works of high school filmmakers. Students have hands-on opportunities to produce their own films utilizing the School's state-of-the-arts digital film studio.

Colorado Springs and the surrounding region offer unique opportunities to study the Western landscape, and the Western Immersion Program (WIP) was established in 1996 to bring an interdisciplinary, experiential program to the 10th grade curriculum.

The program began as an idea that centered upon the notion that the landscape of the Mountain Campus offered a wonderful place to explore the connections between land and people. These connections are examined from different perspectives that have academic roots in the FVS traditional curriculum but also lend themselves to an experiential, hands-on method of teaching and learning. The inspiration for the program came from the writings of Wallace Stegner, who many regard as the finest writer of the American West. One of Stegner's strongest beliefs was that a landscape could inspire humans to their highest calling when they described it poetically in a process he referred to as "poetry of place."

With this in mind, a program has been designed that attempts to inspire students to reach out to their surroundings and create this poetry of place by becoming more intimately acquainted with the landscape of the Arkansas River Valley and Collegiate Peaks wilderness. Students participate in three all-day academic blocks that utilize the outdoor classroom unique to the Mountain Campus. One of the blocks is an all-day ecology and nature writing seminar that explores the relationship between Colorado's life zones and descriptive writing.

The second block is an art program that engages students in environmental sculpture. Working with local artist Steve Wood, students observe, sketch and collect natural objects from the forest and construct both individual and group sculptures. The third block finds students traveling to Leadville, Colo., to explore the human history of the silver mining era of the late 1800s. The common thread that runs through all these blocks is the field journal each student creates. Each day, students will use their journals to creatively interact with their surroundings and record elements of their experiences that will help them build an appreciation for the landscape surrounding the Mountain Campus.

In the evenings, students and faculty gather around the fire for special presentations that relate to different aspects of the program. This year, program director Rob Gustke will give an overview talk and slide show on the WIP theme: "Up to Your Knees in the World: Taking Inventory of Person and Place." On the second evening, Mary Jane Durant will perform her living historical presentation of "Augusta Tabor," the first wife of Horace, whom he left for Baby Doe Tabor. Immediately following will be a pumpkin-carving contest to celebrate Halloween.

The following afternoon, the group will visit Mt. Princeton Hot Springs on the way in from the field, and after dinner Diana Miller of the Pueblo Raptor Center will bring in birds of prey and give a presentation on the biology of these amazing animals.

The Fountain Valley School of Colorado's Interim Program began during the 1972-1973 school year. Initially known as the "Raushenbush Plan," the Interim Program was put under the supervision of FVS faculty Marshall Severance. In that first year, the offerings included local interims on chess, computer training, woodworking, bridge, astronomy, skiing and glassblowing, as well as trips to New Mexico, the Sangre de Cristos, England and Honduras.

Since then, the program has kept its emphasis on experiential education and continues to be a vital part of the School's curriculum. FVS participates in interim based on the philosophy that it provides students with the opportunity to expand their intellectual, cultural and social horizons beyond the classroom. Interim Week affords the members of our community, students and faculty alike, the chance to get to know one another in a new environment. The experiences gained and the friendships developed are often a highlight of a student's year. During the 2008-09 school year, this mandatory curricular requirement offers 16 interims (plus Freshman Interim), March 12-18 (some interim programs may extend beyond this period).

Interim Program Director:
Dr. Robert Gilbert, History Department.

Interim Program Offerings
Art on Andros Island
Arts and Crafts Outside the FVS Curriculum
Canoeing the Okefenokee Swamp and Suwannee River
Explore America's Pastime: MLB Spring Training in Tucson and Phoenix
Freshman Interim
Grits, Blues and New Orleans
¡Guatemala!: Language, Culture and Outdoor Exploration
Hut-to-Hut Skiing
Journey in the Anasazi World: Slickhorn Canyon
Leadership and Community Service in Belize
Life on the Fly
Mountain Biking the Colorado Plateau
A Musical Odyssey: Put Your Music on Fast Forward
Pura Vida in Cost Rica
Rafting the San Juan River
Soaring to New Heights
Story and Place: Asian Immigrants in Seattle

Summers at Fountain Valley School are filled with camps, conferences and other programs run both by outside organizations and FVS faculty. The 1,100-acre main campus, located at the base of Pikes Peak in southeast Colorado Springs, and the 40-acre Mountain Campus near Buena Vista, Colo., are made available for these programs. Residential or day, all groups who use the FVS campus benefit from some of the most impressive residential, academic, athletic and recreational facilities in the nation.

Summer programs include the annual Gardner Carney Leadership Institute, PEAKS at Fountain Valley School, elite soccer, tennis and lacrosse camps. Information on summer programs will be posted as it is received.

2010 Summer Programs

Digital Filmmaking Camp, June 7-11, 2010, and June 14-18, 2010 ($599.00)

Game Design Camp, June 7-11, 2010 ($599.00)

Philanthropy Camp, June 27-July 3, 2010 ($950.00)

Robotics Explorer Camp, June 18-24, 2010

Summer Cross Country Academy, August 2010

Western Riding Camp, June 7-11, 2010

Gardner Carney Leadership Institute, June 18-24, 2010

Nike Tennis Camp, July 5-10; July 11-16; July 18-23; July 25-30 (overnight - $835.00/ Day - $525.00)

No. 1 Soccer Camps, July 11-16; July 17-22

Stanley H. King Counseling Institute, July 31-Aug. 6, 2010