Vermont Commons School
The Vermont Commons School is an independent college preparatory school located in South Burlington, Vermont, serving grades 6–12. History. Vermont Commons School was founded in 1997. Its Founder and first Head of School was former Champlain College President Robert A. Skiff. During its first semester, 32 students were enrolled and the school grew steadily in size and offerings over the next ten years. In 2007, Dr. Skiff retired, at which point enrollment neared 100 students. Dr. Skiff was succeeded by Mr. Peter Ross, who served as Head of School through the fall of 2008. Upon Ross's  departure, Science and Math teacher Hans Manske served as Acting Head while the Board of Trustees conducted a search for new leadership. In July 2009, the Board selected Mr. Peter Gilmore as their new Head of School. Mr. Gilmore had previously served as Principal of The Friends School of Baltimore, MD and Upper School Director at Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine. After five years of solid growth including accreditation by the National Association of Independent schools (NAIS), Mr. Gilmore left the school at the end of the 2013–14 school year, and was succeeded by Dr. Dexter Mahaffey. Dr. Mahaffey  previously served as Director of Diversity and Global Studies at Kentucky Country Day School from 2007 to 2014, when he relocated to Vermont. Dr. Mahaffey is past Vice President of the Vermont Independent Schools Association and serves on the Council of Independent Schools for the Vermont Agency of Education. In the 2016–2017 academic year the school celebrated its 20th year. Organization. Mission. Scholarship. Community. Global Responsibility. Campus. Since its founding in 1997, the campus has been located at 75 Green Mountain Drive in South Burlington in a building converted from an environmental testing and consulting firm, Aquatec. Re-purposing such  a building was in keeping with the environmental stewardship mission of the school. The school purchased the building and property in the fall of 2010. Vermont Commons School underwent over $1,100,000 in renovations and expansion of the campus and facilities in the summer of 2015. A further substantial renovation and addition of classrooms, a college counseling center, and a new tutoring/counseling space was completed early in the 2019–20 school year. In September 2020, the school acquired 55 acres south of the main campus for its Outdoor Education Center. Grade Structure. Classes are taught by grade, with larger grades  broken into smaller sections. Maximum class size is 18 students, with an average class size of 12 students. Curriculum. Courses include Language Arts, Mathematics, Sciences, Social Studies, Fine Arts, Service Learning, and World Languages (Spanish and Chinese). The school offers advanced courses in Biology, Environmental Science, Spanish Language and Literature, and Calculus. The school considers its 'standard' rank classes to be on par with an Honors program in the public sector. The school has gained recognition for its Research and Service community service program. In addition, Vermont Commons School offers 3 "Encounter Weeks" during the year. The faculty and students  leave the confines of the school to dive deeply into a variety of experiences. These can range from snow-shoeing in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, to studying the Abrahamic religions in NYC, to doing service work with Habitat for Humanity in the 9th Ward in New Orleans, studying tidal pool ecology in Acadia National Park, or exchanges with Sister Schools Colegio Santa Ana in Peru and Pioneer School in China. Accreditation. Vermont Commons School is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). It maintains "approved school" status  through the State of Vermont and is a member of the Association of Independent Schools of New England (AISNE) and the Vermont Independent Schools Association (VISA).