1973-2014
ORIGINS In the fall of 1973, a new school opened in the basement of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Ketchum. Former Hemingway Elementary School Principal Sam Hazard, his wife, Julie, and a number of supportive parents opened the “Ketchum Sun Valley Community School.�
The goal of the school was — and still is — to get students more excited about learning. Parents at the time felt that the valley needed a private option, in order to avoid having to send their children to school out of state.
FACULTY Sam, Julie, and Brian Clark made up the first full-time faculty. Jack Hemingway, son of Ernest Hemingway, taught French and Spanish part-time. Soon, these four were joined by teacher Ginny Haire. John Rember, Richard Hislaire, and Jimmy Woods joined the faculty in the 1970s as the student population swelled.
CAMPUS
Students attended classes in the basement of St. Thomas Episcopal Church for the 1973-1974 school year.
The colorful bus shown parked outside was the Ketchum Sun, painted by founding board member Judy Atkinson. Judy was partway through painting the name of the school when a blizzard forced her to stop, leaving just the words “Ketchum Sun� on the side of the bus.
During the fall of 1974, the school moved to Trail Creek Cabin, property owned by Sun Valley Resort. The cabin proved only to be an interim home for the school, which moved to property owned by the Sun Valley Center for the Arts in January 1975.
Photo courtesy of Sun Valley Resort
The Ketchum Sun Valley Community School rented space from the Sun Valley Center for the Arts from 1975 to 1985 before purchasing the property. The school shared the campus with that organization for many years. The entire school was originally contained in one building, located where the Upper School building stands today. As the school’s student body grew, its use of the campus expanded as well.
FALL CAMPOUT The school’s first tradition was Fall Campout, an all-school trip taken the first week of every academic year. According to legend, the tradition started because Sam wasn’t quite organized to start the first school year. Today, it’s a cherished part of the Community School experience, a chance for students and teachers to bond before classes begin.
TRADITIONS Other traditions quickly followed the first. In addition to Fall Campout, students participated in Powder Day, a day when the entire school skipped class and took to the slopes. Students also participated in the Engl Cup, an informal day of skiing competitions referred to by one alumnus as a “Powder Day in disguise.� The cup is named after Sigi Engl, late director of the Sun Valley Ski School and father of school founding board member Michael Engl.
OUTDOOR PROGRAM Though the school did not have an officially established outdoor program in the 1970s, being out in nature was very much a part of school culture. As Community School still does today, Sam deliberately fostered in his students a love of the outdoors, while faculty used outdoor trips as teaching tools. Students learned wilderness skills as well as biology, geometry, and other subjects while out in the Idaho mountains.
STUDENT LIFE Because the student body was so small, classmates became extremely close. The school’s culture was informal and tight-knit, both among students and faculty. Despite the school’s small size, students participated in a number of extracurricular activities apart from skiing and sports. Drama was a large part of student life, and Mariel Hemingway’s performance in a school production of “The Children’s Hour” is still remembered to this day.
ATHLETICS Ketchum Sun Valley Community School athletes dominated the soccer field very early in the school’s history. Students got used to playing in all kinds of adverse weather.
1980s
CAMPUS The Ketchum Sun Valley Community School remained at Trail Creek Campus through the 1980s, thanks to the generosity of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts. Â The school purchased the campus in 1985, with the intent of using all existing buildings and adding an elementary school building, which was completed in 1989.
FACULTY
JON MAKSIK Head of School Jon Maksik was hired in 1987 and would remain un:l 2005
JOHN COLE Science and Math
MIKE WADE Math and Science
TOM JOHNSON English and Drama
NANCY PARSONS-‐BROWN French
BAGS BROKAW History
JIM COGAN History
JIMMY WOODS History
BOB DOYLE History and English
DEAN PASCHALL Wilderness Program Director
FINE ARTS Students produced elaborate plays and musicals in the 1908s, everything from “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” to William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Arts also remained an important part of the curriculum.
ATHLETICS  When Math and Science Teacher Mike Wade was hired in 1983, the school basketball team got a coach — and a mascot, as the Cutthroat was introduced the same year.
STUDENT LIFE In 1984, the entire school fit into one photograph without too much effort. Students still spent time just hanging out in the hallways, but in 1980, the school bought its first three computers — two Atari 400s and a Commodore PET. Â
OUTDOOR PROGRAM The school continued to hold Fall Campout every year, as well as making frequent trips up to the “Stanley Campus.”
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL In 1988, Ketchum Sun Valley Community School merged with The Mountain School, a kindergarten through sixth grade school in Elkhorn. For the first time, the school offered a kindergarten through twelfth grade education. The school’s name changed to “The Community School,” and enrollment immediately jumped to 188 students.
Parents and other school supporters generously gave $2 million to build a new elementary school and middle school on campus after the merger. The elementary school was completed in 1989 to much fanfare. Â
1990s
1990s  The Upper School faculty grew to 25 members in 1990. As of 1994, total enrollment numbered 252 students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, with a total faculty of 51. Â
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Community service is a long-standing tradition at Community School, one that touches many other Wood River Valley institutions. Students volunteered at the Boulder Mountain Tour, planted the seeds for what would eventually become the Sawtooth Botanical Garden, and participated in the Wagon Days Parade.
TRADITIONS Headmaster Jon Maksik started the tradition of dressing up in a gorilla suit for Halloween, a tradition followed by some parents as well as a joke one year. Students also held an annual Holiday Feast, a school-wide celebration of thanks and harvest. Students participate in Fall Campout, the school’s longest-running tradition.
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Students were always excited to celebrate Powder Day, as well as to compete in Engl Cup. Devon Riley ‘98 demonstrated student participation in Disco Day, a day when students would dress up and play disco music in the student lounge. Â
ATHLETICS Despite the lack of fields solely for school use during much of the 1990s, Community School soccer teams continued to excel. The school’s rivalry with Wood River High School, demonstrated by Bob Brock, is welldocumented.
Students played basketball in the gym at Hemingway Elementary. The school did not have its own gym until 1996, following a very successful fundraising campaign. Home games for all sports were played at other venues, including Atkinson Park and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ketchum. Â
OUTDOOR PROGRAM With the hiring of Outdoor Program Director Tom Boley, outdoor trips expanded and became more formal. In addition to winter trips and Fall Campout, students took other trips to become more experienced in river rafting and rock climbing. Â
GYM AND THEATER
In 1996, construction was completed on a new gymnasium for the school. Finally, students had a place to practice athletics and host basketball and volleyball games. The theater opened in 1996. While the school had a theater previously, it was above a ceramics studio and had been deemed unsafe by the Sun Valley Fire Department.
CAMPUS IN THE 1990S
SAGEWILLOW In 1998, the Dumke family, longtime benefactors of Community School, donated the 30-acre Sagewillow Farm in Elkhorn to the school. The area was tagged as a site for possible expansion, but in the meantime, Board Chair Tom Unger oversaw the construction of three soccer fields on the property. Â
2000 TO PRESENT
The faculty saw many changes in the 2000s, not the least of which was the retirement of longtime headmaster Jon Maksik. Jon was replaced by Andy Jones-Wilkins in 2005. Andy left the school in 2010, and was replaced by current head of school David Holmes. The faculty also saw the addition of the Teacher Training Academy, an annual cohort of interns that live in the dorm and work with experienced teachers in all grade levels. Â
STUDENT LIFE Students continued to enjoy the longstanding academic tradition of Community School — a strong academic foundation combined with a fostering of character strengths such as “grit.” Students also took on more formal leadership roles and became even more mindful of their environment, joining teacher Scott Runkel in his “Green Team” efforts.
CAMPUS A new Upper School building was completed in 2006, after the successful Trail Creek Campaign raised $11.2 million for capital improvements and the school’s endowment. A new science building opened in Fall 2007. Â
ATHLETICS All students at Community School must participate in sports, whether team sports such as tennis or soccer, or individual sports such as horseback riding or skiing. Many students become very successful in their chosen sports, as shown. Â
EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER
In 2010, the Early Childhood Center opened at Trail Creek Campus. As it serves students ages two through five, students can enjoy sixteen years of the Community School experience, benefiting from project-based learning from a very young age.
The ECC Curriculum is based on the Reggio Emilia Philosophy, characterized by a creative environment, a curriculum drawn from students’ natural interests, in-depth projects, and daily documentation of student experiences. Â
OUTDOOR PROGRAM Students enjoy avalanche education, river rafting trips, and — of course — Fall Campout. In the Upper and Middle schools, students typically take three trips per year; Elementary School students start by taking nature walks and spending several school days outdoors before going on overnight adventures.
The Outdoor Program now spans the entire school, and is characterized by trips that each successive class experiences and looks forward to. For example, the Junior Solo is seen as a rite of passage by many students and alumni. Â
SUN VALLEY SKI ACADEMY The Sun Valley Ski Academy was launched in 2010, providing competitive snow sport athletes the chance to obtain a rigorous college-preparatory experience while competing on a high level. Â
RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM The Residential Hall was opened at the base of Warm Springs in 2010, allowing the school to recruit students from across the nation and around the world.
The Residential Program enrolled 24 students for the 2013-2014 school year, half of whom are competitive snow sports athletes with the Sun Valley Ski Academy. Â