An Independent, IB, Boarding & Day School for Students in Grade 9-12
Sedona, AZ
You are creative, motivated, curious.
Our
students think for themselves and work toward a better world. They are learners who pour their hearts into developing their minds.
We are passionate about learning.
VVS delivers education in a way no other school does. We connect classroom and real-world problem solving, guaranteeing relevance in your learning. Students dig in to experiences that matter to them.
105 Day & Boarding Students
18 Nations Represented
14 States Represented
100% College Acceptance
VVS offers a varied outdoor program in which we encourage students to take some time away from academics by getting outside, challenging themselves, and finding a passion for the outdoors that continues beyond their time here.
100+
VVS Organic Farm
provides fresh food for the dining hall
trails for running, hiking, and mountain biking 25
horses in our oncampus barn for trail riding
You will find yourself
here.
• You will study with brilliant teachers and curious classmates, developing academic excellence.
• You will live and work among people from all over the world, and you will learn about cultures different from your own, fostering intercultural understanding and world citizenship for yourself and your peers.
• You will work -- physically labor -- to care for this campus, our shared home, cultivating our environment and your own appreciation for hard work.
• You will serve others and you will be served by others, developing your understanding of a vitally important part of our shared humanity: filling the needs we observe in the world.
• You will live close to the land – among the red rocks – working with the farm, with the horses and their manure, with the compost, with the recycling, with the caretaking of this beautiful campus, all the while strengthening your ethic of environmental stewardship.
These five principles – Academic Excellence, World Citizenship, Physical Labor, Service to Humanity, and Environmental Stewardship – will change you. For the better. This is the promise of VVS.
Ben Lee, Head of School
Our guiding principles
Academic Excellence
VVS is committed to providing the best possible academic program, giving students the opportunities to excel academically while learning to become independent, thoughtful, and responsible members of a community.
The value of World Citizenship
Students are ethical individuals with a strong sense of personal, social, and cultural responsibility.
Environmental Stewardship
Students and faculty live and learn by respecting our environment and being proactive in protecting it.
Service to others
Students work hand in hand with communities from Arizona to Mexico to Malawi. The principle of service is deeply rooted in our fabric and is a part of every day. Students work hand in hand with communities from Arizona to Mexico to Malawi
The value of physical labor
Involving students in building and maintaining their school not only empowers them, but also gives them a greater appreciation for the campus they helped to build and care for.
principles
Build your foundation
Verde Valley School is a college preparatory school that stresses competition with oneself rather than with others. VVS offers a dynamic academic experience informed by the incomparable beauty of our environment and the five principles that have guided our mission since 1948. We challenge our students to fulfill their potential in every area: academics, arts, athletics, community, integrity, outdoors, service, and more
We bring together talented young people from around the world and ask them to build and to study, to work and to learn, to see beyond cultural boundaries and to change the world for the better.
Hamilton & Barbara Warren
VVS Founders, 1948
Language & Literature Language
Acquisition Individuals & Societies
Sciences Mathematics
Visual & Performing
IB Core
Arts
Academics
Critical thinking, successful collaboration, academic challenge, intellectual risk taking, and project-based learning: this is what we guarantee in VVS classrooms. At VVS, “classroom” means many different things: a science lab, nearby Oak Creek, the stage of Brady Hall, the Grand Canyon, a beach in California.
Soccer Equestrian Mountain Biking Rock Climbing Hiking Cross Country Track & Field Basketball Volleyball
Sand Volleyball
Sports
Athletics at VVS are competitive and non-competitive, mainstream and alternative. The red rocks of Sedona are our gym for world-class rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking and horseback riding. Our facilities include an outdoor basketball court, soccer field, fitness center, and dance space. Golf and tennis facilities are nearby.
Music Theater Studio Art Ceramics Metalwork Film
Arts
We believe arts literacy is a key to leading an exceptional life. We strive for excellence in the arts, grounding our studies in an understanding of history, techniques, and practitioners from the disciplines. Students compose their own music and form their own bands, write and perform original stage musicals, and find quiet downtime in all of our studio spaces.
Field Trips Project Period Decembermester MDG Malawi Service in the Community
Community
Community is at the heart of all we do at VVS. Students, faculty and staff recognize that the community we live in is the one we create. We chose to live in a place that values knowledge, respect and compassion. We intentionally keep our school small to ensure that all students are known well by faculty members and by each other. We choose to live in a place that values knowledge, respect, and compassion. Teenagers and adults recognize and value the community that we co-create.
I came to VVS assuming that I would try it out for a year and then leave. Within one month of arriving, I knew I wanted to stay for all four years of high school. That’s the power of VVS: the impact this school has had on my life has been astronomical, something like Pandora’s Box. The difference between Pandora’s Box and VVS is that VVS has only ever been positive and remarkable. Had I not opened the box I would have never known what I was missing; having opened it, I can’t believe I almost opted out of this experience.
