Sedona, Arizona/VerdeValleySchool

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Verde Valley School (VVS) was founded in 1946 by Hamilton Warren and opened in 1948 with sixteen students and a small handful of teachers and artists. The school owns 155 acres (647,000 m²) and has an enrollment of roughly one hundred students (boarders and day students). 50 acres have been leased to Camp Soaring Eagle, a camp based on the Hole in the Wall camps, created by Paul Newman.

With a population less than half the size of the average boarding school, VVS maintains an average class size of nine and an overall teacher-student ratio of one teacher per every eight students, rather than the national school average of twenty students in a class and a teacher-student ratio of one per every six students. SAT scores are also higher than average: 1113 versus the national average of 1026. More than half of the faculty have advanced degrees.

[edit] Students

Two-thirds of Verde Valley School's population board at a tuition of approximately $36,400/ $21,840 one semester per year. Day students pay approximately $19,000. Almost half of the student body is on financial aid, varying in degree from a few thousand dollars to full scholarships. It is the only U.S. boarding school that has the IB curriculum solely for juniors and seniors.

The boarders occupy five separate dorm complexes on campus; two are for girls and three are for boys. The three boy dorms are West, East, and North. The two girl dorms are Sears and Motel.

[edit] Sports

Depending on the season, VVS offers basketball, golf, tennis, soccer, horseback riding, mountain biking, personal fitness, and volleyball, and all students are required to participate in some sort of sports activity. The VVS soccer team is often seen in the state finals.