Campus Life

Shared chores, classes and meals demonstrate the value of cooperation, the support of friendship, the need for straight talk. Campus work projects provide tangible proof of the relevance of knowledge, as well as occasions for learning how to learn. Accomplished projects—useful, visible and valued in the wider community—contribute to self-respect.

Experiential classes offer opportunities to explore one’s creativity and learn new skills. The Academy keeps a herd of horses, whose care provides work/study projects for a number of interested students. These students derive pleasure and growth from a closely supervised horsemanship program. Other experiential offerings might include lessons in photography, fly-fishing, and drama.

Montana Academy encourages a physical fitness ethic and emphasizes the potential result of individual effort and self-discipline, rather than conventional competitiveness. Cross-country running, trekking, skiing, hiking, cycling and rock climbing are readily available. Exploring Montana’s awesome beauty, challenging terrain and dramatic climate inspires curiosity about the universe, instills respect for nature and encourages students to grow strong and competent. Shared adventures during challenge weeks pull students and staff together, providing natural contexts for young people and adults to cooperate and speak frankly to one another. The grandeur of the wild gives perspective to personal problems and draws students away from materialism and narcissism.