Program Overview
First and foremost, The Lowell Whiteman School is a college preparatory boarding and day school set in the remarkable Western town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. With an elevation of 7,000' and a student body of under 100, LWS offers one of the most formative, active, and adventurous educations you can find. Here is a summary of the core programs that distinguish LWS.
College Preparatory Academics
Our college preparatory academic program prepares students for the best universities and colleges, ensuring that our graduates are clear and criticical thinkers, accomplished readers and writers, and competent scholars who can handle the curriruclum at any school in the country. All of our students apply to and go to a four-year college or university, and we have recent grduates at schools like Bates, Bucknell, Colorado College, CU-Boulder, Denver U, Harvard, and Whitman. With small classes and dynamic teachers working hand-in-hand, LWS's academic program is demanding, compelling, and ultimately rewarding.
Global Immersion Studies Program
GIS students have the invaluable opportunity of spending a month immersed in a foreign country each spring, traveling to a country with a small group of peers and faculty, participating in homestays, service projects, and wilderness adventure. Nearly 60% of our student body are in the GIS Program, which has been a pillar of the school since 1958. This year, students are going to Peru, Vietnam, and China. Since 1958, we have visited 65 countries, and the travel program, for many LWS students, is the defining piece of their academic careers.
Competitive Winter Athletics
About 40% of our students also work with the world-renowned Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, training in disciplines such as Alpine and Nordic skiing, Freestyle, Big Mountain, and Snowboarding. Students who are in this program come to the school with a competitive history, and also with an understanding that they will work as hard in the classroom as on the mountains. What truly sets our athletic program apart is that our student-athletes drop two courses during the winter season, so they can better focus on their training, travel, and competitions. Once the competitive season is over, the student-athletes return to school full time, taking the two courses they dropped exclusively for a full month. This is a program for student-athletes with intellectual and athletic ambition.
Epic Outdoor Opportunities
We have a fall outdoor and camping program that takes full advantage of our unbelievable setting. Students camp for several nights each fall, and have the opportunity to learn outdoor skills such as rock climbing, mountain biking, kayaking. Over the course of the fall, students will have had the chance to hike a 14,000' mountain or two, kayak the Green or Colorado Rivers, mountain bike in Moab, and rock climb in Wyoming.
Ski/Ride Steamboat
Our winter physical activity is skiing and riding at Steamboat 3-5 times each week. In the winter, classes end early so we can take advantage of one of the great ski and snowboard areas in the US. Students ski/ride with teachers who will help them improve as the season goes on.