Academics
The Lowell Whiteman School is a college-preparatory, co-educational boarding and day school. Admission is determined by application, school record, interview, and teacher recommendations.
The college preparatory curriculum consists of courses in English, math, science, social studies, foreign language, computer, and the arts. All courses are year-long classes. With an average student teacher ratio of 9:1, classes emphasize reading, writing, and critical thinking. Homework, in every class every night, is an integral part of the academic program. As part of their coursework students learn to work both independently and with others. LWS students prepare rigorously for college.
For the 2007-2008 school year LWS offers Advanced Placement and Honors classes in English, Calculus, Physics, Environmental Geography, Environmental Science, French, and Spanish.
Students typically take five courses, with two proctored study halls scheduled into their class day. Boarding students also attend a proctored evening study hall five nights per week. Dean’s and honors Students are exempt from protored study halls.
LWS “Activities” or Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club training take the place of formalized gym classes at the school. Activities include mountain biking, kayaking, horseback riding, rock climbing, mountaineering, skiing, and snowboarding. In place of LWS activities, students may participate through the local public school in organized sports such as soccer, wrestling, football, hockey, tennis, golf, volleyball and track.
The School Year, which consists of three trimesters, runs from late August to early June and includes Thanksgiving, Winter, and Spring Breaks. First Trimester Exams occur prior to Thanksgiving vacation, and final exams complete the year. Competitive Skiers/Snowboarders drop two courses between January and March; they make up these classes during an “Intersession” month (early April - early May), while students in the LWS Activities Program are on Foreign Trip. As part of the school’s overall curriculum, students participate in two three-day camp trips and the six-day “Desert Week.”
Commonly LWS alumni visiting during their freshmen year in college state, “I’m much better prepared than the kids in my dorm. I know how to write an essay, I’m used to reading, I know how to study. I know how to think and I can manage my time.“