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Alpine Valley School is a self-directed school in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, serving students ages 5-18 from across the Denver metro area - a place where kids decide what, when, and how they learn.
Founded in 1997, AVS has no required classes, no tests, and no grades. Students follow real curiosity at their own pace, supported by staff members who serve as mentors and resources rather than instructors.
The community is intentionally small - about 30-35 students of mixed ages with five staff members - and it runs itself: every member of School Meeting has one equal vote, whether they're five years old or fifty-five. Freedom, Respect, Responsibility, and Integrity are our four core values, and students practice them daily.
We're a natural fit for homeschooling and unschooling families who want community and real-world structure without giving up child-led learning - and for any family whose child needs room to become who they actually are.
Alpine Valley School is built on a simple premise: children are
natural learners who don't need to be coerced into an education.
What they need is time, trust, and a community that takes their
interests seriously. Students here decide how to spend their days -
working through advanced math, building something in the art room,
reading, running a project, playing, or talking with friends - and
they're free to change direction as their interests grow.
There is no set curriculum, and there are no grades or tests.
The adults here are staff members, not teachers: they don't
lecture, assign work, or direct learning. They're mentors and
resources, available the moment a student asks for help, a
tutorial, or a fresh perspective. That's a structural difference
rather than a change in vocabulary - and it's why students at
Alpine Valley School keep their own motivation intact.
The school governs itself. Students and staff members together
make up School Meeting, which sets the rules, manages the budget,
and resolves conflicts through a fair, student-run process. Every
member gets exactly one vote, whether they're five years old or
fifty-five. From age five, students are proposing rules, sitting on
committees, and taking on real responsibility for the place they
spend their days.
Community & Environment
Our community is intentionally small: roughly 30-35 students
ages 5-18, with five staff members. Mixed ages aren't an experiment
here, they're the everyday reality - a seven-year-old and a
sixteen-year-old end up in the same game, the same project, and the
same conversation, which builds genuine mentorship and flattens the
social hierarchies that make school hard for so many kids.
Many of our families come from homeschooling or unschooling and
are looking for community, older mentors, and a wider world for
their children without giving up the child-led philosophy they've
built at home. Others arrive after conventional school stopped
working - for kids who felt anxious, unseen, or simply bored.
Students who learn and process differently are genuinely welcome;
there's no one right way to be a student at Alpine Valley School.
What parents most often describe, a few months in, is the relief of
watching their child become curious again.
Practical Details
Alpine Valley School is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1997,
located at 4501 Parfet St in Wheat Ridge - one mile off the Kipling
exit on I-70 - and drawing students from across the Denver metro
area. School hours are 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM, Monday through Friday.
The 2026-27 school year runs from August 19, 2026 to May 27,
2027.
Tuition is $7,704 per year, with monthly payment plans
available through FACTS, a 10% sibling discount, a discount for
tuition paid in full, tuition assistance by application, and ACE
Scholarships for qualifying Colorado families.
We accept new students year-round, ages 5-16 at entry. Students
ages 5-6 begin part-time (two days per week); older students enroll
full-time. Admission is a two-step process - a campus visit and an
interview - and all decision-making parents take part, so every
adult in a child's life understands how the school works before
enrolling.
Students graduate through a personalized process: a minimum age
of 17, at least three consecutive years of enrollment, and a
Diploma Committee review of their readiness for adulthood, followed
by a public graduation ceremony. Alongside the diploma, Alpine
Valley School issues a transcript recording the offices a student
held and their major contributions to the community - a record of
leadership and responsibility. Longitudinal studies of graduates of
self-directed schools find that they go on to college at typical
rates, with careers clustered in the arts, entrepreneurship, and
fields that reward initiative.
This is a wonderful school that produces happy healthy successful adults without the stress and pressures of conventional education. The proven product is in the graduates of the school, many of whom are still very involved and profoundly grateful for this fantastic community. My teenager wants to be at school all the time and loves learning. The social aspects of this environment are amazing. Alpine Valley is a gift.
- Posted by Parent - tall_
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The average private school tuition in Jefferson County, CO is $13,603 for elementary schools and $17,181 for high schools (read more about average private school tuition across the country).
