Life After AVS

Alpine Valley offers a diploma to each student who attends for at least three years and successfully defends the thesis that they have taken responsibility for preparing themselves to become effective adults.  This process takes a minimum of seven months and involves a series of written and oral presentations, as well as a formal defense. It is overseen by a committee comprised of staff, students, parents, trustees and public members.

Our alumni include honors graduates of universities, and the honor graduate in an 80-member platoon at U.S. Marines basic training; two film directors and a corporate executive; and someone who raised thousands of dollars and toured the world with Up With People. Whatever their path, our graduates have found that their AVS education has made it easier to achieve their goals. This success comes from having developed strong interpersonal, communication, and leadership skills, as well as character traits like integrity, adaptability, initiative and persistence at Alpine Valley.

For one of our parents, it was meeting alumni that convinced her to enroll her son:

I am awestruck by the graduates. They are very confident, self-assured, kind, funny, articulate, and they all seem to be doing what they want—the same as when they were students. I did some research online when contemplating AVS for my son. I specifically researched what Sudbury school alumni had to say about their education. In almost all cases, I saw people who had gone on to work in their chosen fields/careers and were quite happy. Most striking was the deep sense of gratitude expressed by many that they had the opportunity to attend such a school.

Here's what the graduates themselves have said about how the school prepared them for effective adulthood:

Alpine Valley School has been instrumental in my transition to becoming an effective adult. It has helped me to move through a stage of being lost, to a point of consciously living a life I want.

In my work, my genuine interest and self-motivation have caught the attention of my supervisors. They've complimented me on the confidence and initiative I've showed, the way I'll take a project and run with it, asking for help when needed. My time at AVS had a tremendous amount to do with making this a natural habit.

Without Alpine Valley School, I would not have graduated from high school. I am now working with children with autism as my chosen career. AVS's philosophy allows me to be successful today. The school gave me the ability to respect a child . . . and allow them to grow in their own unique way.