Welcome to this cherished place on the mountain, where students and faculty connect with each other and challenge each other every day to do more and thereby to have more fun. We care about the Gordian Knots of chemistry and math, the transit of Venus, the PCB’s in the Hudson, the short stories of James Joyce, and the character of international debates.

What is serious fun? It is having a sense of humor and of play, a gathering of minds to solve a challenge, an impromptu muster of creative energy and a warm embracing community. Satisfaction comes from being applauded for your effort. If you stumble and fall, someone, a classmate or teacher, is there to pick you up. Greater satisfaction comes when you applaud someone else’s efforts; a recital of a poem in an ESL class, solving an extra credit problem for Mr. Ribaudo or Mr. Hunt, discussion of an essay in front of Mr. Barnet or scoring the winning goal in a soccer game. The greatest pleasure, however, comes when you are the one risking the action.

True fun requires taking risks. Therefore, at Storm King, we look at our world and know that we need, both as students and faculty, never to avoid risk-taking, challenges and debate. We can do all this only if we connect, younger and older, with all the good people surrounding us up here on our mountain. There is the risk of showing your artwork in a gallery, standing solo on stage to give your first musical performance, delivering your WWII research project as a radio broadcast in front of your peers or doing your own rap at an open-mic coffeehouse. We all learn to be alert and kind, good-humored and always ready, whether for the next act or action, the next math problem or history discussion, the latest still life painting and ultimately for the next Frisbee flying out from behind the pines.

With our faculty, we urge our students to give their best, call for assistance, hang on to the end – all these things that make us stretch, bend and grow. When students participate they are never going to be alone. Our mission is to make their journey understandable and stimulating. There is much to discover and ever more tools necessary to address the tasks essential for the fullest education of us all.

The Storm King School believes that art,  theatre, music and athletics are central components of a good education and, in addition to academics, comprise a major part of the daily life of our students. Our inspirational setting, nurturing faculty and creative community stimulate students to discover their ability to become lifelong learners. Students are challenged to stretch themselves by building upon their strengths while realistically acknowledging and improving their weaknesses. Our programs and faculty are coordinated to mentor them in this process.

All our goals revolve around being fit for the road that lies ahead, for a world needing intelligence, wisdom and generosity of spirit.

Students will move. We will inevitably be moved. The Frisbee may never land.

Helen Stevens Chinitz
Head of School

We invite you to explore our virtual campus or visit us in person to learn more about us.