Two students practice their mountain-biking skills at Aspen Country Day School’s campus on Castle Creek. The school is offering a new merit-based scholarship for students entering fourth grade this fall.
Two students practice their mountain-biking skills at Aspen Country Day School’s campus on Castle Creek. The school is offering a new merit-based scholarship for students entering fourth grade this fall.
Aspen Country Day School is initiating a new merit-based scholarship program for students who have grown up in the Roaring Fork Valley.
The Roaring Fork Scholars program allows rising fourth-graders of other local schools to attend Country Day for less than one-third of the school’s annual tuition. Scholars’ families will pay around $10,000 per year.
Students entering fourth grade in the upcoming fall semester will be the first class eligible for the scholarship. Only students who have attended a Roaring Fork Valley school since kindergarten are eligible for the scholarship.
School lunch and bus service as far away as Carbondale are included in the tuition. Scholars’ discounted tuition will carry through their eighth-grade graduating year.
Non-scholarship financial aid also is available for students seeking placement in other grades.
Aspen Country Day School is a 300-student K-8 private school located outside of Aspen in the Castle Creek Valley. The school was founded in 1969. Country Day completed the construction of a newly renovated campus in 2016, which it shares with the Aspen Music School on a seasonal basis.
ACDS spokesperson Meredith Carroll pointed to Country Day’s outdoor education program (students go on two to three trips per year) and theater program and curriculum highlights. Country Day students also tend to excel in math and Spanish after leaving ACDS, according to Carroll.
Carroll said while the school is located just outside of Aspen, its student body comes from throughout the valley, noting that about 30% of Country Day students are driven through Snowmass Canyon on their way to school each morning.
School administrators designed the scholarship specifically for fourth grade because it provides new students with enough time to fully integrate into their comparatively small classes, she said. Classes at Country Day are capped at 37 students. The school has provided merit-based scholarships for students entering seventh and eighth grade in the past.
Middle school at Country Day begins in sixth grade. Middle school students remain on the same campus, though their class schedule changes as they begin more specialized courses of study with a greater range of teachers.
Carroll added that the scholarship is meant for high-achieving students who could benefit from a small, intensive academic environment with strong personal support from teachers and options to take on more challenging work if their abilities demand it.
Families seeking the scholarship can begin the application process by filling out an online inquiry form at aspencountryday.org/scholars. Scholarship hopefuls should expect to visit the school for a full day, provide a report card and submit a teacher recommendation, all components of a normal Country Day application. Scholars also will need to provide a letter of recommendation from a community member such as a coach, mentor or activity leader.
The application process does not consider financial background, so applicants need not submit any financial documentation. Applications for the 2024-25 school year are due on May 15.
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