Small Class sizes and Low Student:
Teacher Ratios. 8:1 for grades 9-12 in core subjects; 12:1 in “Crew,” small advisory groups within the school.

Learning Expeditions.
The curriculum at our school is organized into Learning Expeditions. Learning Expeditions are long-term, in-depth studies of one or two topics that explore vital guiding questions. The Learning Expeditions incorporate standards; involve fieldwork, service, and adventure; and culminate in a project, product, or performance. Expeditions require students to cultivate strong habits of work, thinking, and judgment that come through the daily rituals of reading, writing, problem solving, and discussion. Individual and group projects are designed to unify and ignite student learning by calling for concrete products or actions that address authentic problems.

A Focus on Relationships.
At Red Canyon High School, we believe that a key component of success is the development of positive relationships between students and teachers. Every student at RCHS will develop a very strong relationship with one teacher and will work with that educator collaboratively in CREW.

Locations, locations, locations.
Red Canyon High School is an Expeditionary Learning school of choice with two locations in Eagle County to serve up- and down-valley students alike; one in Edwards, CO, and one in Eagle, CO.

Academic Intensives.
Intensives are credit-bearing courses offered for 1 week at the end of each of the three trimesters. RCHS offers skills-centered, leveled instruction where students are either engaged in an in-depth study of a topic or receive targeted academic support. This style of education is to push both high-achieving and low-achieving students to meet their fullest potential in the classroom.

Amazing Faculty.
Each and every classroom at Red Canyon embraces a certified teacher with multiple years of teaching experience. Not surprisingly, a large majority of these individuals hold Master’s Degrees as well. Regardless of the teaching level each one has reached, there is one common theme every one of them share: ensuring each student succeeds in order to reach their fullest potential on the road of life.

Building Character and an Ethic of Service.
Service to the community is an ethic that permeates our school. Students will experience authentic service to the community as an important element of their academic work. They learn that values such as collaboration, perseverance, and craftsmanship are essential to the production of high quality work. At our school we are all crew, not passengers.

Student Demonstrations of Learning.
Students demonstrate their knowledge and educational explorations at special events, such as “Gallery Night.” Red Canyon’s annual Gallery Night is a public demonstration that allows students to show parents, teachers, and members of the community what they are actively learning in school. The exhibits presented include portfolios and writing samples, sharing research and results from an experiment, and displaying artistic pieces.

Fieldwork.
Learning extends beyond our school’s walls; it connects to the world. Students at Red Canyon learn from fieldwork, experts, and service in addition to learning from texts. Attendance is required for fieldwork as much as it is in the classroom. The field may be a forest, a theater, a ghost town, a hospital lab, a courtroom, a museum, a classroom panel of experts, etc. Students working in the field are active investigators using research tools, techniques of inquiry, and standards of presentation used by professionals in the field. By going to a particular field site, students acquire a sense of place that furnishes context for the investigation and brings the “story” of the investigation to life. In addition to having students conduct research outside the school, teachers bring experts from the community into the classroom; RCHS had the privilege of welcoming over 100 professionals in the 2005-2006 school year to share their experiences and adventures with students. These experiences maximize students’ motivation to learn.

Jump Start.
Jump Start is a class available to all seniors who wish to further their education. The goals of the class are to: determine a career interest, apply to post-secondary institutions, find financial aid, complete a scholarship essay, and find resources to examine trade school, vocational school or 4-year institutions that will meet their educational goals.