Teton Science Schools and Mountain Academy: Parent Guide to Place-Based Environmental Learning

Teton Science Schools is a nonprofit educational organization in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, best known for place-based education, field science, outdoor learning, and school consulting. The full-time school inside that organization is Mountain Academy, an independent day school serving children from 18 months through grade 8 on campuses in Jackson, Wyoming, and Teton Valley, Idaho. [1]

This profile should be routed as a school-network or organization profile rather than a conventional single-campus school page. Parents evaluating a full-time school option should focus on Mountain Academy. Parents evaluating Teton Science Schools more broadly may also be looking at outdoor learning, teacher programs, place-based education consulting, or other experiences that are not the same as full-time enrollment. [1]

Snapshot facts

Field	Detail
Official name	Teton Science Schools / Mountain Academy
Recommended slug	teton-science-schools
Operating status	Active, based on current official Mountain Academy and Teton Science Schools pages. [1][2]
Offering type	Nonprofit educational organization and independent day school network. [1]
Primary location	Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with Mountain Academy campuses in Jackson, Wyoming, and Teton Valley, Idaho. [1][2]
Grades served	Mountain Academy serves early childhood through grade 8, including children as young as 18 months. [1]
Founding	Teton Science Schools states that it was established in 1967. [1]
Founders and leadership	Current public materials reviewed for this batch were sufficient to describe the organization and school model, but not enough to provide a complete founder and leadership summary without direct verification.
Educational model	Place-based education, outdoor learning, field study, and experiential learning tied to the Teton region. [1][2]
Tuition and aid	The Jackson campus admissions page lists 2026-27 tuition at $29,760 for Lower School and Middle School, with separate early-childhood rates. The school also publishes a tuition-assistance process. [4][6]
Admissions	Mountain Academy describes an application process that reviews a student holistically and assesses readiness, curiosity, and fit for the program. [2]
Publication recommendation	Publish, but label as a school network or nonprofit organization, with Mountain Academy as the active full-time school.

What it is

Teton Science Schools is not just a school. Its public site describes a broader organization that includes Mountain Academy, outdoor learning, consulting, and other place-based programs. That broader identity matters for parents because a family searching for a school will need to distinguish full-time Mountain Academy enrollment from other Teton Science Schools programs. [1]

Mountain Academy is the core full-time school offering. It operates as an independent day school with two campuses that share a unified learning model. The school says students engage in day-long and week-long "Journeys" that extend learning beyond the campus and into the surrounding region. [1]

Educational model

The model is place-based rather than simply outdoors-oriented. Teton Science Schools describes place-based education as learning that uses local places, community, landscape, and natural systems as organizing contexts for academic work. Mountain Academy applies that approach through classroom work, outdoor time, field study, and projects that use the Tetons as more than a backdrop. [1][2]

For SchoolDecision taxonomy, the strongest placement is environmental and place-based learning. It overlaps with experiential learning and project-based learning, but its defining feature is not a generic project cycle. It is the use of local ecology, community, and landscape as recurring instructional material. [1]

Student experience

The public materials indicate that students spend significant time outside, particularly at the Jackson campus, where students start mornings with a walk up the canyon to their classrooms. The Teton Valley campus is described as a 10-acre campus in Victor, Idaho, with grade-level houses, outdoor space, a library yurt, and farm and garden space. [2][3]

The student-life materials also describe morning meetings, closing circles, student leadership, athletics, and after-school programs such as drama, Lego, and robotics. That suggests a school experience that mixes independent-school routines with outdoor and place-based learning, rather than a purely expeditionary or wilderness-only model. [3]

Curriculum, assessment, and progression

Mountain Academy describes a unified learning model across campuses and uses the language of Journeys, student engagement, and place-based learning. The public sources reviewed for this batch were strong on philosophy and environment but less specific on scope-and-sequence details, assessment practices, grading, standardized testing, and middle-school-to-high-school transition planning. [1][2]

Parents should ask for curriculum maps by grade band, sample progress reports, middle-school course descriptions, and examples of how writing, math, science, and world-language progression are documented. For a school serving through grade 8, the transition into high school is an important outcome question even though college placement is not the relevant benchmark.

Public, charter, private, nonprofit, program, network, conservatory, or archive status

Teton Science Schools is a nonprofit educational organization, and Mountain Academy functions as the independent day school within that organization. It should not be presented as a public school, charter school, or district program. [1]

The profile should avoid implying that all Teton Science Schools offerings are full-time school options. Outdoor education, consulting, and other programs may be valuable, but they are different offerings with different enrollment and availability rules. [1]

Locations and availability

Mountain Academy lists campuses in Jackson, Wyoming, and Teton Valley, Idaho. The broader Teton Science Schools organization is headquartered in Jackson Hole and describes connections to Grand Teton National Park and surrounding public lands. [1][2]

This is a geographically limited school option. Families outside the region would need to relocate or separately consider Teton Science Schools programs that are not full-time school enrollment.

Tuition, admissions, and eligibility

The Jackson campus admissions page lists 2026-27 tuition at $29,760 for Lower School and Middle School, with separate early-childhood rates ranging by age and number of days. The tuition-assistance page says assistance is need-based, the admission process is need-blind, and Kindergarten through grade 8 students are eligible to apply for aid. Families should still verify the current schedule by campus and grade because the published Jackson rates may not cover every program option. [4][6]

Admissions materials say the school reviews applicants holistically and considers individual interests, learning styles, personality, readiness, curiosity, and enthusiasm for the program. Parents should ask whether early-childhood admissions, elementary admissions, and middle-school admissions have different capacity constraints. [2]

Credits, transcripts, diplomas, certifications, and accreditation

Mountain Academy serves early childhood through grade 8, so the key credential issue is not a high school diploma. The more practical question is how the school documents student progress and how graduates transition to high school. The public sources reviewed for this batch did not provide enough detail to describe the transcript or progress-report format with confidence.

A Northwest Association of Independent Schools member listing was reviewed as part of source gathering, but SchoolDecision should verify current accreditation, membership, or association status directly before presenting any credential claim in structured data. [5]

Evidence and outcomes

The strongest evidence for Mountain Academy is evidence of model clarity and operational substance. The school publishes current grade range, campuses, student-life details, admissions materials, tuition-assistance information, and Jackson campus tuition figures for 2026-27. [1][2][3][4][6]

The public sources reviewed do not provide an independent study of outcomes, comparative academic growth, standardized achievement, or high-school transition results. Any claims about student growth, confidence, environmental stewardship, or long-term outcomes should be attributed to the school unless supported by independent evidence.

Best fit

Mountain Academy is likely to be most relevant for families who want an independent day school in the Tetons with substantial outdoor time, field study, environmental context, and a school culture organized around place. It may be especially relevant for children who learn well through direct observation, inquiry, movement, and community-based projects.

It may be a poor fit for families seeking a conventional high school pathway, a large course catalog, a high school diploma, a purely urban school environment, or a standardized test-driven program. The geographic limitation and private-school cost structure are central constraints.

Questions parents should ask

1. What is current tuition by grade band, and what additional fees apply for trips, materials, meals, after-school programs, or transportation?
2. What percentage of students receive tuition assistance, and what is the typical award range?
3. How does Mountain Academy document student progress in math, writing, science, and reading?
4. Where do grade 8 graduates typically enroll for high school, and what transition support is provided?
5. What accreditation or association memberships are current for the school?
6. How much outdoor time is typical by grade level and by season?
7. How does the school support students who need more structure, remediation, or specialized services?

Sources

[1] "Mountain Academy," Teton Science Schools, https://www.tetonscience.org/mountain-academy/, accessed June 7, 2026. [2] "Mountain Academy - Admissions," Teton Science Schools, https://www.tetonscience.org/mountain-academy/admissions/, accessed June 7, 2026. [3] "Student Life," Teton Science Schools Mountain Academy, https://www.tetonscience.org/mountain-academy/mountain-academy-student-life/, accessed June 7, 2026. [4] "Tuition Assistance," Teton Science Schools Mountain Academy, https://www.tetonscience.org/mountain-academy/tuition-assistance/, accessed June 7, 2026. [5] "Mountain Academy - Teton Science Schools," Northwest Association of Independent Schools, https://nwais.org/members/?id=67640508, accessed June 7, 2026.