Why Mountain Sun?
At Mountain Sun, the teachers are inspired by educational visionaries, by each other, and most of all, by their students. Our students are inspired by their daily work at school, by their peers, by the interactive nature of our school, by their sense of belonging, by the natural world, and by their personal discovery of their strengths and challenges. This is inspired education for the whole child. Our teachers embrace the concept that each student has an innate desire to learn about the world around them, that they learn in their own way, and that learning is organic and dynamic. Therefore, flexibility and creativity is vital for teachers, parents, and children, alike.
Mountain Sun helps each child discover the wonders of a life of the mind and what it means to truly love learning. Our school believes academic and cognitive development is one of the fundamental responsibilities of any school and of holistic education. Utilizing a Montessori approach, Mountain Sun facilitates the development of the child’s sense of self as a student, feeds their innate curiosity, and inspires them to become lifelong learners. We strive to give children a strong foundation in fundamental skills so they can extend beyond academics to become creative, independent thinkers at the same time we introduce practices to help them become more aware of the nature of their own minds.
At Mountain Sun, children are encouraged to be children and to actively and freely explore the natural world. Each day, students have the opportunity to get out into the forests and streams on our campus at Brevard Music Center. On field trips and expeditions, children go deeper into the Bracken Preserve, Pisgah National Forest, Dupont State Forest, and beyond. We believe connection to the natural world cultivates learning from within, fosters whole-child development, and reinforces care for self and others. This connection is facilitated by practicing environmental responsibility in all aspects of school life, creating hands-on learning opportunities within the natural world, and providing ample unstructured physical exercise and exploration in the outdoors.
Mountain Sun believes that the freedom to create art and express ourselves is a vital part of what makes us fully human. Our school nurtures creative self-expression and individuality through regular dedicated art and music classes and access to creative materials throughout the classrooms. We encourage each child to experiment with a variety of artistic media and draw connections between art and the world.
Above all, our students and their families embrace belonging to a diverse and thriving multi-age community. Mountain Sun celebrates difference and strives to create an inclusive and accepting environment in which we appreciate each person’s unique gifts and strengths. In such an atmosphere of compassionate trust, each individual is able to grow and thrive. We believe that school should play an integral role in the development of a child’s communication, collaboration and conflict resolution skills as they serve a variety of communities locally and globally.
“We are very pleased that over the years at MSCS, our child always wakes up excited and ready for school! Everyday, she looks forward to going to a place where she belongs and feels confident to express herself. “
—MSCS Parent