Welcome New Staff Members!
Mountain Sun Community School welcomed four new staff members at the start of the 2020-2021 school year: Anne Nicoletti as Primary Lead Teacher and Kindergarten Teacher, Anna Heard as Primary Assistant Teacher, Sara Schmidt as Communications Coordinator, and Caroline Safford as All School Assistant…
Practicing Gratitude with Community
'Tis the season for traditions! At Mountain Sun Community School there are many ways these traditions are celebrated, both in school and in the homes of our students. “Belong” is one of the five keywords rooting Mountain Sun Community School’s philosophy…
MSCS Students Exploring the Natural World
Backpacking trips, bird banding, paddling 28 miles on the French Broad River, learning primitive skills, and spending a night in a tent: these are some of the things Mountain Sun Community School students do throughout the school year…
Mountain Sun Announces the Natural Play Project
As part of the “Get Set” Early Childhood Initiative, Mountain Sun Community School has partnered with local organizations and is launching the Natural Play Project. Funded in large part by the United Way, MSCS is developing and enhancing its outdoor learning environment in order to provide a space for natural play programs for the diverse families and children of Transylvania County…
The Eldest Mountain Sun Alumni Continue Their Journey
In 2014, Mountain Sun Community School graduated its first eighth-grade class. Four students completed their education with Mountain Sun that year and went on to Brevard High School. Four years later, these students are moving into the next phase of life as the launch into the wider world…
2018 Opening Day Announcement
Teachers, faculty, and staff at Mountain Sun Community School welcomed 81 students back to school on August 22nd, 2018. The highest number of children in 11 years of operation joined together with their families on Brevard Music Center’s Campus to celebrate the beginning of an exciting new year…
Transylvania Vocational Services and Mountain Sun Students Team Up with Books
Transylvania Vocational Services (TVS) and Mountain Sun Community School have teamed up to create a Reading Buddy program that allows first through third graders (Acorns) to connect with TVS clients through reading and storytelling…
Peaceful Conflict Resolution Workshop
Recently, parents of students at Mountain Sun Community School participated in a peaceful conflict resolution workshop. Parents acted out scenarios and were given guidance from three MSCS teachers on how to handle conflict peacefully…
Mountain Sun Students Work with Birds at Southern Appalachian Raptor
Mountain Sun students trekked to the the Big Bald Banding Station to aid the Southern Appalachian Raptor Research Center (SARR) in their conservation practices. On September 14th and 15th, the Monarch (4th-5th graders) students participated in raptor trapping, owl banding, hawk watching, and songbird migration monitoring…
Mountain Sun Community School’s Pack of Coyotes Embark on First Backpacking Journey
At Mountain Sun Community School, learning about the history of Transylvania County and its natural resources is not confined to the classroom and textbooks. The Middle School students, also known as the Coyote Class, backpacked through Pisgah National Forest to explore the real-life impacts of early Transylvanians on the local land, economy, and culture…
6th and 7th Grade Backpacking Trip on The Foothills Trail
I often reflect on how grateful I am to have a job where I get to spend time with kids backpacking in these beautiful mountains that surround us. I love seeing their faces light up when they finally see the wildflower that they have been researching or when they find a cool beetle in the middle of the trail…
Monarchs Journey to Cataloochee
The week before Spring Break, the Monarch Class went camping in Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Remote and picturesque, Cataloochee has an abundance of biodiverse flora and fauna. This is why the valley was the perfect place for us to explore, as our overarching theme this year has been biodiversity…
Mountain Sun Students Explore the Universe at Asheville Museum of Science
This year, the formation of the universe has been the overarching theme in the Elementary school science classes at Mountain Sun Community School. On March 2nd, the Monarch (Upper Elementary) class went to Asheville Museum of Science (AMOS) to tie together their recent themes of geology and the states of matter…
Mountain Sun Community School’s Chili Cook Off Benefits The Sharing House
Each year, Mountain Sun Community School hosts a Chili Cook Off and dance party, but this year on Saturday, February 25th the cook off took a new spin when parent and Mountain Sun Board Chair Dilshad Posnock heard about the Sharing House’s “Power Up” dinners…
Mountain Sun Students Learn Life Skills with Eight Owls Farmstead
Digging with pick axes and shovels isn't a common curriculum feature, but for the sixth and seventh grade students of Mountain Sun Community School, it is. Every Friday afternoon, Mountain Sun students get this opportunity. For these students, working up a hard earned sweat affords a multitude of lessons…
Mountain Sun Teaches Art Of Peaceful Resolutions
"I feel sad when you told me that I couldn't play with you because I wanted to play with the blocks too," said a Mountain Sun Community School (MSCS) Owl student…
Teachers Attend Mindfulness Conference
Recently, Mountain Sun Community School (MSCS) teachers attended a conference entitled “More Than Mindfulness: Exploring Education as a Sacred Art,” at Rainbow Community School, a pre-K through eighth-grade school in West Asheville…
Mountain Sun Embarks On Autumn Backpacking Trip
Mountain Sun Community School students in the sixth and seventh grades had the opportunity to be heroes on their backpacking trip that began at Butter Gap trailhead and ended on Brevard Music Center's campus on Oct. 28…
Chess Club Is A Huge Success At Mountain Sun
Mountain Sun Community School (MSCS) began a chess club in 2014 when Art and Lydia Odell, the parents of a student, decided they wanted to add an educational opportunity to the Mountain Sun curriculum and offerings…
Mountain Sun Embraces Montessori Philosophy
Mountain Sun Community School, located at the Brevard Music Center, has offered the children of this community an independent, inspired education for nearly a decade. For children ages 3 through middle school, Mountain Sun combines Montessori education with outdoor exploration, artistic creativity and community service…