Diploma Certificate of Concentration Programs

Vermont Commons School offers Certificates of Concentration recognized with a graduate’s diploma at their graduation ceremony. These allow our particularly dedicated students to dig deeply into their passions and build expertise in an area of interest with independent work at a high level of scholarship over a multi-year period.

Certificate Overview

The student working towards a Certificate of Concentration will create a Committee of three VCS faculty; one committee member will be the main project Advisor. The student, with their Advisor
and Committee, will create a Project (the work towards completion of the Certificate). At its core,
the Certificate of Concentration recognizes independent work, so the responsibility is on the
student to create the Project, with their Committee available to answer questions and provide
general guidance. The student will present a Proposal to their Committee and the Assistant Head of
School (AHoS) prior to the start of Project work. The culmination of the Project is two-fold: firstly,
a public Presentation to the community (and possibly external stakeholders) and a Defense of the
Project to the Committee and AHoS.

Project benchmarks and requirements

I. Project Proposal

II. Project Committee and Advisor

III. Proposal Meeting

IV. Project Completion

V. Public Presentation

VI. Committee Defense

Transcripts

This program is based upon and loosely follows traditional doctoral dissertation research models.
The rigorous independent Project can and typically does begin a year or two before the 12th grade
year; however, the formal planning for the culminating public Presentation and closed Defense is
recorded on the transcript only during the fall and spring of 12th grade year as
coursework-in-progress, specifically denoted “Certificate of Concentration Research.” The
transcript designation is the equivalent of dissertation research hours used by Ph.D.-granting
institutions and operates in the same manner, in that it is non-graded coursework, the final
evaluation of which is the successful or unsuccessful awarding of the special diploma Certificate (a
determination made by members of the project Committee and the AHoS upon a live Defense of
the project). So that colleges and universities to which the 12th grader is applying understand the
exceptional rigor and advanced academic nature of this program, a copy of this program policy
from the Vermont Commons School Guide for Students and Families is to be included with all
applications for admission to colleges and universities made by the student in the fall and/or winter
of their 12th grade year. As one of the highest honors a student can achieve, the awarding of a
Certification of Concentration is announced during the conferring of the Vermont Commons School
diploma at graduation.