Physical Education

All Middle School students take Physical Education classes twice a week, on Monday and Friday. P.E. offers a unique opportunity to learn about lifelong fitness and to engage informally with the faculty outside of the classroom. Each student chooses from a list of options, and current and past choices include walking on the nearby Burlington Bike Path, Capture the Flag in the South Burlington Public Lands a few minutes’ walk south, strength training, and choreography. All of our extracurricular athletics also meet during P.E. time.

High School students must also meet our P.E. requirement through athletics participation, physically active Encounter Weeks, adult-supervised physical activities off campus (such as a gymnastics, rock-climbing, competitive skiing, strength training, or swimming program), or participation in Middle School P.E. classes.

Extracurricular Sports Program

The primary goal of the athletic program is to foster sportsmanship, leadership, and personal growth.  Student-athletes learn to balance academic eligibility with responsibilities to their teammates. The team experience is open to any academically eligible VCS student. While the objective of any competition is to win, this is secondary to the primary goal of the VCS athletic program.

Vermont Commons School currently fields interscholastic teams in the following sports:

• Volleyball (boys, girls, and co-ed)
• Cross Country (boys and girls)
• Basketball (co-ed)
• Ultimate Frisbee (boys, girls, and co-ed)

In sports where Vermont Commons does not have a varsity team, student athletes may be able to participate on another school’s team in that sport through a Vermont Principals’ Association Member-to-member Agreement.  Likewise, athletes from other schools often join Vermont Commons’ teams for this same purpose.