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The Latest on the Campaign

The Campaign for Vermont Commons is in the home stretch! We have been laser focused on the development and preservation of the Outdoor Education Center, and we broke ground on the OEC’s learning village in September.

The amphitheater footprint

Our immediate goal is to raise $212,500 to preserve the Outdoor Education Center for Vermont Commons students, faculty, and community members in perpetuity.

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In 2020, VCS received a 5-year, interest-free loan to purchase a 55-acre tract of land which would become our outdoor classroom for all seasons. We envisioned a place where students could study and steward the land, where they could be empowered to tackle the issues of climate change head on, and where we could connect with the beauty and ecological diversity that surrounds us.

Since that time, we received a $175K challenge grant to build the low-impact infrastructure that will make the land accessible and provide basic amenities. In less than a year, we have raised the needed $175K match, and construction has begun on a learning village containing a pavilion, shed, and amphitheater. This fall, students and faculty will spend an Encounter Week on the land, clearing and marking a trail and doing other small construction projects. The OEC will eventually be home to two insulated yurts on 28′ platforms, an equipment shed, and an outhouse structure with composting toilet.

As a community, we have come together to raise 2/3 of everything we need to make the Outdoor Education Center a permanent part of the Vermont Commons campus!

Help secure this legacy for current and future VCS students by making a gift to the Campaign for Vermont Commons today.

Ways to Give

  • Online. Choose “Campaign for Vermont Commons” from the drop-down menu.
  • By check made out to Vermont Commons School
    • Bring or mail to 75 Green Mountain Drive, South Burlington, VT 05403
  • Venmo @vermontcommons (find us listed under “charities”)
  • Bank transfer or donation of appreciated securities. Please contact Sharon Panitch, Director of Development.

Scholarship. Community. Global Responsibility.

Students emerge from their time at Vermont Commons School intrinsically motivated to seek out their role for improving the world, with the skills and competencies to do so.