Indian Mountain School

Principal Zhan's Review: IMS, located next to The Hotchkiss School, provides a comprehensive education for students from Pre-K to 9th grade, focusing on creative expression and personal growth.
IMS is characterized by a wide range of extracurricular activities, from arts and music to diverse sports programs, encouraging students to explore their interests within a supportive community. For many years, the school has been dedicated to cultivating children's leadership and connecting learning with real-world challenges.
In terms of cultural heritage, IMS, founded in 1922, is a century-old school with a serene and beautiful campus. The lakes and woodlands within the campus also provide students with a learning and living environment that is far from the hustle and bustle of the city, allowing them to connect with nature.
Academically, IMS is very strong! It is the only junior high school in the US that offers AP Computer Science. The school's math and second foreign language classes are grouped by ability level, which allows students of the same level to further advance. In short, IMS provides rich and comprehensive academic resources for children.
In terms of community building, IMS prides itself on its multicultural atmosphere, enrolling students from various countries and regions around the world. The school's evolving weekend programs are highlights of the 7-day boarding life, such as go-karting, bowling, trampoline park visits, outdoor movie nights, and more.
For emotional support, three school counselors work with students. They provide one-on-one support weekly as needed. In addition, they implement a series of age-specific programs for different grade levels to encourage appropriate social and emotional growth.

As a current parent, I'd like to add my two cents. Before my child enrolled, I spent a long time researching here, and I hope this helps other families later on.

I'll share my personal experience; it feels like many factual posts were made by agents. I believe IMS is a school with a very high sense of happiness. Everything is entrusted to the school with great confidence, and the teachers are all very experienced and truly love the children. When my child knocks on a teacher's door in the dorm for help with homework or a paper, the teachers immediately sit down with the child for several hours to discuss the paper or teach the assignment, and every teacher is like that. Academically, the humanities are taught exceptionally well. I once sat in on a class; the English class was a round-table discussion with 8-10 students. The teachers' questions were very insightful, capable of prompting deep thought from the students, and the English readings were very challenging and profound. My son, who is a boy, previously attended a bilingual school in Shanghai with over 20 students per class. He spent lessons slacking off and making small movements because his grades were acceptable, so teachers didn't manage him much. When he got to the US, he was actively participating in class throughout the entire lesson; I couldn't believe it was my son. His American teachers told me that as soon as they notice a child's eyes are not focused on the lesson for even a second, they immediately call on them to answer a question or find a way to involve them in the class. For essay assignments, teachers revise sentence by sentence, starting from the outline. The main body might be revised three times back and forth. The first draft might be terrible, but by the final version, the writing is truly excellent. They pay great attention to expanding students' vocabulary, teaching SAT words, and grammar is practiced separately and very rigorously. The math difficulty is just the textbook difficulty. If a student is very advanced in math, they can skip grades to take higher-level courses, but it's still at textbook difficulty.

The school campus is beautiful and spacious, and the new sports center has just been completed. The teachers are very meticulous in caring for the children, and the principal can call every child by name. The school's admission of mainland Chinese students has been excellent in the past two years, with Andover / Phillips Exeter last year, and Phillips Exeter / Choate / Deerfield / Hotchkiss / Lawrenceville, etc., this year. The school has strong humanities programs and also provides students with a wealth of sports and arts activities. The child has made great progress after one year of study.

Indian Mountain School (IMS) has a dedicated 9th-grade program that integrates humanities and hard sciences, equipping students with the knowledge and collaborative skills necessary for success after graduating from IMS. Ninth graders are required to think critically, ask profound questions from unique perspectives, and connect course content with topics that have a direct impact on their lives. The curriculum will also incorporate future leadership opportunities.
Starting in the fall semester, ninth-grade students will study topics related to the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this course, the year-long instruction will be combined with a series of cross-curricular projects, culminating in a capstone project—the Poquonook Solutions Symposium. This project encourages student groups to propose original and feasible solutions to real-world problems, and then, at the symposium, present their data and articulate their solutions to a panel of experts.

The school values cultural diversity and educational balance. It has planned a broad and rigorous curriculum and academic programs, encouraging students to enthusiastically participate in competitive sports programs, and comprehensive music, art, and performing arts.

The school integrates writing, public speaking, and critical analysis skills into all courses, setting high expectations for students. The school's signature programs include STEAM courses, film production, digital photography, and robotics. There is a strong emphasis on connecting with nature, with students spending around three days each year participating in camp activities to cultivate resilience.

I recorded a 4-minute video introducing the school, http://www.findingschool.net/virtual-tour/102

Indian Mountain is a top boarding middle school, a two-hour drive from New York. The school's special courses include STEAM programs, filmmaking, digital photography, and robotics. The school places great emphasis on a balanced liberal arts education and cultural diversity, with high requirements for history and writing. Additionally, the school offers highly distinctive music and art courses, including jazz, rock, percussion, songwriting, and more. The school fosters children's ability for self-management, and during admissions, it tends to favor children who are more mature and have stronger academic abilities.

Indiana Mountain High School spans 600 acres, boasts an excellent location, a student-to-teacher ratio of 1:4, and a high proportion of senior teachers. It emphasizes cultural diversity and educational balance, preferring to admit confident, innovative, and thoughtful students. The hardware facilities are first-class. Mr. Shi once visited the school. It is surrounded by top high schools such as Hotchkiss School and Salisbury School, sharing educational facilities like swimming pools, squash courts, ice hockey rinks, and basketball courts. Graduates have excellent outcomes.

School Features

1. Specialized Courses: Offers unique courses like STEAM (excellent curriculum), filmmaking, digital photography, and robotics.

2. Rich Arts Programs: Provides music (including jazz, rock, percussion, songwriting, etc.) and drama performance courses (teachers have professional stage performance experience).

3. Diverse Sports Activities: Excellent ice hockey program. The school offers sports such as cross-country, soccer, golf, rugby, volleyball, and swimming. The school's Soccer Team is also very strong. An ice hockey team goalie led Mr. Shi on a campus tour, and the Assistant Director of Admissions is an ice hockey coach. The school has two ice hockey teams and three goalies.

4. New Outdoor Work Lab: Students can use the climbing wall to strengthen their physical power and build confidence. Camping and hiking trips foster students' leadership skills, teamwork, and trust.

5. Student Government: Encourages students to participate in school management opportunities, cultivating their representative awareness, holistic perspective, and communication skills.

A teaching model that balances arts and sciences, with excellent STEM courses, while also placing great emphasis on the teaching of English, humanities, and history.
Great importance is placed on students' academic competitive spirit, and at the end of each semester, a selection of the highest-achieving students are publicly recognized on the Commendation Board.
The academic rigor is upper-intermediate, requiring students to have a certain degree of self-directed learning ability.
Music is a popular art program at the school, including jazz, rock, percussion, songwriting, and more. Students are also strongly encouraged to take private lessons for various instruments.
Drama performance is very popular at the school, and the teachers who teach drama also have professional stage play performance/work experience.
Students are encouraged to be active in sports, and for this purpose, the school provides very professional sports facilities, including basketball courts, climbing walls, etc. A swimming pool is shared with The Hotchkiss School.

The school values cultural diversity and educational balance. It has designed a broad and rigorous curriculum and academic programs, encouraging students to enthusiastically participate in competitive sports, and comprehensive music, art, and performing arts. The school integrates writing, public speaking, and critical analysis skills into all its courses, setting high expectations for students. Its distinctive courses include STEAM programs, film production, digital photography, and robotics. It strongly emphasizes connection with nature, with students spending approximately three days each year participating in camp activities to cultivate resilience. The teacher-student ratio is an impressive 1:4, and half of the teachers hold master's degrees or higher. Many also reside on campus, available to assist students at any time. The admissions director states that the school prefers innovative and thoughtful students.

IMS is a 2-hour drive from New York, set in a beautiful environment. Besides several outdoor sports fields, the school also boasts a fantastic indoor basketball court, offering facilities for basketball, rock climbing, and other sports. Its hardware facilities are top-notch among over a dozen schools in the Eastern US.

My child attends 9th grade at IMS. In over a year at IMS, both their learning ability and self-management skills have greatly improved. This is inseparable from the help of the school teachers and their adviser, as well as the school's strong academic atmosphere.

I am a current IMS parent. Most American boarding schools are located on scenic mountains, far from the hustle and bustle of the city, allowing full enjoyment of nature's tranquility. This helps children focus on their studies. Children see different beautiful scenery on campus in spring, autumn, and winter, especially in autumn, when the eye is met with brilliant autumn colors spread across the mountains. Whenever there's a parent-teacher conference in the fall, I love to sit on the school's boundless, neatly manicured lawn and take a deep breath! The school's campus environment is unique, and many beautiful moments are etched in the children's memories! The school's academics are rigorous, and teachers are dedicated and very attentive to the children's inner growth! This year, my child's English teacher has published articles multiple times in The New York Times, demonstrating an extremely high level of teaching! The school also frequently invites accomplished alumni to return and interact with the children. The school's activities are incredibly rich! Each year, children have the opportunity to study and exchange in different countries, participate in local community service, and cultivate their spirit of contribution to society! Sports activities are diverse and vibrant. Last autumn, the school also introduced equestrian sports, and the boys' lacrosse team won the New England regional championship.

IMS is like a warm family. Teachers pay close attention to the children, and the school focuses on their balanced development, with music being particularly outstanding. Classes are small, and various levels of ESL courses are provided for international students. Dormitory conditions are excellent, consisting mostly of double rooms and a few single rooms. Boarding life is also vibrant and diverse; every weekend, the school organizes various on-campus and off-campus activities, ensuring that children of different personalities can find activities suitable for them.

Located on the edge of Lakeville town, the campus is beautiful. It is very close to Hotchkiss and shares sports facilities with Hotchkiss.

This is a warm and close-knit school, focusing on the balanced development of academics, arts, and sports, with the arts being particularly outstanding.

Indian Mountain School is a 2-hour drive from New York City and about a 5-minute drive from the town of Lakeville and Hotchkiss. The school is like a big family, very warm and welcoming. The school offers a rich curriculum and has strong academic capabilities, particularly with high teaching standards in subjects like English, history, and science. Music and art are also the school's strengths, including classical music, jazz, and rock. Weekend activities are diverse, and boarding student management is very well-regulated, making it a very high-quality boarding middle school.

The school has a very large campus, and it is adjacent to the famous Hotchkiss High School. The school is capable of offering a wide variety of sports programs, with activities like swimming utilizing Hotchkiss's facilities.

IMS is a boarding middle school with a very warm, family-like atmosphere. The campus is located in Cuihu Town, a beautiful and safe community.

These are reports from local Connecticut newspapers and Fox News about school teachers molesting students, along with student comments.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-new-indian-mountain-school-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-04-10-story.html%3FoutputType%3Damp
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-indian-mountain-school-sexual-abuse-20181025-story.html%3FoutputType%3Damp
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnews.com/us/connecticut-boarding-school-settles-sex-abuse-lawsuits.amp
https://casetext.com/case/brownville-v-indian-mountain-sch

We received an offer from Indian Mountain School in August. The journey to visit the school was extremely arduous; we took the subway, then a train, then a taxi, and it took half a day to get there from New York City. Upon arrival, we discovered that the school was truly in the middle of nowhere, with only a few bungalows and no proper school buildings – what the school administration called a “farm school.” Furthermore, because it was in the mountains, there was no phone signal. When we visited, it was still summer vacation, so the school was very empty. The person in charge showed us around the auditorium, classrooms, and student dormitories. My overall impression was that it was very isolated, with nothing but wilderness around. Students had no extracurricular activities and spent a lot of time playing on computers in their dorms. There were fewer than ten teachers in total, and each had to teach, act as a dorm supervisor, and manage school affairs, even teaching multiple subjects. They were far from professional teachers. We immediately felt that this school was not suitable for us. We thought that was the end of it, but after returning, I looked up reviews of the school on Google and was shocked to find that the school had a history of many students being bullied and male teachers molesting male students (we noticed all teachers were male when we visited). There are still several open cases in federal court that have not been concluded. I was absolutely appalled at the time. When we called the school asking for an explanation, the person in charge became vague, impatient, and finally just said, “We have many Chinese international students applying every year, we don’t need you. Come if you want, or don’t!”