$40,000 to work and get unplugged for a semester
Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2026 7:49 am
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Vermont school combines academics with farm chores
At the Mountain School in Vershire, Vermont, families pay $40,000 for high school juniors to spend a semester doing farmwork and household chores while living with limited technology. Students wash dishes, clean classrooms, prepare vegetables, harvest crops, herd sheep, care for animals, and chop wood. Faculty members also take part. The school says these tasks teach responsibility, prepare students for adulthood, and help them appreciate the unseen work that supports every community. Students typically perform eight hours of farm work each week and spend one full day planting or harvesting. They also surrender their phones for the semester. The dormitories have no internet, laptop use is mostly limited to schoolwork, and Wi-Fi is turned off nightly in the main buildings. Director Alex Myers said the technology limits encourage students to consider, “Who am I when I don’t have a screen?” By semester’s end, some students say they do not want their phones back.
Vermont school combines academics with farm chores
At the Mountain School in Vershire, Vermont, families pay $40,000 for high school juniors to spend a semester doing farmwork and household chores while living with limited technology. Students wash dishes, clean classrooms, prepare vegetables, harvest crops, herd sheep, care for animals, and chop wood. Faculty members also take part. The school says these tasks teach responsibility, prepare students for adulthood, and help them appreciate the unseen work that supports every community. Students typically perform eight hours of farm work each week and spend one full day planting or harvesting. They also surrender their phones for the semester. The dormitories have no internet, laptop use is mostly limited to schoolwork, and Wi-Fi is turned off nightly in the main buildings. Director Alex Myers said the technology limits encourage students to consider, “Who am I when I don’t have a screen?” By semester’s end, some students say they do not want their phones back.