Student Life

CRMS students have the opportunity to participate in a wealth of activities outside the classroom. Community has been one of the core values of the school, since our founders John and Anne Holden set out to build a school where students and adults would learn, live, and work together. As Head of School Jeff Leahy says, “We emphasize tight-knit relationships among faculty, staff, and students and compel our young adults to go beyond mere academic achievement to become productive, engaged members of society."

Advisor Program
Every student at CRMS has an advisor. An advisor is a faculty member who serves as the student's advocate for the time the student is at CRMS. Because the advisors' main purpose is to guide their advisees (and parents) through life at CRMS, long-lasting relationships are often developed.

The Advisor Program aims to develop the character of each student at CRMS. This is achieved through the meaningful relationships that develop and through the thought-provoking meetings that routinely challenge advisees to define themselves and what they stand for. Advisees formally meet with their advisors multiple times a week: in Advisee Meeting, during Household Job time where school chores are performed in advisee groups, in All-School Meeting, and during Wednesday night Formal Dinner and Meeting. New students may even go out on Wilderness with their advisor as their Wilderness Leader. Starting a trip with the adult who will be the student’s main on-campus supporter is a meaningful way to develop a rapport with an advisor. Informally, advisees and their advisors see each other throughout the week. It is not uncommon that advisees interact with their advisors in the classroom, in the dormitories, or at a game/performance where their advisor has come to cheer them on. The Advisor Program is truly one of the hallmark programs at CRMS.

All-School Meetings
Students are required to attend all-school meetings each week. Topics typically include an all-school sing, announcements of current curricular and administrative interest, and cultural presentations and student-led discourses on a myriad of subjects. These meetings serve not only to catch students up on essential school information but also to lend exposure and enthusiasm to activities and initiatives in all corners of the CRMS community.

Formal Dinner and Meeting
Formal Dinner, a tradition from the school’s inception, is an opportunity for all to come together as a community in a formal setting. Students and faculty dress up and the tables are set with linens, formal dishes, and have candlesticks as centerpieces. Students, who act as waiters, serve food (which, when seasonally available, comes from the school’s garden) to individual tables and help clear when dinner is over. The majority of the time, advisors sit with their advisee groups, giving them the chance to practice  manners and to speak about current events, home life, or simply to catch up with one another about their day. At the end of the meal, it is the tradition that when the Head of School blows out his/her candle, students may be excused in order to attend the Meeting in the Barn.

The Meeting is another chance for the community to break from the usual evening routine in order to sit together and listen to outside speakers talk about topics relevant to our school, our nation, and our world. Most of our guests come from the Tomorrow’s Voices speaker series, which is an organization directed by one of our faculty members dedicated to cultivating responsible citizenship and ethical leadership in the youth of the Roaring Fork Valley. Sometimes the Meeting is used to host debates and competitions such as the yearly Shakespeare Competition. Other times, the Meeting is used to celebrate what was accomplished during Fall Trip, Spring Trip, and Interim Week.

Clubs
Even with our students' robust academic and active schedules, we encourage them to participate in clubs of their choice. These clubs are student organized and run, affording more freedom in the activities offered and in opportunities for leadership. Students may get as involved in the clubs as they'd like and, of course, extra-curricular activities look good on college applications.

CRMS is currently the home of five mainstream clubs, including Diversity Crew, Operation Smile, Korean Club, Peace Jam and Face Aids:

• Diversity Crew focuses on educating and involving the CRMS community along with the outside community of Carbondale on diverse issues ranging from sexual preference and race to politics and musical styles.
• The Korean Club was started by some of our Korean students and now has over 15 members who are interested to learn more about the Korean culture. The leaders of the club have run a Korean food night as well as taught their peers about different Korean traditions.
• Peace Jam and Operation Smile are currently working together in order to sponsor children all around the world for cleft-palate operations. The Operation Smile club started in January of 2009, and the CRMS community has already made it possible for three children to receive the cleft-palate surgery through different fund-raising events.
• FACE AIDS is a non profit organization who mission is to, “build a broad-based movement of students seeking to increase global health equality, and educate students about HIV AIDS. FACE AIDS donates 100% of student fundraising proceeds, with matching grants from private donors, to PIH in Rwanda. CRMS began a Chapter Fall of 2009.