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Learn More About The Promontory Difference

Promontory School of Expeditionary Learning is a tuition-free K–8 public charter school where students learn through challenging, meaningful work that connects the classroom to the real world.

Our approach combines rigorous academics with Learning Expeditions, fieldwork, Crew, service learning, and opportunities for students to create high-quality work with purpose.

 

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Two young girls study papers outdoors, leaning on a tree stump.
Two young girls study papers outdoors, leaning on a tree stump.

About Us

Students at Promontory School of Expeditionary Learning trade passive learning for purposeful, hands-on experiences. Learning Expeditions challenge students to ask questions, conduct original research, engage in fieldwork, learn from experts, and create high-quality work for audiences beyond the classroom.

Students work individually, in small groups, and as members of Crew. They draw on one another's strengths, reflect on their growth, give and receive kind, helpful, and specific feedback, and contribute through community connections and service.

Teachers work collaboratively to strengthen their practice and create meaningful learning experiences. Families are an important part of the Promontory community and are encouraged to participate in their child's educational experience.

Two teachers and a group of kindergarteners pose in front of a colorful, hand-painted mural.
Two teachers and a group of kindergarteners pose in front of a colorful, hand-painted mural.

Our Mission

The mission of Promontory School of Expeditionary Learning is to provide a rich educational environment that views learning as an expedition and uses the study of Great Thinkers to cultivate the value of excellence and the love of knowledge.


Using investigation and discovery to make connections to ideas and our community, we empower children to embrace challenge, act with humanity, and become the Great Thinkers of the 21st century.

A group of people in blue shirts stand in front of a cascading waterfall.
A group of people in blue shirts stand in front of a cascading waterfall.

Our Vision

Promontory provides a rich and active, yet fundamental, educational program to children in grades K-8. We believe that all children can and want to learn, and we prepare our students to become knowing inquirers and participants in their own learning. In meeting our mission, we set high expectations for student achievement and provide the necessary support to enable each and every student to achieve these expectations.

Promontory School of Expeditionary Learning emphasizes active learning, literacy, character growth, and teamwork through:
Learning Expeditions (in-depth investigations of important subjects that mirror real-life challenges), and Studying Great Thinkers (significant experts, both living and historical).

RISE FAR represents the values that shape our school culture and guide how we learn, work, and grow together at Promontory. These values are woven into daily interactions, classroom learning, and Learning Expeditions, helping students build character alongside academic growth. Each value is important, and together they reflect the kind of community we strive to create.

 

RISE FAR stands for the following:

 

Respect
Respect is an awareness of another person's feelings, possessions, time, space, and rights, and an ability to adjust our own responses accordingly - in a way which protects and esteems both ourselves and others.

Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners. -- Laurence Sterne


Integrity
Integrity means being true to what we know is right and good. Integrity is at the core of all our values. Without integrity, the other values can never be fully realized.

Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity. --W. Clement Stone


Service
Service means seeing beyond ourselves as we immerse ourselves in giving something of value to someone else and is vital to the development of good leaders and citizens.

I know of no great men except those who have rendered great service to the human race. -- Voltaire


Excellence
We believe students and teachers who are challenged, will naturally rise to the high standards expected of them, and will then set their own high expectations.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. -- Aristotle

 

Family
We believe that the greatest influences in shaping a child's future are the experiences and teachings that happen in the home. As a school, we strive to help the family succeed.

As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live. -- Pope John Paul II


Adventure
Learning through adventure creates an environment where students are required to rise to the challenge, achieving more than they thought possible. Adventure encourages teamwork, courage, craftsmanship, imagination, creativity, perseverance, compassion and respect for nature. We provide adventure through challenging, exciting, character-building experiences as a part of our everday learning environment.

We should come from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character. -- Henry David Thoreau


Responsibility
Responsibility means doing what needs to be done to take care of ourselves, our families, our friends, and the greater community. Being responsible means that others can rely on us, that we follow through on our promises, and accept the consequences of our actions.

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility. -- Eleanor Roosevelt

  • RISE FAR represents the values that shape our school culture and guide how we learn, work, and grow together at Promontory. These values are woven into daily interactions, classroom learning, and Learning Expeditions, helping students build character alongside academic growth. Each value is important, and together they reflect the kind of community we strive to create.

     

    RISE FAR stands for the following:

     

    Respect
    Respect is an awareness of another person's feelings, possessions, time, space, and rights, and an ability to adjust our own responses accordingly - in a way which protects and esteems both ourselves and others.

    Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners. -- Laurence Sterne


    Integrity
    Integrity means being true to what we know is right and good. Integrity is at the core of all our values. Without integrity, the other values can never be fully realized.

    Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity. --W. Clement Stone


    Service
    Service means seeing beyond ourselves as we immerse ourselves in giving something of value to someone else and is vital to the development of good leaders and citizens.

    I know of no great men except those who have rendered great service to the human race. -- Voltaire


    Excellence
    We believe students and teachers who are challenged, will naturally rise to the high standards expected of them, and will then set their own high expectations.

    We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. -- Aristotle

     

    Family
    We believe that the greatest influences in shaping a child's future are the experiences and teachings that happen in the home. As a school, we strive to help the family succeed.

    As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live. -- Pope John Paul II


    Adventure
    Learning through adventure creates an environment where students are required to rise to the challenge, achieving more than they thought possible. Adventure encourages teamwork, courage, craftsmanship, imagination, creativity, perseverance, compassion and respect for nature. We provide adventure through challenging, exciting, character-building experiences as a part of our everday learning environment.

    We should come from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character. -- Henry David Thoreau


    Responsibility
    Responsibility means doing what needs to be done to take care of ourselves, our families, our friends, and the greater community. Being responsible means that others can rely on us, that we follow through on our promises, and accept the consequences of our actions.

    In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility. -- Eleanor Roosevelt

  • A group of children sit on grass, listening to adults in uniform by an open helicopter.
  • Four children sit at a rustic wooden table outdoors, drawing and writing.
  • Three boys are drawing with crayons on wooden frames outdoors on a grassy lawn.
  • A group of children and adults stand in a line outdoors, with one girl in the foreground raising her arm in excitement.
  • Three children in orange life vests paddle an orange canoe on a calm lake.
  • Two young girls in blue shirts smile while holding cups of blue ice cream outdoors.