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The Mountain School, founded in 1983, grew out of two very different school cultures: the four-year Mountain School in rural Vermont, run by Mac and Doris Conard; and Milton Academy, a large suburban school under the leadership of Jerry Pieh in the early 1980s. David and Nancy Grant, young teachers with a vision, visited the Conards' school in Vermont during the fall of 1982. After twenty years in education, the Conards had run into some financial trouble and expressed interest in selling their school. This excerpt from their proposal to Milton's Board of Trustees of January 28, 1983, shows what the Grants found:We stood on the hill in the center of the 300-acre campus and saw the evidence of a remarkable educational opportunity. The huge school garden stretched before us and sloped down to the field where a few sheep and cows grazed beside the barn. At one end of the field, we could look down on the buildings of the school ... Beyond the campus stretched Vermont and New Hampshire, the peaks of the White Mountains visible in the east. We were struck both by the fact that Mountain School students lived and worked close to the natural world and by our own sense that to appreciate this world and one's part in it is educational in some fundamental way. The focus of the Mountain School in 2002 is remarkably similar to that of its founders in 1983. Most of our buildings are the same. The school stills invests its resources in people and farm--not in impressive facilities. The school makes a concerted effort to connect with the community of Vershire and surrounding towns. Each semester we host several panel discussions featuring local farmers, one major town celebration, and projects shared between Mountain School students and elementary school students.