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East Burke School

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East Burke, VT
East Burke School

A resilience school for grades 8-12 emphasizing critical literacy, creative thinking, & collaborative action. Free through School Choice.

WE ARE A RESILIENCE SCHOOL. We prepare our students to confront 21st-century challenges through critical literacy, creative thinking, and collaborative action. We recognize that our youth will inherit a society in political, economic, and ecological crisis, and that facing these challenges will require bold and innovative action. Emphasizing the democratic values of freedom and unity, we cultivate

among our students a sense of possibility and a spirit of determination to make the world a better place. Together with families and local partners, we a re raising the next generation of Vermonters to steward out land and communities for the sake of generations to come.

08/27/2026

🎉 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐂𝐚𝐦! 🎉

Sending a student off into the world after high school is always an exciting moment to celebrate, but there’s a special joy that comes with the feeling that a student has finally, after much searching, found the path that’s right for him.

We are thrilled to congratulate EBS alumnus, volunteer, and substitute teacher Cameron Duda for his matriculation at St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD. This fall, Cameron embarks on an intellectual journey unlike any other, taking on one of the most distinctive undergraduate programs in the country: a triple major in Philosophy, Literature, and the Natural Sciences. In the course of his four years, he will read more than 200 of the most world-changing texts ever written and discuss them in small classes with peers who, like himself, thrive on rigorous inquiry into life’s enduring questions.

As the alma mater of two EBS faculty, St. John’s and its Great Books curriculum serve as a core inspiration for our high school program. We are so excited that Cameron will get to continue feeding his love of learning at St. John’s, and we cannot wait to hear about the life-changing conversations that he has there this fall.

Never heard of St. John's or Great Books before? Check out the links in the comments to learn more about what EBS has in common with what has been called "the most forward-thinking, future-proof college in America."

07/20/2026

Looking out on the school's grounds, it's tough to feel anything but gratitude for the amazing community that has sustained East Burke School for almost 25 years. 🍀

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫: Firefly Farm, and Whirligig Restaurant, Brewery & Bar.

Thanks to Firefly, our raised beds are chock-full of fresh veggies for our students and staff to share every summer. And thanks to Whirligig, our boiled cider makes it all the way to St. J. for Vermonters and visitors to rediscover this most delicious of frontier foods. Our annual cider sales fund experiential learning at EBS, getting our students off campus to encounter the world as their classroom.

Thank you to our friends at Firefly and Whirligig, and to many others, for making this school what it is today!

(𝐁𝐓𝐖, 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤, 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬' 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤!)

07/18/2026

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐲𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 & 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥! Spin the game wheel to learn about our microschool’s signature blend of Socratic inquiry and experiential learning, and answer school trivia to score prizes.

07/17/2026

𝐀𝐧 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬.

"The next great division of the world will be between people who wish to live as creatures and people who wish to live as machines."

Farmer and essayist Wendell Berry wrote these words almost three decades ago. With the proliferation of "Smart" technology and the rapid deployment of AI, they have come to ring alarmingly prophetic: humans are increasingly giving in to the temptation of what researchers now call "cognitive surrender" to machines.

We as humans are at a crossroads. What is the role of education at this moment?

When the COVID-19 pandemic foreshadowed this crossroads, the teachers of East Burke School rewrote our mission to respond. Recognizing that our youth will inherit a world in political, economic, and ecological crisis, EBS now prepares students to tackle the challenges of our times by teaching the value of human thought, civil dialogue, and collaboration across difference. 𝐖𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧-𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧-𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬.

With the rigor of a Great Books curriculum and the grit of nature-based traditional skills, we cultivate in our students a sense of possibility and a spirit of determination to make the world a better place.

𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥! Call or visit us to learn more about East Burke School's distinctive combination of Socratic inquiry and experiential learning.

07/12/2026

Annual July 10 weather event, 2026 edition. We're grateful to be safe from serious damage, and from flooding, but there is a bit of work we'll be needing to do. Let these images remind all of you who feel a weight bearing down on you: you are strong enough to bear it. You are resilient. You can lift up the world.

Thanks, as every year, to the emergency teams and the crews responsible for clearing trees, managing traffic, and working on power lines. Mr. Rogers taught us long ago that when things go wrong in the world, look for the helpers.

06/26/2026

It’s somehow been two weeks already since we wrapped up classes, but staff are just recovering now. What a year, and what an end to it!

We had a blast in the last week of school, taking on final challenges drawn from across our curriculum. Students worked together to:

-draw and discuss Plato’s allegory of the cave
-build and launch catapults from salvaged materials
-put on an impromptu performance of Sartre’s 𝘕𝘰 𝘌𝘹𝘪𝘵
-transliterate code written in the Cyrillic alphabet
-compete in a bake-off
-climb the Shield, Cow’s Mouth, Rocket, and Maiming of the Shrew at Echo Crag
-make leather from goat hides
-and more!

Thanks to everyone who joined us on our last full day to celebrate a fantastic spring semester. We wish you all a safe and happy summer!

05/22/2026

A heartfelt shout-out to EBS board member Dan Cunitz for making the journey up to us from Philadelphia this week! A career educator in small independent schools, Dan ventured north to spend two days on campus, see our microschool in action, and provide invaluable instructional coaching for our faculty.

Between seminars on Aristotle and Plato, construction and testing of catapults, readings from a novel on Soviet show trials, analysis of statistical manipulation in political propaganda, and goat hide dehairing for leather making, Dan experienced the hallmark blend of classical and experiential education that makes East Burke School so unique.

Thanks for joining in on the fun, Dan, and for helping our teachers continue to reflect and grow. We hope to welcome you back soon!

05/01/2026

🔬 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐄𝐁𝐒? 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 #𝟗: 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩-𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 🌱

EBS’s science curriculum emphasizes putting scientific principles to work for the betterment of society. Driven by their own questions, resourcefulness, and a spirit of service, our students test their knowledge through hands-on projects that give back to the land and to the community. 𝑨𝒕 𝑬𝑩𝑺, 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈; 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝.

This week, EBS joined a team of volunteers led by the Caledonia County Natural Resource Conservation District to assist a Hardwick resident with streambank stabilization. Planting hundreds of native trees in an area hard-hit by flooding, students gained firsthand experience both in techniques for flood mitigation, and in the participatory approach to conservation that has helped Vermonters reforest this land over the course of the last century.

04/18/2026

💪 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐄𝐁𝐒? 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 # 𝟏𝟎: 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞. ❤

At Vermont’s Brave Little School, cultivating courage is at the heart of our mission. To be ready to tackle the world’s challenges, we recognize that we need to get uncomfortable, to face the fears that keep us debilitated and complacent. Whether we’re confronting a challenging book, navigating a heated conversation, or pushing through a fear of public speaking, our students learn to support one another in the process of meeting and overcoming what intimidates them.

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠. Year after year, about half of the kids who start at EBS have a terrible anxiety related to heights. This common ground is a great advantage for what it teaches them: with a little persistence, encouragement, and patience, even the most visceral fear doesn’t stand a chance.

Address

611 VT Route 114
East Burke, VT
05832

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 4pm
Tuesday	8am - 4pm
Wednesday	8am - 4pm
Thursday	8am - 4pm

Website

http://www.eastburkeschool.org/

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