The North Branch School

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Ripton, VT
The North Branch School

The North Branch School is a non-profit, independent school serving middle school age children (grades 7-9) in Ripton, Vermont.

Education at NBS is centered on self-directed and active learning and fosters a strong community based on close student-teacher-parent relationships. With twenty-seven students and a low student/teacher ratio, The North Branch School is able to build a flexible, personalized and engaging environment.

05/20/2026

One month out from our 25th Celebration on June 20th!

There will be a big tent for dancing, with music from Atlantic Crossing, catering by , and big BBQ pit as well!

If you’ve already RSVP’d, we can’t wait to see you! If you haven’t yet you can RSVP at the link in our profile or reach out to the school directly. We can’t wait to bring our far reaching community together - we hope to see you there ❤️🌸

05/13/2026

Join us for our Spring Art Event!
Sharing a sneak peak from just a handful of our amazing artists! This show is currently on display and open to the public at the Jackson Gallery .

We hope you can join us this Sunday, May 17th, at the Town Hall Theater to celebrate these works and participate in our silent auction fundraiser!

Tom Dunne
Flow, 2023
Turned cherry burl

Eileen Gombosi
Radial Balance, 2025
Miru shibori on indigo dyed silk

Tal Birdsey
Untitled, 2024
Oil and pencil on paper

04/29/2026

Join us for the NBS Spring Art Event in the Jackson Gallery at the .

To celebrate our 25th year, all art will be on display starting May 12th, culminating in a Silent Auction Fundraiser from 3:30-5pm on the 17th.

View or bid on your favorite pieces from over a dozen artists, while enjoying light fare, drinks, and mingling with others in the NBS community.

We can’t wait to see you there!

03/25/2026

Join us for a very special celebration of our 25th birthday!

We will have dinner, drinks, live music, dancing, and an exciting unveiling on the property!

June 20
4pm Arrival at the School | 4:30 Ceremony Begins | Dinner and Dancing to Follow

Reconnect with old friends, celebrate the first 25 years of North Branch, and look ahead to the future we’re still building — together ❤️

RSVP at NorthBranchSchool.org (link in bio)

$25 suggested donation
No one will be turned away for lack of funds

02/20/2026

This year’s Penguin Plunge was a record breaker!! Our goal was $25,000 for the 25th year - and we hit $30,000, all raised by our amazing students!!! That amount was doubled by an INCREDIBLY generous match!

We are committed to making sure our school is accessible to any child, regardless of income or resources. We are SO grateful to all who contributed during this cherished annual tradition - thank you for helping us make that possible ❤️

02/18/2026

Thank you to all who joined us for the panel discussion “Fostering Resilience and Hope in our Children Today” with our NBS co-founder Tal Birdsey, Professor Matt Kimble, Wylie Cate LCSW, and Laura Basili, Ph.D., and moderated by Bill McKibben.

A huge THANK YOU to our very own Rose McVay for organizing such a powerful, community-led conversation. And of course to our incredible panelists and moderator. Topics included —

- Parents and adults modeling how they address their own anxiety and manage their own nervous systems in healthy ways

- How we can encourage flexibility, empathy and emotional durability as parents and educators

- How family routines and school & community traditions can foster an important feeling of belonging

- The importance of unstructured time (and screen-free) to be ‘bored’ as an opportunity for the mind to wander

- The beauty of making space for kids to learn to tell their stories, to listen with understanding and curiosity, for children to recognize the value of their own stories and their own power to tell it, and to be part communities that can hear those stories.

This panel offered incredible wisdom, experience and insight. Rose has thoughtfully put together a resource list based on this discussion for those interested in learning more, see link in our bio.

01/28/2026

Join us February 11th!

“Fostering Resilience and Hope in our Children Today” — A Panel Discussion with Bill McKibben,
and Audience Q&A
Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society in Middlebury | Wednesday, February 11, 6-8 pm

As part of our 25th Anniversary celebrations we invite you to a panel discussion led by local professionals who work with adolescents/young adults in both the mental health and education settings, and moderated by .

We hope to create a space to ask questions and have a facilitated discussion on how to best move into conversations around current challenges facing families and adolescents today.

Featured Panelists:
Tal Birdsey, North Branch co-founder
Matt Kimble, Ph.D
Laura Basili, Ph.D
Wylie Cate, LCSW

To learn more about our panelists visit northbranchschool.org

01/21/2026

If you can believe it we are celebrating 25 YEARS of The North Branch School!

We have been planning a series of events to honor and celebrate our journey and the incredible community that has made it possible ❤️

Stay tuned for —

A discussion panel about fostering resilience and hope in our children, moderated by Bill McKibben

Community music event at

Our Annual Spring Art Show at

And a big birthday party held at the school with live music and a feast! We hope to get as many alumni and families as possible to help us celebrate all that we have built!

We will be announcing more details soon - make sure you’re on our mailing list!

A HUGE thank you to for our incredible 25th Anniversary logo!

01/06/2026

We'd love your help spreading the word: Our Annual Prospective Family Meeting this Sunday, Jan 11 (2026!) 3:30-5pm.

The North Branch School is an independent school in Ripton for grades 7-9. This is an opportunity to meet teachers, sit in classrooms, ask questions, and listen to current students and parents talk about their experiences.

Please RSVP to [email protected]
For more information, visit our website: www.northbranchschool.org

02/15/2023

Another alum before and after!! Zander and Penn way back when - both graduates of 2007. Zander now lives in Hawaii and owns his own massage therapy business. Penn lives in San Francisco and works in AI. We’re so proud of our alums!

We also want to give a huge THANK YOU to all our alums who contributed to the Alumni Fund this year - 18 alums participated and we raised $1,680 to go toward a future student’s tuition 💫

We can’t wait to keep the momentum going with some fun initiatives to come! Thank you!!

Address

898 Lincoln Road
Ripton, VT
05766

Website

http://www.northbranchschool.org/

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