From trail to summit, we shape strength, spark thought, and foster responsibility.
An EFA approved 5th-12th private school in Northwest Arkansas
Let that Resilience Shine.
Arête Mountain Academy opened August 2025 with 20 students for our founding year. Reach out at the bottom of this page if you’re interested in learning more.
Mountain Athletics?Art Studio?
Students choose two focus tracks each semester: Mountain Biking, Climbing, Creative Studio.
For students who choose the Mountain Athletics tracks, we offer time each week on the trail and rock, building skill and confidence through expert instruction. Adventure sports contain core academic learning: engineering through bike mechanics and trail design; exploring physics through rope systems and body movement on rock.
For students who choose the Studio track, we offer time each week to create with their hands and explore through craft, storytelling, design, and seasonal projects - building patience, creativity, observation, and the quiet confidence that comes from making something real.
Experiential Education
Experiential education is a structured approach to learning by doing. Students engage in hands-on activities, reflect on their experiences, draw meaning from them, and apply those lessons to new challenges. This four-step model - action, reflection, conceptualization, and application - builds deeper understanding and real-world readiness.
Ask us for examples! We love to chat curriculum.
Stewardship of Self, Earth, and Community
We believe excellence includes responsibility; for the places we learn, the people we learn with, and the impact we leave behind.
Environmental stewardship means more than just spending time outside, it means caring for it. Our students practice Leave No Trace ethics, minimizing waste, and learning how their choices impact ecosystems. Trail work, water conservation, and plastic reduction become part of daily life.
Community stewardship is just as important. Volunteering at food banks, exploring how local cooperatives work, and studying civic systems to understand how real change happens. They’ll learn what it means to support something larger than themselves… whether it’s a trail system or a local food network.
We’re not just building athletes and scholars, we’re raising contributors.
Happiness: A Key to Unlocking Our Potential
We all want happy children; but did you know that it is a central part of the learning process? Happy students actually learn better. Positive emotions like joy, curiosity, and confidence aren’t just nice to have - they’re biologically essential to memory, motivation, and intellectual growth.
When students feel safe, supported, and engaged, their brains release dopamine and serotonin - chemicals that enhance focus, strengthen neural connections, and increase long-term retention.
In contrast, stress and disengagement suppress learning centers in the brain. That’s why our model pairs physical activity, meaningful challenge, and emotional connection to create a learning environment where students don’t just perform… they thrive.
“Wisdom begins in wonder.”
— Socrates
Contact
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Email
wren@aretemountainacademy.org
Phone
870.317.3604