Middle School

8th Grade JOY Projects 2021 Spotlights

JOY Projects: Marley Geist
Topic: Japanese

We Know Middle School Students.

Middle School students are social, inquisitive, capable, enthusiastic, even a little goofy, and we think that is just great.

A Sun Valley Community School Middle School education is founded on the wonder, reflection, and broadening perspective of early adolescence and seeks to fuel students’ understanding of the world and their place in it with relevant projects and meaningful work.

We offer students the opportunity to follow their curiosity, explore, build skills, dig deep, and find challenge through an interdisciplinary, experiential approach to education on our campus and in the outdoors.

Learn About Our Admissions Process

Remote Learning Basecamp

Meet the Middle School Head

Sam Herrick

Sam Herrick

Sam Herrick joined Sun Valley Community School after spending a dozen years working at schools in California. He was Dean of Student Life at the Live Oak School in San Francisco and served on the Board of Trustees for the East Bay School for Boys, helping to usher the school from its inception to a thriving and unique middle school dedicated to boys’ learning.

Prior to his work at Live Oak, Sam was Middle School Admission Director and Dean of Students at Prospect Sierra School, located in El Cerrito, California. During his four years there, Sam increased the enrollment of mission-supportive students, including the expansion of students through the collaboration with a local enrichment program. Sam also chaired the diversity committee, coached volleyball, and started an annual bike-to-school event. Sam spent his first years in California teaching Life Sciences and environmental stewardship at an experiential education program just outside Yosemite National Park.

Sam holds a BA from Syracuse University and a MA from Columbia University.

Sam believes in middle school students. He finds them capable, thoughtful, creative, energetic, and funny. He moved to the Wood River Valley with his wife Elizabeth, son, August, and daughter, Grayson. He loves to hike, bike, and ski with his heels free.