Squaw Valley Academy

SQUAW VALLEY ACADEMY is a college-preparatory international boarding school at Lake Tahoe, California for 100+ co-ed students in grades 6-12. Students have full English immersion and attend regular academic classes with American students. Students live in en-suite dormitory rooms or in off-campus SVA houses with SVA staff and other SVA students. Many SVA students are US citizens, and other students have come from Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Norway, Scotland, Russia, Spain, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Egypt, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.

Students receive individual attention, with classes of 8-15 students, and attend evening study hall under guidance of teachers.

100% of SVA graduates are accepted to US universities and four-year colleges. SVA is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and our main courses are approved by University of California, Berkeley.

International students attend classes in Mathematics, Sciences, Social Studies, English, ESL, and electives such as Studio Art, Music, Photography, and Journalism.

All students participate in outdoor sports, including skiing, snowboarding, soccer, hiking, rock climbing, and mountain biking. Students ski or snowboard daily at Squaw Valley USA, home of the 1960 Winter Olympics, with thirty ski lifts two kilometers from school. Lake Tahoe is 8km from the campus. Soccer students also enjoy an international-sized field behind campus and our two years of League Champions.

Upon acceptance, international students should speak high-beginner English. An application includes a one-page hand-written essay in English, a recommendation letter from a teacher or counselor, a transcript of grades in the native language and translated into English, and a copy of a bank statement showing the family with adequate funds for tuition. We do not require a TOEFL or SLEP test, although they are recommended. The SVA International Student Application can be downloaded to your computer, completed, and submitted by email to info@sva.org.

Students attend SVA summer school for three or six weeks, improve English skills, and have fun in outdoor sports. SVA is a safe, clean campus nestled in the trees and mountains of the Sierra Nevada at elevation 1,900 meters. The SVA campus has a range of seasonal climate with 300 days of sunshine each year. SVA is 300km from San Francisco, and students fly into the Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) located in Reno, Nevada, 60km from SVA. Student airport pick up can be arranged.

For more information, please see the 2009-2010 SVA International Student Brochure.