College Summer HIgh School Programs - Vermont Summer Academy at Green Mountain College

The VSA Community – College Summer High School Programs

The community that the students and staff create is at the heart of the positive experience at VSA. Our skilled and enthusiastic staff is committed to teaching exciting and relevant courses, leading fantastic activities, and maximizing the unique experience of a residential youth program environment. In addition to being teachers and activity leaders, our staff members excel as role models and mentors.

The staff at our college summer high school programs are typically comprised of our program director, academic director, residence life director, teachers, and resident advisors. The directors oversee all aspects of the program, making sure the students are engaged, growing academically and socially, staying safe and having fun. The staff lives in the residence halls with the students to ensure 24-hour availability and supervision.

We incorporate the college’s energy and expertise into the summer programs while giving students an opportunity to live and study in a real college environment. Join us for the summer of a lifetime and a college experience you will never forget.

A Message From Luke Krueger, Program Director, Vermont Summer Academy:

Vermont has held a special place in my heart ever since I worked for Northern Stage in White River Junction, Vermont back in 2007. It is no understatement then when I say that I am thrilled to return to the Vermont Summer Academy at Green Mountain College after leading it through its inaugural year last year.

Green Mountain College is a place unlike any other for a camp experience. The vast expanse of wilderness in the surrounding areas allows for many outdoor adventures, camp fires, swimming in the river…all set on a picturesque campus that looks like the prototypical New England college a person would see in a movie. Our college summer high school programs are awesome!

As a camp staff, we make the VSA experience representative of all the great opportunities Green Mountain College has to offer. For example, we have the college’s nationally ranked Quidditch team organize some games for us and introduce us to the newest athletics craze sweeping college campuses across the country; sustainability and learning to be good stewards of our resources are central to our camp both in and out of the classroom; we provide opportunities to interact with college faculty during the week; we host a get together with admissions counselors and current students along with camp staff, to speak generally about the upcoming adventure in campers’ lives that is the college application process; and we get out and explore some of the vibrant history in Poultney and throughout Vermont.

As a director, I have nearly a decade of experience of running camps in New Jersey, Florida, Virginia, and New York City. The two hallmarks that I feel make for a great camp experience are safety and building a community. Both compliment one another: A safe environment creates a community in which students are unafraid to grow, learn and challenge themselves. As someone who grew up spending nearly all my summers at camp, I appreciate the deep impact this time at camp can have on a student. The staff and I strive to make our campers’ time memorable – where they form indelible friendships with their peers and lifelong mentorships with their teachers and staff.

I have served on the faculty at Arizona State University, Penn State University, Lake Forest College, and Loyola University-Chicago. Currently, I serve on the faculty for the School of Theatre and Dance at Northern Illinois University (NIU), where I am also a Scholar Member of the Graduate Faculty and a faculty member of the Honors Program. I am a playwright by trade, although I have acted and directed extensively as well. My plays have been seen across the country from Alaska to New York City and published by Next Stage Press, Original Works Publishing, and Playscripts, Inc. I hold an MFA in playwriting from Arizona State University and a BA in English from Miami University (Ohio).

It is an exciting time at the Vermont Summer Academy. We enter our fifth year looking to build on a memorable ast I am so very proud to be a part of this great program and college. I can think of no better place to spend a summer than in the pastoral, verdant landscape of the Green Mountains, at the charming college alongside the Poultney River: Green Mountain College.