Headwaters Academy
&
Montana Wilderness School

From classroom to backcountry, Headwaters Academy and Montana Wilderness School are aligned by a belief in learning that is rigorous, relational, and rooted in real experience.

Strengthening Experiential Education Together

Why this Partnership Exists

Headwaters Academy and Montana Wilderness School have long shared a belief that meaningful learning happens when young people are challenged, supported, and trusted to grow.

While our programs differ in form, one rooted in academic inquiry, the other in expeditionary field experience, our values are deeply aligned: intellectual curiosity, leadership, responsibility, and connection to the world beyond oneself.

This partnership is about strengthening that shared mission, not changing it.

TWO SEPARATE IDENTITIES,
CLEARLY HELD

Montana Wilderness
School

Montana Wilderness School continues to offer high-challenge, mentorship-based expeditions rooted in technical wilderness skills and personal leadership.

MWS remains deeply committed to its field culture: small groups, experienced instructors, real terrain, and the belief that leadership is learned through responsibility, resilience, and presence in wild places.

Headwaters
Academy

Headwaters Academy is an intellectual community where curious and motivated learners connect rigorous academic inquiry with joyful adventure, strong relationships, and experiential learning inside and outside the classroom.

Headwaters brings long term academic leadership, systems, and sustainability that support programs built to last.

A CONTINUUM OF LEARNING

Together, Headwaters Academy and Montana Wilderness School represent two strands of the same educational philosophy.

One emphasizes deep academic inquiry, intellectual curiosity, and relationship-based learning. The other emphasizes expeditionary challenge, leadership, and connection to the natural world. Woven together, they form a more complete continuum, supporting young people as thinkers, adventurers, and leaders.