Our philopsophy is simple: teach more than the facts; grade more than knowledge. We deliver on that philosophy. Although students receive the typical letter grades that most of us (and most colleges!) have come to expect, White Mountain's students are expected to develop as a "complete learner." Student skills are developed - and graded - in six areas called "Learning Outcomes." A student's competency in each of the six outcome areas is graded, then the six grades are combined (although each outcome may carry a weight from 10% to 60%, depending upon the class). The process ends in a final letter grade for each course.

The six Learning Outcomes are:

• Knowledge: "Content" mastery is still considered important at White Mountain; it is simply not treated as the proverbial "end all to beat all." Students learn to acquire and integrate information. Importantly, they learn to synthesize and integrate facts within the context of the other learning outcomes.
  
  
• Critical Thinking: Nearly all classes are discussion-based, where students are challenged to use a variety of complex reasoning strategies. For example: concrete, sequential thinkers learn to develop abstract thinking skills, and random thinkers are taught to think more sequentially.
  
  
• Self-Direction: The self-directed learner, according to White Mountain, is the student who pushes personal limits, sets clear goals, and manages his/her own progress towards those goals.
  
  
• Communications: Students learn to organize and express ideas clearly and to communicate effectively to diverse audiences, using a variety of media.
  
  
• Information Processing: Students learn to differentiate and assess the validity of information sources (the internet is not always the definitive answer teens think it to be!) then they learn to interpret and analyze the information effectively.
  
  
• Collaboration: Students learn to monitor and regulate their behavior in a task-oriented group environment, in order to develop as productive contributors towards group goals.