Program Director

Garrett Price

NOLS-trained, WFR-certified educator and coach.

Garrett built Dogwood Mountain School around a simple belief: kids grow when they are trusted with real challenges, in real places, with someone who knows how to keep them safe.

Meet Sophie, instructor

A note from the program director

Letter from Garrett

Since I was young, Appalachia has been my home. As a lifelong rock climber, hiker, and outdoorsman, I grew up enjoying the freedom of a childhood in and around the beautiful Southern ecosystem, learning how to both enjoy nature and protect it. In these pursuits of rock climbing, hiking, and stewardship, I have found a sense of beauty and meaning that is worth sharing. Dogwood Mountain School was founded on these principles—simply put, to live life more abundantly. My heart is with the community that nurtured me; I desire to help kids get outside, have an educational experience, and fall in love with their home.

Through this program, my goal is for you to learn how to experience nature, how to embrace the powerful things in life, how to care for the earth, how to gain new skills, and how to be fully present. I firmly believe that the outdoors can help us find strong purpose and strong values in the midst of our chaotic, changing world. As we launch into this exciting adventure, I welcome you to join us as we learn the value of our backyard and explore the mountains together.

The Short Version

Garrett is an educator who never wanted to teach from behind a desk. He has coached tennis and climbing, led wilderness expeditions, and mentored students in schools from Nevada to Georgia to Washington.

He is putting down roots in Dayton and greater Chattanooga because this is where sandstone cliffs, river gorges, and trail networks meet real adventure — and where families from many backgrounds should have a trusted outdoor recreation program.

Dogwood Mountain School welcomes families across a wide range of beliefs. The program emphasizes honesty, service, respect, responsibility, gratitude, courage, and care for others without requiring a particular faith tradition.

Why Parents Trust Him

Wilderness First Responder

Garrett is a certified Wilderness First Responder (WFR), trained to manage medical emergencies far from the trailhead. Out in the backcountry, safety is never an afterthought — it is the foundation everything else is built on.

NOLS-Trained

Garrett completed coursework with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), the gold standard in wilderness education and expedition leadership.

Expedition Leadership

As a climbing academy coach, Garrett led multi-day wilderness expeditions in alpine terrain — managing route-finding, risk assessment, group dynamics, and client care in remote environments.

USA Climbing Level 2 Coach

Sixteen years of high-level rock climbing and a former USA Climbing Level 2 Coach. Climbing is the principal activity of the program, taught by someone who has lived it.

Former EMT

Before wilderness medicine, Garrett served as an Emergency Medical Technician — another layer of judgment when something goes wrong far from a trailhead.

Educator and Coach

Tennis coach, climbing coach at Mesa Rim (ages 7 and up), Dean of Students at Veritas Collegiate Academy (grades 7–12), and Program Director at World Class Academy — about five years teaching, coaching, and building trust with young people.

The Road Here

Program Director

2025 – 2026

World Class Academy · White Salmon, WA

Ran day-to-day operations of a school for adventure athletes while teaching Economics and Algebra II and overseeing staff.

Dean of Students

2024 – 2025

Veritas Collegiate Academy · Arlington, VA

Led student life for grades 7–12 — engagement, character development, counseling, and advising. The heart of the job was relationships with kids.

Climbing Coach

2023 – 2024

Mesa Rim Climbing & Fitness · Reno, NV

Coached climbers ages 7–65 in private lessons and on recreational and competition teams. This is where teaching and the outdoors came together.

Programs & Operations Manager

2020 – 2022

Georgia Tech — Center for Deliberate Innovation · Atlanta, GA

Led operations and founded a summer study-abroad and internship program, managing complex budgets, partnerships, and projects across education and non-profit settings.

A thoughtful foundation

Garrett holds a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Emory University and an M.A. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem — a background that taught him to listen closely, understand people, and meet every kid where they are.

Instructor

Sophie

Sophie grew up in Los Angeles, California, where she discovered climbing at the age of nine. She spent practically every day after school at the climbing gym and joined a competitive team at age thirteen.

She attended Yale University and majored in Humanities, focusing on interdisciplinary learning and English literature. While at Yale, Sophie served as the co-head coach of a local competitive youth team in New Haven, Connecticut.

For the past two years, Sophie has traveled around the world as a climbing coach and Literature teacher for The Climbing Academy. When not reading or climbing, Sophie can be found hiking, camping, doing jigsaw puzzles, watching Harry Potter, eating pasta, or traveling with friends.

Ready to meet the team in person?

Come to the free family day on Saturday, November 14, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM, at Dogwood Climbing, 306 Dogwood Trail, Dayton, TN. No climbing experience necessary. Group sizes for the spring program are capped at 14 kids, with two staff on every outing.