One of the main concerns of teachers, parents, and school founders alike was the fact that the school could only function six months out of the year, and in those six months of break, the students would forget almost everything they had learned before…but what could be done? In those six winter months, the snow, cold, and closing of the only means of communication put a definitive stop to all activity in Rangdum.
It was Tsering Tashi who proposed an idea that was crazy, original, and innovative: take the students out of Rangdum for the winter to Leh, where they could organize a school with room and board for the winter. It was total lunacy–and a sensational idea! However, there was much to do. Funds had to be raised, parents had to be convinced, additional teachers had to be hired.With a great deal of effort and even more satisfaction, the winter of 2008 saw our first Rangdum students arriving in Leh, where they would stay until April. The winter school had begun!

After four years, the winter school has become a primary focus, and the enormous effort required to move the children from Rangdum to Leh is almost habit. The teachers say that it is the most important and formative experience of the children’s lives.
The children have an opportunity to open their minds, see new things and different people, become more curious and social. For six months they study, eat, sleep, and live together with their teachers, and their progress is extraordinary.
The parents too see their development, and for the sake of their children’s growth and education have become more reconciled to their long separation from their “babies.”