Outdoor Education

The Outdoor Education Program is an important and experiential component of our school curriculum. The fourth grade trip focuses on social-emotional skills, community building, empathy, resilience, and conflict resolution. Upper School trips focus on developing an in-depth understanding of California history, environmental issues, cycles of flora and fauna in specific biomes, geology, astronomy, survival and orienteering skills, and group dynamics and communication. The trips present the students with physical and mental challenges as well as leadership opportunities. Each trip is designed to build upon the skills and experiences of earlier trips, as well as their coursework and science labs, and draws upon the vast expertise of faculty as well as professional facilitators and naturalists who run the trips. Outdoor Ed trips are often recalled as highlights of the students' experiences at Town, as they provide indelible memories and opportunities to bond as a class.

The schedule of trips is as follows:

Fourth Grade Mosaic Project Trip – the entire grade attends in small groups over several weeks in the fall

Fifth Grade Marin Headlands Trip – February – Headlands Institute    

Sixth Grade Santa Cruz Mountains (Mt. Cross) Trip – April – Naturalists At Large

Seventh Grade Pinnacles Trip – April – Naturalists At Large

Eighth Grade Yosemite Trip – June – Yosemite Institute