Outdoor Education

Fifth grade students walk to neighboring Quiet Waters Park early in the fall, and again in the spring, to spend a day focusing on community-building activities while also making connections to their curricular work.

Sixth grade students camp for three days at NorthBay on Maryland's Eastern Shore where they focus on individual challenges, team-building and Chesapeake Bay studies. They also camp for two days in Harpers Ferry to connect with aspects of their Civil War studies and hike some beautiful trails in the area.

Seventh graders experience the rigors of a two-day backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail, as well as a four-day camping experience at Point Lookout State Park, which involves an introduction to canoeing and an in-depth look at ecosystems of the area in support of their science curriculum.

Eighth graders spend three days in the fall backpacking in the Shenandoah National Park and summiting the locally famous Old Rag Mountain. They also sail to Wye Island in the spring, where they spend six days camping, canoeing around the Island, and exploring its environments. The Outdoor Education Program also joins with the Physical Education Department in the winter to offer eighth graders a series of outdoor challenges and initiatives that promote individual and community growth through group problem-solving.

Optional Trips: Key also offers Middle School students three optional trips during the year, including a day-hike on the Appalachian Trail in Maryland, a mountain biking trip at Patapsco State Park, and an inter-divisional (Middle School and Upper School) High Ropes Course Day at Camp Letts.

In the Upper School, outdoor experiences grow in terms of scope, duration and interdisciplinary curricular connection.

The ninth grade Island Odyssey trip provides an opportunity to spend three days on Tangier, Smith and Fox Islands, studying ancient civilizations, physics, music, and art as well as the current environment of the Bay and its cultural implications.

In the fall, tenth graders travel to Carderock near Great Falls, Maryland, for a three-day rock climbing trip that focuses on developing trust and communication within the class. In the spring, tenth grade students work together during a four-day canoeing and camping excursion, Rollin' on the River, where the study of history and chemistry become integral as they assess the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the region.

Eleventh grade students take several extended trips to explore the ecological interactions in and around the Chesapeake Bay, concluding their year with a five-day trip to Assateague Island where they investigate the area's diverse habitats.

The progression of trips in the outdoor program culminates with a twelfth grade whitewater rafting experience in Harpers Ferry, offering the seniors an opportunity to discuss and plan their potential leadership initiatives for the year, and a spring two-day trip to Wye Island to celebrate the many accomplishments and successes throughout the years in the Outdoor Education Program.

Optional trips: Additionally, all Upper School students have the opportunity to participate in an array of optional weekend trips throughout the fall, winter and early spring. Approximately fifteen percent of the Upper School student body are also trained as Outdoor Peer Leaders, and in that capacity help co-lead our Middle School backpacking experiences.

Recent summer opportunities, available to Middle and Upper School students depending on the nature of the trip, have included:

• Allagash Challenge, a 98-mile, fourteen-day wilderness canoe trip in northern Maine
• John Smith Chesapeake Water Trail Experience, a six-day backcountry canoe trip on the Patuxent River
• Peer Leadership Workshop, a five-day backpacking trip in Shenandoah National Park that focuses on outdoor leadership
• West Coast Adventure, a fourteen-day backpacking and paddling exploration of the Oregon Cascades and northern California redwoods regions
• SusqueBayChallenge, a 633-mile canoe trip from the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem in New York, down the Susquehanna River to the southern waters of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia.

The opportunity to learn in these outdoor settings is a concept that has been embedded in the life of the School since its inception and has a profound impact on the students' academic work as well as the growth and well-being of the School community.