Class Trips

Each year, students and teachers begin the year with a short camping trip designed to build community and give the year a stimulating start. Whatever the weather, we enjoy our time together participating in the "Wilderlympics," taking turns cooking and, of course, singing by the campfire.

By taking a series of hikes through Acadia National Park in the fall, ninth graders experience evidence of the changes of the Earth over time. In the spring, ninth graders take a multi-day field trip to whaling sites along the New England coast as part of their study of Herman Melville’s great American novel, Moby-Dick. From old whaling ships to port cities to artifacts such as harpoons and try-works for liquefying blubber, seeing it all in person makes the novel come alive!

Tenth graders visit various fresh water sites in Acadia National Park in the fall and test water samples for key indicators of health, as well as recording qualitative indicators of water quality. In the spring, sophomores learn to use surveying equipment to gather data and apply trigonometry to create a topographical map of a 20,000- square-foot site of coastal Maine.

*The Geology and Hydrology trips are often combined and offered in alternate years

Our community in Maine is located in the heart of America’s historically Francophone territory. To celebrate and deepen our understanding of this heritage, each year the eleventh grade takes a four-to-five day trip to Quebec City, Canada in the fall. While there, students practice their French, wander the city’s European-style streets, gaze in awe at the spectacular St. Lawrence valley scenery, and, of course, eat their way through all the town’s many wonderful French restaurants! In the spring, the eleventh graders head out into the field to compare coastal ecosystems from sea to summit. This intensive week is part of their Botany main lesson. Although locations vary, every trip explores the relationship between landscape and living communities through observation, art and nature writing.

Twelfth graders begin their year with a trip to Hermit Island, Maine, where they are joined by over 100 fellow seniors from other Waldorf schools for an immersion in marine biology and invertebrate zoology. Time spent investigating tidepools, dunes and marshes is balanced by periods of swimming, watercolor, and poetry.  The week culminates in a grand contra dance with live music.

Each year the Seniors cap their year with a trip to a location of their own choosing. Past adventures have been to New York City, Montreal, and Cape Cod.