Overnight off-campus trips in DCD’s Middle School offer an opportunity for experiential learning. In March, students in Grade 6 go to The Farm School in Athol, Massachusetts, and Grade 7 heads north to the White Mountains for a stay at Pinkham Notch. In late spring, with graduation on the horizon, Eighth Graders travel to Washington D.C. to make actual real-life connections with topics from their Middle School curriculum as well as experience some independence as they ready themselves for life after DCD.
During these trips, Middle School students are able to step outside their daily learning environment to a different sort of classroom where they have a chance to explore new fields of study while learning about themselves, their classmates, and their teachers. Whether it’s hiking up a cold snowy mountain and learning how to navigate with a compass, or milking a cow for the first time and gaining the understanding of the winter operations of a working farm, or getting practice in managing social dynamics with peers and figuring out how to get enough sleep amongst some noisy friends, these off-campus trips offer students an important opportunity to step outside their comfort zones and take on different challenges than they would typically encounter during a normal school day.
At DCD, learning is always a way of life!
