The world is your classroom

Courses & Curriculum

The Traveling School doesn’t rely on four walls or technology. Instead, academic schedules are responsive to surroundings and opportunities that present themselves while traveling. Curriculum incorporates primary sources, regional experts and authors, field studies and personal narratives.

The Traveling School is also a member of:

Honors Global Studies

In this interdisciplinary and discussion-based course, students evaluate local and global power dynamics; examine personal and cultural biases; identify systems upholding colonization and imperialism; analyze the interplay between identity, power, and privilege; and reflect on what it means to be a proactive agent of change in a globalized world.

Honors Literature & Composition

Honors Literature & Composition is designed for students to build robust reading, writing, and literary analysis skills through engaging with the diverse literature of the course area. Students read two novels, as well as short fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.

Honors History & Politics

Beginning with the question ‘What is history?’, the course evaluates the myths upon which certain national and global histories are founded. Students forge connections between complex concepts; assess disparate points of views; build arguments based on evidence-based claims; and ultimately move beyond the concept of history as strictly linear and temporal.

Honors Environmental Science

Honors Environmental Science begins with students exploring the nature of science, engaging in the scientific process, and studying the flora and fauna of local ecosystems in their region of travel. Throughout the semester, students maintain detailed field journals – including species accounts, sketches, observations data, questions and hypotheses – as they learn how to practice scientific inquiry and investigations.

Honors Spanish (I, II, III)

Honors Spanish is required on South America semester and not offered in other semester regions. Students practice their language acquisition skills by engaging with the people, cultures, and communities through which we travel and increase fluency through reading, writing and speaking during discussions and interactive, immersive activities. Each course level implements the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century from the National Standards in Foreign Language Education, commonly referred to as the 5 C’s: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons and Communities.

Statistics

Students will observe the social, political, and scientific power of math as they learn foundational skills in statistics. Students learn how to collect, interpret, infer, and represent data utilizing real-world, open-source data sets as well as through interdisciplinary projects with Honors Environmental Science and Global Studies. This course is optional and offered based on student interest.

Advanced Financial Algebra

Students apply algebraic concepts to the world of finance, exploring the role of money and markets on a personal scale as well as engaging with the national and regionally specific economic dynamics in their area of travel. Through inquiry-based practice and modeling, students investigate real-life math applications to evaluate aspects of their financial lives and futures including budgeting, bank accounts, credit cards, income taxes, the stock market, different types of investments, and loans. This course is optional and offered based on student interest.

Leadership & Life Skills

The course focuses on the transferable skills necessary to become a self-aware, effective citizen who takes responsibility for their personal and community wellbeing. As the semester progresses, each student practices being Student Leader for the day, in which they plan, manage, and communicate the group’s schedule and itinerary.

Physical & Outdoor Fitness

Traveling School semesters are filled with physical and outdoor pursuits to build confidence, scaffold leadership skills, and promote an active lifestyle. Students participate in a variety of routine workouts as well as various outdoor expeditions such as hiking, backpacking, rafting, canoeing, rock climbing, canyoneering, and more.

Curriculum

At The Traveling School, the classroom is all around you. Learning comes to life in the places you visit, from the people you meet and the stories they tell. Our curriculum connects rigorous standards-based academics to a region of the globe, creating a culturally diverse and academically sound educational experience. The Traveling School develops classes and academic experiences based on the following key components:

Focus on primary sources including eyewitness accounts to consider bias in sources of information.

Transformative teachings incorporate structural analysis to explore important themes such as: race, privilege, indigeneity, feminism, social justice and power dynamics globally and within course area.

Differentiated classrooms provide individualized instruction to better support each student’s academic path.

Low student-to-teacher ratio and college seminar-style classes ensure active and engaged learners.

Student-centered approach integrates creative lessons and multiple modes of learning allowing students to express and enrich their high school education in a variety of ways.

An inclusive, collaborative learning environment allows students to focus on academic growth and leadership skills in a supportive community.

Experiential, relevant and place-based units support critical inquiry and thorough questioning.

Reflective academic environment based on mutual respect, incorporating thoughtful silence and student-to-student discussion creates space for diverse viewpoints.

Discussion-based courses which are interdisciplinary in nature and connect content to students’ lives, to history and to today’s world.