Safety is our top priority

Health & Safety

The Traveling School recognizes it is a privilege to travel with and care for your children. Our school also acknowledges that risk is all around us, in everyday life, and our goals are to assess situations and make informed decisions to minimize risk. 

The essence of The Traveling School includes leaning into risk and stretching comfort zones while building diverse skills to find personal growth, new confidence, and empowerment. Our 20 years of experience equates to 38 semesters, meaning we have 4,000 experiential days under our belts. The Traveling School’s positive track record demonstrates our proactive approach, dedication to risk management, and consistent staff and faculty training. All of this minimizes risk while expanding the next generation of leaders. 

Safety and risk management considerations are a priority in programming. TTS’s risk management philosophy includes several key components: carefully planned itineraries, trained faculty and staff, informed students, contingency planning, and risk management practices and protocols. 

The focus of our risk management strategy is twofold:

1. Create a culture of risk management and safety with our staff, faculty, and students through education, training, and information dissemination.

1. 1. • Faculty:
        • Hold certification in Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Responder, or higher medical training, as well as CPR.
        • Undergo background checks.
        • Complete comprehensive pre-semester training focused on: program components and group management, decision making and judgment, and Traveling School policies, practices and protocols.
      • Students:
        • Learn how to adapt behavior, recognize and manage risks, and develop awareness to potentially minimize dangerous situations.
        • Share in the responsibility for – and consideration of – their own safety and well-being, as well as that of other students and teachers.
        • Become risk assessors and are expected to act appropriately.

2. Continually improve our risk management and safety support systems of information gathering, communication, contingency plans, training, and internal reviews.

1. • An administrator from the Home Office is always on-call during a semester. Parents, teachers, and students have this phone number. 
   • Complete risk assessments for each semester itinerary to stay informed and monitor situations. TTS remains flexible and adjusts itineraries when necessary.
   • Partner with a medical & security advisory team for additional program support, expert advice, and emergency services. 
   • Foster excellent relationships in the communities where we travel.

General Health Management

The Traveling School is one-of-a-kind. There is no consistent campus, classroom, living space, or cafeteria, and often there are no walls or buildings of any kind. These various settings necessitate focus on individual health for overall group health and well-being. Students learn proactive self-care techniques alongside group health and safety considerations. 

Covid Updates: Accountability and mindfulness to our global community

As COVID-19 quickly changed our lives, it also strengthened our resolve to support one another, be mindful of our impact and embrace our Traveling School community. While international programming was not within our capacity, and global health regulations continued to evolve, we found joy creating and running a Western U.S. semester.

Our school must think and plan a year in advance; we must make intentional and cautious decisions as we contemplate a semester moving through different communities and regions. This means we begin assessing program feasibility for the following year’s semester itineraries every summer, continuing through program implementation, and remain mindful of our impact in the areas where we travel and interact.

We are excited and ready to return to our international semesters for the 2023 – 2024 academic year and continue to plan intentionally, using various metrics to plan and prepare. We continue to monitor Covid-19 and other travel health considerations by collaborating with peer organizations, following the advice of public health experts and prioritizing decisions with our students, faculty and partners in mind. 

The Traveling School’s Covid-19 vaccine policy

Current as of April 2023

We strongly recommend all students and teachers be fully vaccinated prior to the semester. A semester with 100% of teachers and students fully vaccinated for Covid-19 increases everyone’s chance of staying healthy and minimizes programming stress around potential exposure within the group. Furthermore, our intentional and mindful travel value leads us to prioritize the health and wellbeing of communities and people we interact with. Community transmission, particularly amongst vulnerable populations, can have significant, long-lasting effects for the places and people we meet. Alongside our individual risk, we must be mindful of how we mitigate our risk to others as we travel.

Additionally, countries can change their entry and exit requirements without warning. Currently some of our destination countries require proof of Covid-19 vaccination. It is possible that these requirements could loosen and other countries may impose new, stricter Covid-19 regulations. Non-vaccinated students may miss out on key experiences and may be liable for costs associated with individualized travel and care plans.