Outdoor education is a foundational experience for Middle School. Our outdoor education programs cultivate essential skills, build community, foster leadership, and challenge students to grow. Inquiry in the vast, natural world furthers respect for and stewardship of our environment in service of a better future. Westtown Middle School weaves opportunities for experiential learning and stewardship throughout our curriculum, as well as ways for students to connect with themselves, one another, and the natural world.

Throughout the year, the Middle School utilizes our 600-acre campus as a classroom, a lab, and a playground. Each year’s students use the natural world of our campus, taking full advantage of resources ranging from the farm to the ropes course to the lake. Middle schoolers develop an appreciation for our beautiful campus as a place to learn, play, and center.

Each year, students participate in a wilderness excursion off campus that includes camping and canoeing led by Middle School faculty. Students prepare for these trips on campus, developing expedition behaviors and prioritizing skill building, safety, and collaboration. Students learn the principles of Leave No Trace: working to leave the environment better than they found it. The guiding slogans for the outdoor trip are “No Passengers, Only Crew” and “How can I help?”

The 6th and 8th grade overnight trips take place in May. The 7th grade overnight trip takes place in September. Recent trips have occurred on the Brandywine, Delaware, Potomac, and Schuylkill Rivers.