Outdoor Education and Adventure
Outdoor Education is an integral part of the mission and philosophy at Squaw Valley Academy. Each year our students attend two five-day trips that are a safe and fun hands-on adventure. Attendance at Outdoor Education week is required (mandatory) for boarding and day students, as it is part of our educational mission and curriculum.
By participating in the Outdoor Education program, SVA students
learn to respect themselves, their peers, and the natural world
around them. Self-reliance and compassion are important steps in
improving leadership skills, communication, and problem solving.
The basic Outdoor Education curriculum emphasizes safety and judgment,
leadership and teamwork, outdoor skills, environmental study, and
wilderness ethics.
PAST OUTDOOR EDUCATION TRIPS
Colorado River Program
Location: Colorado River and Lake Mead Recreation Area in southern Nevada/Arizona
Size: One group of twelve students
Visits: Lake Mead,
The Hoover Dam
Details: This trip features expedition-style canoeing and camping. Students and adults fly into Las Vegas and are bused to Boulder Beach Campground on the river. There we will have swim-safety training and prepare for the trip. On Day Two students launch canoes for a two-night expedition and two-and-a-half days of paddling along the Colorado River, selecting different wilderness campsites each night.
Pinnacles National Monument Program
Location: Pinnacles National Monument, east of the Salinas Valley and southeast of San Francisco, California
Size: One group of twelve students
Visits: Pinnacles National Monument
Details: Participants spend five days camping at a comfortable base camp site by the enchanting landscape of Pinnacles National Monument, building character, environmental awareness, interpersonal skills and group cohesion through team-building activities, games, top-rope rock climbing, talus cave excursions, landscape explorations, and guided hiking experiences.
Yosemite National Park Program
Location: Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada several hours south of Lake Tahoe.
Size: One group of twelve students
Visits: Yosemite National Park
Details: Students experience guided day hikes to scenic destinations such as Vernal Falls, Half Dome, and Glacier Point, two full days of safe rock climbing on Yosemite’s granite slabs — some of the most famous climbing in the world — and group initiatives and team activities.
Point Reyes National Seashore Program
Location: Point Reyes National Seashore; Samuel P. Taylor State Park on the Pacific Ocean shore one hour north of San Francisco
Size: One group of twelve students
Visits: Point Reyes National Seashore
Details: Our groups spend five days at scenic Point Reyes National Seashore, building character, life skills, and group cohesion through hiking, group living, environmental education, and sea kayaking adventures. Students experience coastal redwood ecology, hike to a waterfall, and enjoy scenic coastal vistas. The morning of the third day the students kayak across Tomales Bay to the tiny east-shore settlement of Marshall for three days of camping and kayaking.
| Squaw Valley Academy |
Contact |
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P.O. Box 2667 |
Admissions Director |
Phone: (530) 583-9393 |
235 Squaw Valley Road |
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Fax: (530) 581-1111 |
Olympic Valley, CA 96146 |
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| We challenge with
rigorous academics, we support with consistent behavioral
standards, we train in life-long sports, we provide outdoor adventures, and we foster self-esteem through
real accomplishment.
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