Class Trips

A highlight of any year, class trips at The Academy are designed to educate, to build community, and to foster unforgettable memories. Details of each year’s trip are sent home in April.

7th Grade Trip: Local Fun
The 7th Grade Trip varies year to year, but always involves environmental, adventure, and cultural activities. Past trips have included hikes and overnights, guided walks in the Hawley Bog, hiking Negus Mountain, visiting local art galleries, a day trip to Boston, and games, barbecuing and sleeping over at Zoar Outdoor.

8th Grade Trip: Gettysburg and The Killer Angels
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
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The 8th Grade Trip to the Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg is, for many students, a truly meaningful experience. The trip represents the culmination of a unit on Michael Shaara’s book The Killer Angels, and opportunities for reflection and learning abound. The group camps in tents at the McClellan Woods National Park Service campsite on the battlefield, iPods and other electronic distractions are left at home, and one of the wonderful byproducts of this trip has been a new level of communication, maturity, and trust within each class.

Freshman Trip: Whale Watch on Cape Cod
Provincetown, Massachusetts
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The freshman trip is designed to supplement and reinforce the Biology curriculum, as well as to provide some hardy fun, down time, and bonding opportunities for the freshman class. In the past, this trip has included a tour of oceanography research facilities in Woods Hole, a dune hike with a naturalist, and a kettle pond canoe trip in the Wellfleet area. On the last day, the group goes on the much-anticipated whale watch out of Provincetown harbor, and heads back to school shortly thereafter.

Sophomore Trip: Exploring the Big Apple New York City
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The sophomores spend three very busy and exciting days and nights in New York City. In the midst of taking it all in, they visit the United Nations, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, MOMA, Chinatown, and other sites, depending on availability and interest. The group often stays at the Vanderbilt YMCA, on East 47th Street, in the heart of midtown.

Junior Trip: American Process, American Power
Washington, D.C.
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The juniors’ trip to Washington, D.C., complements their study of American history, culture, and politics in their humanities class. In the past, students have toured the capitol with congressional staffer and Academy graduate Anne Nelson ’02, met with U.S. Representative John Olver, visited the National Zoo, the National Gallery, and the Holocaust Museum, visited the mall and its illuminated monuments and memorials at night, and attended plays and musicals at Ford’s Theatre.

Senior Trip: Reflect and Recharge
Martha’s Vineyard
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After their senior projects have been turned in, and before the final busy month of school, Academy seniors pause to reflect and recharge with a trip to Edgartown in Martha’s Vineyard. The group stays within walking distance of the town and the beach, and past trips have included fishing, clamming, swimming (brrr!) and a potluck dinner. This trip provides opportunities for seniors to unwind and to reflect upon their leadership over the course of the year, as well as a chance to celebrate their last year together and make plans for a strong finish.