ACADEMICS

Beyond the Classroom

THE WORLD IS OUR CLASSROOM

Students at St. George’s know what it is like to learn beyond the classroom walls. Opportunities to explore their own interests and passions and chances to interact with experts in their field are all a part of learning at St. George’s Episcopal School. Students take field trips to learn more about what they are studying in the classroom, and students beginning in the 3rd grade also take class trip each year to explore the world, practice teamwork and learn about a different region or ecosystem. Classes have enjoyed overnight trips to swim with manatees, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Rock Eagle, Cumberland Island, Epworth, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Seattle.

EARLY CHILDHOOD

Students in early childhood attend field trips to learn about the world around them. These field trips tie in with unit studies in the classroom. Among many field trips, the Kindergarten class studies animals and take a field trip to Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary. During the rice babies unit, 1st grade students visit Wellstar Hospital in Griffin and tour the delivery area. 2nd graders visit Warm Springs and learn about the Little White House. Field trips also include arts-oriented trips to Gordon College or to Main Street Players to see a play. Several field trips are taken each year for our PK3 through 2nd grade classes.

LOWER SCHOOL

Third grade students anticipate their first overnight class trip for weeks in advance! They visit Rock Eagle and learn a lot about herpatology with hands-on exhibits of snakes, turtles, frogs, lizards, and other reptiles and amphibians; they visit a pioneer village to learn about pioneer life (and they actually do have to wash clothes with hand-pumped water!), learn how a blacksmith lived; played native american games and learn about natural resources used in native american life. It’s a trip designed with growing hands in mind – these students use their hands for just about everything they do on this trip!

 

Fourth and Fifth Grade students visit the U.S. Space Museum in Alabama and swim with manatees in Crystal Springs, Florida. These trips are also very hands-on trip where students do everything from a spacecraft simulation to learning how to touch gentle giants in the crystal clear water.

Students also enjoy other field trips during the year, including arts trips to Gordon College and to the Alliance Theater, and to Stone Mountain, among other opportunities to explore the world around them.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

6th grade students learn about the ecosystem around them in the classroom, then they take this knowledge to another setting – like Cumberland Island or the North Carolina mountains – and explore that local ecosystem.

7th grade students work on leadership and teambuilding, whether they are at Epworth by the Sea or Camp Kanuga. High ropes, team building games and exercises, rock climbing walls, and skill-building are all incorporated in this trip.

Students in the 8th grade spend a week in Washington, D.C. each year.  Trip highlights included the United States Capitol, Arlington National Cemetery, the U.S. Holocaust Museum and Ford’s Theatre.  The Newseum and International Spy Museum are always student favorites.  Students also explore Mt. Vernon and spend an afternoon at the Smithsonian Museums, and end each day with night time tours of the many memorials in DC.  Students enjoy this time of learning in our nation’s capital and creating memories together that will last a lifetime.

Students in Middle School are also invited to participate in the New Beginnings Retreat, a trip designed to help students explore the intersection between their faith and their everyday life.

HIGH SCHOOL

High School program class trips are designed to give students a bigger perspective than the classroom. Each year, students experience the globe as their classroom. These trips weave culture and history and students become excited about the real world around them. Trips have included New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Pacific Northwest, and Southwest.