College Settlement Outdoor School Program

Our three part program has many options for scheduling, activity choice and areas of focus. This enables us to custom fit a program specifically for each school. Our programs are kid-centered, paced at a rate that enables kids to build relationships with classmates, and spend quality time exploring the natural ecology of the area. Overnight trips have that intangible magic that makes them the highlight of many students’ elementary and middle school years. We work with students from all sorts of backgrounds, and our programs are intentionally designed to foster inclusion.

During each experience at the Outdoor School, we strive to complement the school science curriculum, offering experiential-based lessons that enhance students’ ability to understand the topics being presented. We also strive to incorporate lessons that encompass math and language arts skills. We understand the pressures put upon schools to cover a wide range of curriculum materials, and work with school staff to assure that goals are met and that students value the information they receive.

In the spring of 2003, the organization leased 20 acres to Pennypack Farm Education Center for Sustainable Agriculture, in order to offer reciprocal services and further the cause of organic farming and sound environmental agricultural practices.

We strive to reflect our feelings about people's relationship to, and their effect on the environment. Our ultimate goal is for students to develop an awareness of the environment that will lead to an understanding of natural balances, thereby shaping a positive environmental ethic to guide their future behaviors.

We believe a student should leave the Outdoor School a more versatile, knowledgeable child than when he or she arrived and should acquire an intensified appreciation of the environment during his or her stay.

With over 235 acres, there is plenty of area to explore. Use of the more distant parts of the property for programming is encouraged! Of the 235 acres, approximately 100 are mowed and provide an abundance of open space. Over 90 acres are wooded and about 40 acres are farmed and 20 acres are leased to Pennypack Farm for Sustainable Agriculture – an organic Community Sponsored Agriculture farming facility with which we coordinate programs. A three-acre lake, acres of wetlands and a variety of small streams and springs provide opportunity for aquatic study along the headwaters of the Pennypack Creek.

College Settlement Outdoor School

It’s a lot about science
And a lot about life.