Small Class? Here Are 3 Accommodations We Can Make!

At Pine Valley Outdoor Science Camp, we LOVE small class sizes! We feel that it is best to cap our daytime traveling teams to no more than 20 students each, so schools that bring more students to camp will be separated into more traveling teams. Oftentimes, we have teachers inquire about bringing their class that could easily fit into one or maybe two of our traveling teams. How do we accommodate smaller schools?

Pine Valley Outdoor Science Camp typically requires at least 45 students to sign up in order for us to justify having outdoor education for that session. This is to help ensure that we cover all the necessary costs of staffing, food, cleaning supplies, and program materials. But wait! Don’t go yet! If you are a teacher with a grade of less than 45 students, we have three options for how you can still experience all that Pine Valley Outdoor Science Camp has to offer.

1. Combine Your Classes

Let’s say you’re a sixth grade teacher who has 20 students in your school’s grade. But what if you brought the entire middle school of 60 students? This is one of the easiest ways to ensure you hit the minimum number of students while also getting your top preference for camp dates. Some schools combine two grades (perhaps 5th and 6th grade for Science Camp, or 7th and 8th grade for Leadership Camp) and they attend camp every other year so that each student gets to experience camp, just in alternating grades. Better yet, who says students should only attend Science Camp once? With our current options, it would now take four overnight trips in order to experience everything Pine Valley Outdoor Science Camp has to offer. Honestly, most students would enjoy the tradition of getting to go back to camp year after year!

2. Join Another School

If you know a nearby school that currently attends or wants to attend Pine Valley Outdoor Science Camp, you could ask if you could join their camp session. Or we could do that work for you! Because our overnight program can accommodate up to 180 students, we often book two schools at the same time. If your school does not meet the 45 student minimum threshold, contact us to see which session dates we have available for a class your size. If we do book you alongside another school, please note that the only activities you may do with the other school are meals and Super Science. As a teacher, you’ll still get to hand-select the classes and activities that are exclusively for your own school, and your lodging arrangements will also be just for your students and chaperones.

3. Come for Day Camp

While most schools move forward with one of the two above options, we do have a third option if you want to bring a small class size on dates when we don’t have other bookings. We can provide a day camp that includes all of the classes and activities you’d expect from Pine Valley Outdoor Science Camp. We can accommodate any arrival and departure times of your choice, and all your students will have to bring with them is a sack lunch and a brain ready for engaging learning! Your school’s day camp can be for a single day, or you can come for multiple days to pack in more hands-on outdoor experiential classes. Contact us regarding policies for scheduling a day camp with Pine Valley Outdoor Science Camp- this is a great option for beginning-of-school-year retreats to get to know each other and end-of-school-year field trip celebrations!

Regardless of what size your class is or which option you choose, we know that the time you and your students spend at Pine Valley Outdoor Science Camp will be transformative and the highlight of their school year!