About The Traveling School

 

Traveling School Mission: to enrich the lives of teenage girls with an enduring educational experience focusing on overseas exploration, academic challenges, expanded outdoor skills, and a deeper comprehension of the world we live in.

 

Overview

The Traveling School is a semester-long program for teenage girls ages 15-18 who wish to enhance their traditional academic experience with an overseas adventure. This non-profit organization is dedicated to the values of building self-esteem, increasing tolerance, creating cultural awareness, and encouraging academic exploration.
Students earn full academic credit for seven semester courses in math, history, science, language arts, foreign language, PE, and Global Studies. Our innovative and interesting curriculum takes full advantage of the environment and the culture overseas. The Traveling School works with students and their regular home high schools to ensure students receive full academic credit towards graduation.


This 15-week program travels to:

 

Outdoor Skills

In addition to demanding academics and overseas discovery, The Traveling School is dedicated to the development of solid outdoor skills. We see students' academic and personal lives directly improved with the self-confidence they gain from expertise and experience in the outdoors.

 

Program Size

Maximum program size is 15-16 students who travel with three full-time teachers and a student teacher.

 

A Brief History of The Traveling School

The Traveling School started in the Spring of 2000 with a revolutionary concept generated by a group of high school girls and their teacher, Gennifre Hartman. 
“What if,” one asked. “What if there was a school that traveled around the world while we still kept up-to-date with our classes?”
“What if,” asked another. “What if it was all-girls so that we could just hang out and be ourselves?”
“What if,” asked a third. “What if it was for a single-semester so we could go back to school and still be able to go to prom and participate in a regular high school?”
As a teacher, Hartman thought, “What if all of the classes were about the areas where we are traveling to expose the girls to inspiring, authentic learning in a genuine setting?”

They described a school with an educational format that gives students an alternative to traditional education for a single semester during their high school careers. This group of confident, intelligent, inquisitive young women described a program for girls, a program with overseas exploration, a program with strong academics, a program with an emphasis on outdoor skills development, and a program that would offer scholarships.

And The Traveling School was born.

Hartman developed a plan and worked with a strong local community of educators, business professionals, media experts, financial and banking executives, medical and hospital representatives, lawyers, experts in the outdoor industry, and experienced non-profit members. They researched top private schools, experiential education programs, outdoor and wilderness courses, and travel-oriented student organizations.  After completing this research and working with industry experts, the staff of The Traveling School integrated this information to create an innovative and contemporary school to help students develop to their full potential. Together, they helped The Traveling School develop in to a reality.

Since that time, many talented, committed individuals have supported The Traveling School. The organization has strengthened its approach to recruiting, selecting, training and supporting students and teachers, and developing the organizational and financial capacity to sustain its efforts. This strengthens our mission: to enrich the lives of teenage girls with an enduring educational experience focusing on overseas exploration, academic challenges, expanded outdoor skills, and a deeper comprehension of the world we live in.

Since 2000, The Traveling School has built a strong track record of providing excellent teachers, and serving as a catalyst for future leaders with the insight and dedication to affect broad-based social change. Started as a non-profit organization, the school has brought girls from all over the United States and the world to overseas destinations to learn, interact and fall in love with this experience.  The goal to provide students with inspiring academics, outdoor skill exploration, and authentic involvement with local communities continues each day.

 

 

 

 

Mission: to enrich the lives of teenage girls with an enduring educational experience focusing on overseas exploration, academic challenges, expanded outdoor skills, and a deeper comprehension of the world we live in.