What Outdoor Adventure
and Field Work Can I Expect?
Will There be Sports at Vista
Grande?
Are There Afternoon Electives?
What is Service Learning?
Junior and Senior Adventures
What Equipment is Provided?
Are There Activity Fees?
What outdoor
adventure and field work can I expect?
All 9th and 10th grade students will participate in a
week-long wilderness adventure during the fall in the Sangre
de Cristo mountains. As adventure and safety go hand in hand,
all VGHS faculty will be trained in wilderness first-aid or
as wilderness first responders. Groups will be organized into
teams of 2 adults and 15 students. Each group will be led by
a trained wilderness professional and transportation will be
provided by the school to and from all field experiences.
Our academic program is intertwined with wilderness adventures
that support classroom activity. Students learn respect for
self, care and compassion for others, social responsibility
to the community, and sensitivity for the environment. On an
adventure students are placed in challenging situations to teach
them about self-discovery, perseverance, developing new skills,
teamwork, and leadership.
There will be other opportunities for outdoor adventure which
might include:
- Whitewater river rafting on the Rio Grande.
- Hot air ballooning.
- Snow shoeing and cross-country skiing.
- Winter camping.
- Skiing and snowboarding.
- Cross-cultural immersion experiences in Mexico.
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Will there be sports
at Vista Grande?
All Vista Grande High School students will have the opportunity
to participate in intramural sports, such as volleyball, basketball,
and cycling through afternoon electives. These offerings allow
students to participate in multi-day outdoor trips, and allow
older students to develop leadership in other avenues that benefit
the school. The Vista Grande curriculum includes a rigorous
physical education component that consists of outdoor trips
and adventures, as well as after school activities such as intramural
sports.
Vista Grande will not offer Interscholastic sports, which necessitate
student travel and interrupt the theme-based curriculum. State
law does allow public charter school students to participate
in local school district interscholastic sports teams. However,
the time and travel required for participation in interscholastic
sports would cause students to miss vital learning experiences
with Vista Grande. Therefore, Vista Grande strongly encourages
students and families to consider the strain that participation
may cause the students, families, and schools involved.
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Are There Afternoon
Electives?
• Vista Grande will provide afternoon electives in three
eight-week sessions: Session I (Sept 12-Nov 3, 2007), Session
II (Jan 22-March 14, 2008), and Session III (Apr 1-May 2, 2008).
• Each afternoon elective will be held from 2:35-4:30,
2 times per week.
• For a fee, students may participate in additional afternoon
electives.
• Students will choose afternoon electives to participate
in from the following categories:
• Intramural Sports such as volleyball, cycling, yoga,
martial arts, or soccer
• Expressive Arts such as filmmaking, dance, drama, music,
ceramics, poetry, woodworking, or photography
• Mind Challenge such as chess, Odyssey of the Mind, languages,
or robotics
• Other engaging programs in vocational training or community
service
• Participation in 2 sessions of afternoon electives (one
academic and one athletic) is required for all Vista Grande
students, with exceptions made on a case by case basis.
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What equipment
is provided?
Vista Grande High School will make outdoor gear available for
student use. Any Vista Grande High School student participating
in a school activity is fully responsible for equipment, outdoor
gear, tools, computers and other school gear entrusted to him
or her. If equipment used by a given student is not accounted
for in a satisfactory manner--for example, in the case of theft,
loss or damage-- participation and clearance to participate
in other activities will be withheld until satisfactory resolution
is achieved. In addition to short-term use of school items,
each student may be entrusted with certain items for the entire
school year, such as keyboarding machines, art supplies, and
outdoor equipment.
These items may be issued to the student at the beginning of
the school year, so the student as caretaker has both the freedom
and responsibility to use and take care of the items as if they
were his/her own. Students are free to use the items responsibly,
take them home, maintain them, clean them, use them whenever
they want, as long as they care for the items. Expected wear
and tear due to normal use is expected; abuse, damage, loss
or defacement will require the student to replace or repair
the item in question.
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Are there activity
fees?
Vista Grande High School students are involved in many
activities far beyond the experience of typical high school
students, such as extended outdoor trips, other field experiences,
evening activities, and more. Because of these enriching experiences,
each year there are costs involved for each family: a small
fee for comprehensive student insurance, fees for special supplies,
fees for activities specific to that year’s curriculum,
food and fuel costs associated with our extended trips. The
fee is $250 per student per semester. Fees can be paid in advance
at the beginning of the year, or spread out in payments. Also,
new opportunities come up throughout the year—performances,
museums, etc—that may require additional costs not announced
at the beginning of the year. For further information regarding
student fees, contact the Director’s office.
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