At Staten Island Academy, classroom learning is just one facet of the powerful education we’re proud to provide. In addition to the chance to participate in a range of extracurricular activities, special interest clubs, and multiple athletic teams, students are encouraged to extend their learning through varied student travel opportunities—taking students out of the classroom and into our communities, cities, and nations!
Why School Trips Matter
School trips offer other benefits for young learners, including improved grades, a more positive attitude toward their coursework, and powerful memory-making. At SIA, students complement classroom learning with regular trips at all grade levels—serving as a powerful extension to classroom-based learning. Some of the reasons we’re so committed to school trips include:
- Trips bring subjects to life. Students experience hands-on learning from primary sources and experts—from the engaging guides in Boston to the guards at the Tower of London, learning becomes reality rather than hypotheticals from textbooks.
- Trips introduce students to ways of life outside of their comfort zones. Students explore new places, routines, cultures, and even languages through observation, presentations, and individual research.
- Trips nurture intellectual curiosity. Students become more engaged with and curious about their education, in and out of school.
- Trips expose students to new interests. By offering access to places, environments, and concepts not typically encountered in the classroom, trips allow students to tap into new interests, hobbies, and opportunities. Sculpture, painting, caring for animals, archaeology, and financial planning are all subjects that have ignited students on past adventures.
- Trips encourage shared experiences. Students bond over memorable shared experiences, deepening their relationships with each other and with faculty.
- Trips foster independence. Traveling introduces practical skills such as budgeting, time management, and problem solving. Students are empowered to take charge of their day and to navigate things like public transit and directions.
- Trips encourage active citizenship. Students are encouraged to participate in their communities and give back by offering their own ideas, encouraging a more genuine sense of empathy, understanding, and appreciation for diversity.
- Trips bring new ideas back into the classroom. After a school trip, students bring new questions, understanding, and ideas back to the classroom—particularly important for our children who live on an island.
Where will Staten Island Academy Take You?
Staten Island Academy is proud to offer an extensive trip program for students across all age groups. In the younger years, students attend trips closer to the campus, including Ellis Island, the Museum of Natural History, Staten Island Children’s Museum, and the National Museum of Mathematics. Beginning in Middle School, students participate in overnight travel, venturing with members of the faculty to Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington D.C. And when students begin Upper School, what better way is there to launch their high school experience than to travel to London as a class, taking part in lectures, theater performances and a sky high ride on The London Eye?
We are constantly exploring exciting new trip opportunities to complement our rigorous curriculum and goal of creating well-rounded learners. As a small school, it is even more vital to create opportunities to interact and engage, listen, and learn from—that authentic glimpse of humanity will ensure that our students are poised to be the best leaders.
Experience the Staten Island Academy Trip Program
At The Academy, we firmly believe that school trips powerfully extend the learning offered in our classroom environments and are vital for promoting understanding, empathy, curiosity, and active citizenship. For more information about our trip program and to explore recent trip destinations, click here(opens in new tab).
