Travel has been an integral part of Waring since the early days of the school. Travel promotes intellectual and individual growth and engenders curiosity. On Waring trips students are exposed to history, art, and culture; they are asked to observe, sketch and write about their experiences and relate them back to the curriculum as well as to their personal experiences. Waring trips are a direct extension of many Waring programs and are designed to enrich, make real, and deepen our students’ studies as well as to allow for learning that could happen no other way. Travel removes the classroom from the act of learning and shows students that it can happen everywhere.
Travel at Waring follows an intentional arc beginning with Camping Trip, where the whole school is away for three nights together every year. The arc continues with the two night trip to Montreal for Core (Grades 6 and 7), the four-week exchange in Angers, France, for Group 2 (Grade 9), and culminates in the three-week Junior Trip. Each trip has slightly higher expectations and demands, taking the students a little further away from home and entrusting them with more independence and responsibility. Many Waring students also travel as part of their coursework. For example, there have been many Group 1 (Grade 8) trips to Washington DC, and several Endterm
groups travel each year.
Waring travel has personal as well as academic goals. Students learn to think about the needs of the group, to try things that pull them outside their comfort zones, and strengthen their relationships with the group and their teachers.