PVAS’s Outdoor School is a great opportunity for your child to participate in hands-on, experiential learning. Each class consists of a thematic nature lesson, a hike, and nature exploration. Reading, writing, art and math are all incorporated into our nature lessons. Sessions are held once a week for a month! Sessions will be kept small – 10 kids total and two adult instructors.
Outdoor School was created in Fall 2020 to provide safe outdoor nature-themed learning opportunities to children in a time when indoor educational and socialization options were limited. Outdoor School was such a success that we are delighted to be bringing it back per our community’s positive feedback and requests.
If you have any questions, please contact Amy Moore Thomas at Amy@PotomacAudubon.Org
Registration for Spring 2022 Outdoor School Programs is OPEN.
Winter and Spring 2022 Sessions
January Theme: Animals in Winter
Pricing: $240 members / $260 non-members
4 full-day classes at Cool Spring Preserve (Tuesdays or Thursdays)
Session 1: Tuesdays 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. — January 4, 11, 18 and 25
Session 2: Thursdays 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. — January 6, 13, 20, & 27
Description: Students will learn how different plants and animals survive over the winter, and learn how different species are adapted to handle harsh conditions.
February Theme: Mad Scientists
Pricing: $240 members / $260 non-members
4 full-day classes at Cool Spring Preserve (Tuesdays or Thursdays)
Session 1: Tuesdays 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. — February 1, 8, 15 and 22
Session 2: Thursdays 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. — February 3, 10, 17 and 24
This month we will become scientists and conduct experiments in nature. What type of bird seed do birds prefer? Can you design an enrichment activity for our ambassador turtles? What kind of trees can we tap that will give us the most sugar water? By the end of the month, you’ll truly be a mad scientist!
March Theme: Blast to the Past!
Pricing: $120 members / $130 non-members
4 half-day classes at Cool Spring Preserve
Morning Session: Tuesdays 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. — March 1, 8, 15 and 22
Afternoon session : Tuesdays 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. — March 1, 8, 15 and 22
This month we’ll explore rocks, fossils and bones and how they can tell us stories of the past.You’ll have the chance to investigate PVAS’s huge rock and fossil collection, as well as examine artifacts from an archeological dig at Cool Spring Preserve. We’ll learn how caves form and learn why so many exist in Jefferson County.
April Theme: Rooting for Plants
Pricing: $120 members / $130 non-members
4 half-day classes at Yankauer Nature Preserve
Session 1: Tuesdays 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. — April 5, 12, 19 and 26
Session 2: Tuesdays 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. — April 5, 12, 19 and 26
Note: The April 12 class will meet at Tabler Farm: 482 Billmyer Mill Road, Shepherdstown, WV 25443
As spring brings green back into our lives, join us to learn all about plants. We’ll study plant reproduction and the life cycle of plants, learn to identify plants around the preserve, and explore plants as food. For one of our four sessions, students will meet us at Tabler farm, which is Shepherd University’s sustainable farm. There, we will get our hands dirty planting and learn all about small-scale, local agriculture and aquaponics.
May Theme: Aquatic Ecosystems
Pricing: $90 members / $100 non-members
3 half-day classes at Cool Spring Preserve
Morning Session: Tuesdays 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. — May 3, 10, 17
Afternoon Session: Tuesdays 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. — May 3, 10, 17
Have you ever wondered about the world below the water? Explore with us as we take a peek into this wonderfully diverse world. Learn about the complex relationships within an aquatic ecosystem and about how we can determine the health of an aquatic ecosystem using both biological and chemical indicators.
Scholarships
We want all children to have a chance to come to Outdoor School no matter their financial circumstances. Scholarships to attend Outdoor School are available for families with financial need and qualify for the Federal Free/Reduced School Lunch Program. Click here to see if you qualify for this program. Download our Outdoor School Scholarship Form here.
Do not register for Outdoor School if you are applying for a scholarship. PVAS will notify you within 2 weeks of receiving your scholarship application to inform you if you have received the scholarship, the scholarship amount and provide you with a link to a registration form for scholarship recipients. Spaces are held in each of our Outdoor School sessions for scholarship recipients so that sessions will not be fill up before you receive your scholarship.
Policies
At Outdoor School, we believe that “there is no bad weather, only bad clothing (choices)!” Any child can happily enjoy the outdoors for many hours, even in cold or rainy weather, if equipped with the right clothing to keep them warm and dry. So please send your child with the right layers to set them up for success.
For cold weather we recommend:
- A base layer consisting of synthetic (polyester, polypropylene) or wool long underwear to go under their clothes and wool socks to keep their feet warm
- Warm fleece pants and a fleece pullover or zip-up jacket.
- A down or synthetic puffy jacket
- A fleece or wool hat, a fleece neck warmer, a pair of thin fleece, wool, or synthetic gloves, a pair of waterproof mittens
For days that are particularly cold, students will be broken into small groups to enter the nature (masks required) for 15 minute warm up sessions.
You are welcome to send you child with a thermos containing a hot beverage.
Updated Mask Policy (12/13/21): Children and instructors are only required to wear masks when indoors. We spend majority of the program outdoors, but come inside the nature center for short warm up breaks, during inclement weather and for bathroom usage. Please send your child with a mask to have on hand for entering the building.
To maximize safety we will:
- Limit sharing of materials and supplies
- Lend assigned supplies and equipment such as nets, magnifying glasses, binoculars to each participant for the entirety of the program
- Promote healthy hygiene practices
- Conduct health screening of staff and participants upon daily arrival
- Intensify cleaning, disinfection of shared supplies
- Promote physical distancing of at least 6 feet between staff and participants
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces multiple times daily.
- Disinfect bathroom after every use
- Require students to self-clean bathroom after each use
- Provide an experience that mostly outdoors
Furthermore, PVAS will adhere to the following Daily Arrival Screening Procedures:
- The temperature of each participant will be taken. Participants with a temperature of 100.4° or higher will not be allowed to attend.
- In order to attend, participants must be able to answer “Yes” to all of the following statements:
- Neither the participant nor anyone in the participant’s household have had a fever (temperature of 100.4° or higher) within the past 72 hours.
- Neither the participant nor anyone in the participant’s household have had symptoms of COVID-19, such as shortness of breath or persistent dry cough, within the past 72 hours.
- The participant has not been exposed to anyone that has symptoms of COVID-19 in the 72 hours.
- The participant has not taken any fever reducing medications like acetaminophen or ibuprofen in the past 24 hours.
- The participant is free of symptoms of other communicable illnesses, and is healthy enough to engage in program activities.
For full cancellation requests by registrants, a refund will be given minus the $25 non-refundable registration fee. We will wave the $25 registration fee for cancellations for individual classes that are made due COVID-19 or other illness. If your child misses a day of outdoor school due to illness, PVAS will issue a pro-rated refund for that class.
*We understand that last minute cancellations might need to happen, but please try to let us know as soon as possible, so that depending on the circumstance, we can open the spot to someone else.
PVAS will cancel outdoor school days if:
- West Virginia Governor’s order restricts group sizes or issues a Stay at Home Order
- Hazardous weather is in the forecast that would create unsafe road conditions or unsafe conditions for being outside.
If PVAS cancels a day of outdoor school, you will be refunded for the amount of the cost of that one day of Outdoor School.
Parents will be notified by email of any cancellations by 5:00 p.m. the evening before an outdoor school class.
The Potomac Valley Audubon Society (PVAS) does not exclude, deny benefits to, or otherwise discriminate against any service recipient, applicant, program staff, or the public on the basis of race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability, age, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, political affiliation, or veteran status.