MARIN ACADEMY
OUTINGS
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Welcome from the MA Outings Directors!
Welcome from the MA Outings Directors!
How many times do you think you walked around your home, your block, your neighborhood last year? I lost count in May or June 2020, I think. For a while I walked the hill behind my house every day, sometimes twice a day when I got extra restless. As things have tentatively opened up, I’ve started hiking in more places, but I recently revisited that most frequent pandemic walk-- noted the crunchiness of buckeye leaves right before they fall and the rainbow of late summer poison oak; greeted a favorite honeysuckle vine whose twisted silhouette reminds me of cloud forests in Costa Rica I’ve never actually visited; startled a mother and young deer apart, then watched them reunite up an unimaginably steep deer trail. I imagine many of our relationships to the outdoors have changed since March 2020. As gathering outside has remained our safest way of being together, it’s not just the dog-walkers on the streets twice a day anymore. We’ve reimagined what we can do outside, and sometimes a 10 minute stroll, picnic, mellow hang, music session or art-making gathering can be just as expansive and joyful as an epic hike or burly outdoor skill.
Our catalog this fall embraces both. If you have a few hours before the late bus takes you home, join us on a trip to China Camp to relish one of the sweetest urban wild places in the Bay. If you’re eager to try a new skill, head out to Tomales Bay for some bioluminescent kayaking or get started rock climbing at the new gym in San Rafael. Come help out in the garden on Tuesdays after school, or witness the regeneration in Point Reyes after last year’s Woodward Fire, or sleep in a one-person tent in Mendocino. Get your friends to join you, or hop on a trip on your own to meet folks you’ve never encountered in person before.
Come join us as we rethink what it means to get outside!!
– Leslie Beach '04 + Liz Gottlieb
MARIN ACADEMY OUTINGS POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
*Outings Fall 2021, in conversation with school administrators and COVID coordinator Brett, have created robust protocols to be in line with public health guidelines. Masks will be worn at all times 6 feet distance can’t be maintained, outside and in. Meals will be served by adult leaders. On overnight camping trips, each student will have their own tent. We remain in dynamic conversation about changing guidelines. Should those guidelines change, we will cancel or modify trips as needed.
SIGN UPS AND PERMISSION FORMS
MA outings are open to everyone and each outing has a maximum number of students it can safely accommodate. Our sign up system is designed to be smooth, to increase communication with families, and to maximize trip participation. The process is outlined below:
Outings sign ups have three steps. You are not signed up for an outing until all three stages are complete.
Students receive an email with a link to an online sign up form on the day that sign ups open. Students should fill out a separate form for each outing they hope to participate in.
Step 1: Sign Up Online
Step 2: Receive “Trip Status” Email
Students will receive an email from Leslie or Liz letting them know if they are ON an outing, or on the WAITLIST for an outing.
Step 3: Turn In Permission Form To Confirm Spot On Outing or Waitlist
Once they have received email confirmation of their outing’s status, students must turn in permission forms through DocuSign to confirm their spot both on an outing and on an outing’s waitlist. If students do NOT wish to be on a trip or waitlist, they must email outings@ma.org.
Turning in a permission form signifies that students and families have CHECKED THEIR CALENDARS and have confirmed that the student will be participating in the outing. It also signifies that all parties understand that a trip cancellation fee will be applied to the family if the student cancels within two weeks of the outing.
PERMISSION FORMS
Permission forms will be processed through DocuSign, available through the link above.
SIGN-UP DATES FOR THE FALL 2021 OUTINGS SEASON
Monday, September 13th
Outings Assembly, Catalog Released to Campus and Online
Tuesday, September 14th
Sign up by midnight for equal weight in the lottery to get on a trip! Sign ups open for trips through the end of October.
Monday, October 15th
November-December Trips announced; trip sign-ups begin!
Tuesday, October 16th
Sign up by midnight for equal weight in the lottery to get on a trip! Sign ups open for trips through the end of the semester.
TRIP PARTICIPANT SELECTION PROCESS
Trips are filled on a first come, first serve basis EXCEPT for signups that are received on the first day of a sign up period. Sign ups received on this first day will be considered with equal weight, and trip participants will be selected with a lottery system. Important Note: You can continue to sign up for trips that have space up to 2 weeks before the trip runs, and sometimes even after that. Contact leaders directly if you’d like to sign up close to the trip’s run date.
WAITLIST
Students are OFTEN selected from a waitlist. If you are still interested in an outing and you are on the waitlist, turn in your permission form to confirm your spot and keep the weekend free for as long as you can!
GEAR FOR LEND
The MA Outings Program maintains a collection of clean and quality gear available to students to borrow through the gear check out system. Please do not let not owning gear keep you from going on an outing. Talk to Leslie or Liz about what gear you need and we will try to supply you with the necessary equipment. Borrowed gear should be returned clean and promptly. Students may be charged for lost, broken, or non-returned gear.
ELECTRONICS AND CELL PHONES
Use of cell phones and other electronics is not permitted on MA Outings without permission from the outings leaders. As a standing rule, students may not text or make calls or receive calls from the vans or while on an outing. If communication with home or elsewhere is necessary, check with your MA Outings leader first.
MISSING CLASSES AND PRACTICES
Students are responsible for pre-arranging their absences with their teachers and coaches. No pre-arranged absence form is required but clear communication prior to going on the outing is. Going on an outing is not an excuse for not completing one’s homework or missing tests, and extensions are not guaranteed. However, in the spirit of supporting MA’s co-curricular programs, teachers and coaches are asked to be as flexible as possible in allowing students to participate in outings.
Check with your teachers and coaches at least a week in advance of your trip and make every effort to complete required work ahead of time. You are still accountable for class assignments, assessments, and homework.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We acknowledge that MA Outings take place on the ancestral lands of indigenous people past and present. We honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations. We commit to strengthening our understanding of the past and present colonization of this land, and how we can be better stewards. This semester, outings will take place on the traditional lands of Coast Miwok, Pomo, Ohlone, and Kashayah people.
TRIP FEES
MA Outings leaders make every attempt to be frugal in running outings and to price them as affordably as possible. Student trip fees are calculated to cover only the necessary expenses. These include food, fuel, equipment rental, and permitting. We publish an anticipated cost, with the expectation that trips may go slightly under or slightly over budget. We will charge families what the trip costs, while pledging not to go more than $15 over anticipated cost for overnight trips, or $10 over anticipated cost for day trips.
Financial aid is available for those students who qualify through the Admissions Office.
PE CREDIT
PE credit is automatically granted for MA Outings carrying the “PE credit available” notation. Credit is awarded for outings with a strong skills basis and a clear athletic component. Credit is given at a rate of 0.125 credits a day (with multiday trips aggregating credits as they go).
CANCELLATIONS
Once you turn in your permission form you have committed to goin on your chosen outing. If you cancel your commitment to an outing within two weeks of your trip’s departure date your family will be charged a cancellation fee: $25 for day trips and $50 for overnight trips. Additionally, if we are unable to fill your spot your family may still be charged whatever cost of the outing the program cannot recover in order to maintain the affordability of the outing for all students.
Cancellations are permissible in the event of illness or family crisis. Such cancellations should be made with the Director of Outings directly as soon as the student and family are aware of them.
These policies are intended to assure that the value of our Outings Department is realized, and experienced by as many people as possible.
Fall 2021 Catalogue (September/October)
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