MARIN ACADEMY

OUTINGS

Welcome from the MA Outings Director!


Last night while making dinner, I found a bag of yellow plums my mom and her boyfriend had harvested from a neighborhood tree for me to make into chutney. Worried I’d waited too long, I set them on the counter to compost after I finished cooking– but, to my delight, I found they still smelled fresh. I sliced into their golden flesh, separating pits from fruit. My pantry yielded everything I needed except apple cider vinegar, so I walked to the store nearest my house, the only one open at 9pm. On the way I inhaled the sweet smell of drying grass, noticed the spill of stars, bright before moonrise. It felt like my own personal mini-outing– immersed in the relationships and the place around me.


This fall I’ve been preoccupied with what it means to feel real. It’s something to do with the unexpected, with getting out of the spaces and timelines set up specifically for our convenience– queue-ing up exactly the song we want exactly when we want it, or ordering something to be delivered to our door as soon as physically possible– which conversely frustrate us when they don’t quite meet our expectations. In the context of Outings, it’s not necessarily the big peak bagged or the epic view photographed that gets inscribed in our memories forever. It can just as easily be the weird gas station covered in bumper stickers where you stop for snacks en route, or the shiny beetle that trundles by your nap spot in the Sierras, or realizing you and a classmate you’d never really talked to before share the same beloved childhood book, or the accidentally delicious recipe you make with ingredients that happen to be ripe in the MA garden at the same time. It’s hard to plan for this kind of realness, but we can cultivate conditions that make it likelier to alight. Going someplace you rarely go; setting aside your devices for a while, to let yourself settle more thoroughly into the present company and setting; noticing your tendency to speak first or listen first and consciously going against that tendency; noticing the things around you with less judgment and more curiosity. This quarter’s Outings catalog invites such practices. 


In the catalog you’ll find opportunities to visit the Pacific Pinball Museum for a moment of time travel, venture north to Modoc County to see the Annular Solar Eclipse, walk to Falkirk or drive to SF to hear authors talk about their work, check out Tule Elk in Point Reyes National Seashore, learn more about your inner landscape in a series of Mindfulness Gatherings in our very own garden, and take the ferry to Alcatraz before sunrise on Indigenous Peoples’ Day to witness dancers and speakers. All these outings and more set out to build your connection to Marin, the Bay Area, California, the world, and the universe.


I hope you get some joy from perusing the catalog, and come adventure with us this year. I really truly believe you’ll be glad you did!



 – Leslie Beach '04 


MARIN  ACADEMY  OUTINGS POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

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 students, 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 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 links above. 

SIGN-UP DATES FOR THE FALL 2023 OUTINGS SEASON

Thursday, September 7th

Outings Assembly, Catalog Released to Campus and Online

Friday, September 8th 

Sign-ups open! Sign up by midnight on Monday for equal weight in the lottery to get on a trip. Sign ups open for trips through the end of October.

Thursday, October 12th 

November-December Trips announced; trip sign-ups begin!

Friday, October 13th

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 two days of a sign up period. Sign ups received during this time 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, Amah Mutsun, 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 going 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.


Spring 2023 (April/May/June)

Spring 2023 (January/February/March)

Fall 2022 (November/December)

Fall 2022 (September/October)

Spring 2022 (April/May/June)

Fall 2021 (November/December)

Fall 2021 Catalog (September/October)

2020-2021 Offerings & Photos

Spring 2019 Catalog

Fall 2019 Catalog

Spring 2018 Catalog