NYC Outward Bound Schools transforms schools and changes lives by bringing our educational approach to NYC’s young people and their public schools, with a focus on students from educationally under-resourced communities.

Our uniquely powerful approach joins together demanding and engaging learning with an emphasis on community and character. We honor our students’ roots and dreams while preparing them for success in college, careers, and citizenship, and simultaneously working to redefine what educational excellence looks like in New York City’s public schools.

Every day, we are disrupting systems that historically and currently harm students and schools. We are proving that transformation and innovation can happen within a public school system, and that with truly equitable schools, all students — regardless of background or circumstance — are capable of achieving at high levels.

Our Work

We operate a citywide network of public schools in partnership with the NYC Department of Education that fully embody our educational approach. We provide our schools with:

• Coaching and professional development for teachers and school leaders in the implementation of our educational approach and EL Education, a whole school model with its roots in Outward Bound.
• Character and leadership development programming for students.
• To & Through College programming aimed at supporting our students — most of whom will be the first in their families to attend college — in applying to, enrolling in, and completing college.

We also bring our approach and our most effective and replicable practices to a growing number of public schools and youth-serving organizations outside of our network through our Adventure and Team Building programs and our Select Strategies for Schools professional learning services.

Our Mission

To use Outward Bound’s educational approach to effect positive and lasting change in the lives of New York City’s young people and their public schools.

Our Vision

We aim to bring our formula for educational excellence — the joining together of demanding and engaging learning with an emphasis on community and character — to more schools and more students in the NYC public school system in ways that allow us to have a greater impact on the system and the students it serves. We are especially looking to establish ourselves as “best in class” among NYC public school providers in the areas of culture, community, and character.

What Sets NYC Outward Bound Schools Apart

Combining the Outward Bound approach with principles of EL Education, we have tried-and-true methods to help NYC students and schools succeed.