Re-engage Your School Community with Half & Full-Day Programs
NYC Outward Bound Schools leads half- and full-day in-person community-building programs for students and staff. These socially-distanced programs are designed to strengthen community, belonging, collaboration, reflection and leadership skills while acknowledging the challenges participants have faced as a result of COVID-19.
Community-building programs are ideal for helping youth and adults reconnect (and in some cases, connect in-person for the first time) in the late summer and early fall when students will be returning to their schools. Community-building days are available as half-day (2.5-hour) programs outside on school grounds and as full-day (5-hour) programs offsite in large city parks, including Central and Prospect Parks.
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Crew Connect
This 2.5-hour program is available to middle school students, high school students, and adults (staff). These programs take place on-site at the participating school, in a school yard or other outdoor space. If you would like to book multiple sessions with different grade levels or Crews, these can be scheduled back-to-back within a single day.
The focus of this program is to foster relationships among participants and create a stronger sense of belonging within and connection to their Crew. A team challenge helps build collaboration skills and gives students a chance to try different roles in a safe group setting.
Pricing: $900 per Crew
- $150 per Crew discount for more than three Crews
- $150 per Crew surcharge for one single session (either morning or afternoon)
- Maximum 180 participants per day (e.g. 90 in a morning session, 90 in an afternoon session)
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Community Connect
This 5-hour program is available to middle school students, high school students, and adults (staff). These programs take place at large parks around the city (e.g. Central Park, Prospect Park).
The full-day program is centered around a participant-directed learning exploration that allows students and staff to build a sense of belonging within their school community, collaborate with one another, take initiative, and exercise ownership over their learning, all while igniting joy for adventure and discovery. Using the city as a classroom — by taking opportunities to have meaningful and genuine social interactions, learning about the landscape’s history, and understanding one’s connection to the broader community — is a key part of what makes the NYC Outward Bound experience so unique and hands-on.
Pricing: $1,500 per Crew
- $225 per Crew discount for more than three Crews
- Maximum 90 participants per day
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Reconnect & Reflect
This 2-hour program is available to middle school students, high school students, and adults (staff). These programs take place inside school classrooms or gyms during the winter/spring as a follow-up to the summer/fall community-building experience. A NYC Outward Bound Schools instructor will facilitate activities that help participants reflect on how their Crew has grown and evolved together.
Pricing: $750 per Crew
- $150 per Crew discount for more than three Crews
- $150 per Crew surcharge for one single session (either morning or afternoon)
- Maximum 180 participants per day (e.g. 90 in a morning session, 90 in an afternoon session)
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Train the Trainer Workshop: Community-Building
NYC Outward Bound Schools can help you bring effective community-building practices and activities back to your own school. We’ll help two of your teachers or staff create a program that is student-centered and focused on their social-emotional learning (SEL) needs.
In this one-day, in-person professional development session, participants will learn how to:
- Articulate the purpose and goals for a community-building program.
- Plan and implement a sustainable and impactful community-building day at your school.
- Utilize SEL-based best practices in your facilitation.
- Incorporate activities that are connected to SEL competencies and SEL-measured indicators.
- Utilize common Outward Bound facilitation practices including briefing, debriefing, norms, sequencing and more.
- Build a program that is suited to your school’s individual needs.
- Access NYC Outward Bound Schools’ community-building day resources and planning tools.
Pricing: $300 per participant
What Sets These Programs Apart?
The Crew Structure
These community-building programs are ideally designed for schools that have an intact Crew structure, which is the signature advisory model at every NYC Outward Bound School, and can also be adapted to fit schools that do not have an existing Crew program. During these programs, small groups of 10-15 students (“Crews”) will learn how to utilize and build upon each other’s individual strengths so that they are stronger as a group — fostering the “Crew Not Passengers” mindset early on in the program. Participating in team building and story-sharing exercises as part of a Crew is the foundation to building respectful and trusting relationships with peers.
Our Instructors
Programs will be staffed with two instructors per Crew of students. Our facilitators are trained in social distancing protocols and are skilled in working with both youth and adults. They will facilitate fun getting-to-know-you activities, team building challenges, story-sharing protocols and other initiatives that foster a safe and brave learning environment.
The Outcomes
Our community-building initiatives challenge participants to make decisions and work collaboratively to meet a set of goals. Working through these situations, which may inspire participants to step out of their comfort zones, leads not only to a stronger sense of belonging within the group, but also to an appreciation of one’s own strengths and capabilities. Participants will walk away from community-building days feeling energized, more connected with and empathetic toward one another, and empowered with the social-emotional tools to take care of themselves and those around them.
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For more information or to book a program, contact:
Jessica Bardy, Director of Business Development
[email protected]
Office: (718) 706-9900 x130
Mobile: (917) 575-7400