NYC Outward Bound Schools’ work with students, educators and school leaders is grounded in the understanding that social, emotional and academic development (SEAD) are interconnected and mutually dependent in supporting young people to thrive. The way we share this approach is through a network of NYC public schools who work with us to implement practices and structures aimed at increasing belonging, agency and engagement for all students.
Schools can pursue one of two partnership pathways with us, or opt in to both. Regardless of membership, all schools within the network take part in two leadership convenings per year to strengthen a values-aligned culture and build community together.
Pathways to SEAD
These pathways are delivered through educators and school leader coaching and strategic planning. Our coaches support educators by modeling instructional practices needed to successfully implement Crew and School Culture and Instruction for Deeper Learning and helping integrate these practices into their curriculum. They also partner with school leaders to ensure the work is sustainable and set up to be implemented school-wide.
Crew and School Culture
Crew is our signature advisory structure that supports social, emotional and academic development.
Instruction for Deeper Learning
Instruction for Deeper Learning involves impactful classroom practices that promote student voice and engagement in deeper learning that can be applied to the real world.
Outdoor Adventure
The third strand of our work is incorporating SEAD into outdoor learning experiences. Schools in our network are encouraged to take advantage of our menu of Outdoor Adventure programs that incorporate challenge, discovery and joy.
Outdoor Adventure
We offer a menu of outdoor adventure programs including community building on-site at schools or in city parks, to climbing at our wall in Long Island City, to multi-day adventures in a wilderness-based setting.
Resources & Training for Educators
Separate from our network of partners, we offer open enrollment professional development workshops for NYC educators. We also produce open source resources called Change Packages that capture a set of ideas, proven in practice, in order to build towards a desired result. These Change Packages can be utilized to implement practices and structures in schools with or without supplementary coaching from our staff.