Jackson Campus
Journeys
Embark upon a Journey for a deeper understanding
Journeys are intentionally designed to break from classroom learning and take students off-campus to experience the ecological or cultural environment that serves as an essential part of learning. Journeys include thoughtful faculty planning and meaningful student inquiry and reflection. They are the nexus of lesson plans, community building, and deepening one’s sense of place and understanding by connecting our curriculum to the real world.
Journeys
At Mountain Academy, we believe in the power of place and that the community is our classroom. Students venture outside both the Teton Valley Campus and Jackson Campus on Journeys to connect learning to our communities. Journeys emphasize that communities serve as learning ecosystems where local and regional experts, experiences, and places are part of the expanded definition of a classroom.
Extended Journeys
Extended Journeys are not just measured in miles of mountain, river, or desert, but in significant personal growth. These Journeys bring our students into one of nature’s most incredible classrooms — the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and beyond. Supported by our unparalleled Outfitting Building, students adventure into the front and backcountry, learning skills that build courage, perspective, and leadership.
Classrooms
Without Walls
Nestled in the heart of Coyote Canyon sits our Outfitting Building – the nerve center for all outdoor expeditions and Extended Journeys for Mountain Academy students and for all the students we serve. Outfitting is run and operated by our intelligent, creative, and driven Field Education team. Inside, outdoor gear lines the walls enabling our students to experience the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (and beyond!) during all seasons of the year. From cross-country skis and snowshoes for winter to camping gear for the warmer months, water quality study kits to field identification guides and binoculars – Outfitting provides many of the tools necessary to help Mountain Academy students deeply engage with this place and the world around them.
Every school day from January to early November, Field Instructors use Outfitting to prepare the lessons that they facilitate in Grand Teton National Park. You might find them in Outfitting debriefing a day of teaching, gathering snow science supplies for a research project, or handing out snowshoes to a group of 5th graders from visiting schools. It can be messy and a little loud, but it is where the magic starts for the thousands of students we serve each year.
