Experiential Education

What is Experiential Education at CSS? Experiential learning happens every day at CSS in all grade-levels. Each division is organized below to explain our Experiential Programs offered at CSS.

• Activity-based Learning uses hands-on experiments and activities. Students often collaborate to achieve stated objectives.
• Problem-based Learning challenges students to actively engage in real-world problems and, ultimately, develop critical-thinking skills and enhance their creativity.
• Project-based Learning includes a variety of curricula and encourages students to develop essential skills such as communication, research and inquiry, and time management.
• Place-based Learning uses a location or environment as a starting point to teach concepts and ideas across the curriculum. Students learn to make choices that impact the future, cultures and the environmental landscape.
• Service Learning extends beyond community service. It builds character, encourages life-long civic responsibility, and provides students with new skills and understandings of the world around them.

Although applied differently across each division of the School, every experience-based lesson is geared toward promoting age-appropriate personal growth, problem-solving skills, decision-making capability and academic analysis. All are designed to enhance and support the college-preparatory curriculum.

LOWER SCHOOL (PreK-5th Grade)

1) Fall Adventure
Students in the Lower School participate in Fall Adventure for community-building activities that draw on classroom lessons and provide opportunities for grade-level classes to spend time together in different ways as they grow their relationships at the beginning of the academic year. Further, Fall Adventure provides the opportunity for students to expand their comfort zones while engaging in problem-solving and collaboration with classmates.

2) Colorado Expedition
In the spring, students study the early cultures of Colorado, which are highlighted during Colorado Expedition. Grade level classes travel locally and out of town to experience our State's history firsthand. For example, PreKindergarten students may explore facets of the CSS campus, such as the pond, to examine and learn about the animals that live there, and attend hands-on educational lessons led by groups such as the Catamount Institute. Fifth graders may camp at and explore Mesa Verde National Park, known for its well-preserved Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings.

MIDDLE SCHOOL (6-8th Grade)

1) Middle School Seminars

Beyond the experiential focus provided by CSS teachers from within the classroom, Middle School Seminars provide students with in-depth, hands-on learning opportunities three times per year beyond our campus walls. During Seminars, students learn to apply academic principles in a practical, real-world setting. Students select from Seminars that align with their unique interests and goals, with topics ranging from Outdoor Education, Arts and Social/Current Issues to STEM and Life Skills.

In the spring of their 8th grade year, as part of their transition from the Middle to Upper School division, students take an extended trip (seven to 10 days) to the southern desert in Utah. Known as the Walkabout, this experience serves as a time-honored tradition for CSS's Middle School students, and is often talked about by alumni for decades to come.

UPPER SCHOOL (9-12th Grade)

1) Experience Centered Seminars (ECS)

Experience-Centered Seminars (ECSs) provide Upper School students with opportunities to apply knowledge and learning to real-world situations. The ECS program, consisting of local, regional, national, and international offerings, sets our students apart as they transition to the collegiate world and beyond. Each March, Upper School students – grades 9 through 12 – participate in a three-week ECS course of study hand-selected from a variety of Seminar offerings, ranging from Geology of the Southwest and Journalism to Life in Cameroon. LEARN MORE

2) Leadership in Upper School

Allowing students to experience leadership challenges and grow their own personal leadership style at CSS is one of our central functions. Our curriculum is informed by best practices from the National Outdoor Leadership School, the Gardner Carney Leadership Institute, Yale’s RULER program, the NAIS Schools of the Future project, and The Colorado Springs School’s Walkabout curriculum.

Leadership and Teamwork as defined by the NAIS Schools of the Future Project and our Digital Portfolio standards

• Initiate new ideas
• Lead through influence
• Build trust, resolve conflicts, and provide support for others
• Facilitate group discussions, forge consensus, and negotiate outcomes
• Teach, coach, and counsel others
• Enlist help
• Collaborate sensitively and productively with people of varied backgrounds
• Coordinate tasks, manage groups, and delegate responsibilities
• Implement decisions and meet goals

A few examples of leadership opportunities in the Upper School:

• Serving as a peer tutor in the classroom
• Leading a section in a Band
• Serving as a class officer (grades 9-12) and formally mentored by faculty class sponsors
• Leading an ad-hoc committee for specific events, e.g. fundraisers or prom
• Serving as an elected club officer
• Carrying out Carnival booth planning and execution
• Serving as an elected representative for National Honor Society executive committee
• Model UN: presiding officers; compilation of materials and organizing when we host
• Serving as Leader of the Day/Specific Jobs during our Experience-Centered Seminar (ECS)
• Leading one of the important post-trip assignments (presentation, video, iPhoto book, poster)
• Interacting with younger CSS students through the ECS and Book Buddies program, e.g. planning a lesson for the younger kids