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“Our students have opportunities to explore, discover, and create.”

Learning Beyond Limits: Outdoor Education at Saint John’s Prep

As a premier arts and sciences world school, we prize imagination, creativity, and discovery, offering experiences that nurture curiosity and expand our students’ horizons. We also believe that there should be a healthy balance between active engagements both indoors and outdoors to develop the mind, heart, and soul.

The Prep experience isn’t limited by the four walls of a classroom. Our robust outdoor science curriculum created in partnership with Saint John’s Outdoor University allows our students to spend their days surrounded by nature on our 2,900-acre campus, immersed in the one-of-a-kind educational opportunities waiting to be discovered among our woods and lakes.

One of the best ways to cultivate understanding and appreciation for our natural world is to experience it firsthand, and studies have shown that outdoor learning has many benefits for school-aged children, such as reduced stress, enhanced moods, improved concentration, and increased engagement at school. Middle school students engage in a series of outdoor field trips both on- and off-campus to ensure they are provided ample opportunity for hands-on outdoor learning.

Whether they’re studying the rich diversity of Minnesota’s native biomes, understanding the global importance of alternative energy sources, or engaging their creative writing skills as they observe the changing of the seasons, Prep students are constantly exposed to innovation inspired by nature.

As active participants in our inclusive community, Prep students enjoy small class sizes, learn from experienced educators and are gently guided by our Benedictine values. A complementary outdoor education brings classroom lessons to life, helping Prep students connect with nature and contextualize the world around them. By engaging students in our environment’s natural processes, resources and phenomena, our middle schoolers are started on their path to becoming good stewards of our planet and conscientious citizens of the world.

Set on a spectacular 2,900-acre water and woodland campus with access to the tremendous resources of Saint John’s University and Saint John’s Abbey, our students have unparalleled opportunities to explore, discover, and create.

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Schedule a visit with the Saint John’s Prep Admission team for more information about how your child can learn, grow, and thrive in our Middle School program.

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