EXPERIENCES THAT GROW WITH STUDENTS
At Open Window School, Hallmark Trips are an integral part of our program.
Hallmark Trips are curated, developmentally designed overnight experiences that grow with students, year after year, deepening classroom learning through connections to authentic lived experiences.
Hallmark Trips offer something for every kind of learner, from science and ecology to history, hiking, arts, and hands-on exploration, with interdisciplinary connections and team building woven throughout.
Hallmark Trips are included in tuition so every student can fully participate in this progression of learning, independence, and community.
THE HALLMARK PROGRESSION
| 2nd and 3rd Grade: Camp Seymour |
| Camp Seymour is a gentle introduction to overnight adventures. Students attend with a parent or guardian, creating a shared experience rooted in support, connection, and joyful stretch moments through “challenge by choice.” Families also begin to learn the purpose and systems that underlie a successful Hallmark Trip. |
| 4th Grade: IslandWood |
In fourth grade, students take their first trip without parents or guardians, spending three nights at IslandWood. With clear daily structure and a new environment to navigate, students practice independence while exploring the natural world and learning how ecosystems connect and sustain life. |
| 5th Grade: NatureBridge |
| Fifth graders venture to Olympic National Park for four nights of hands-on science and adventure at NatureBridge. Students hike, paddle in a traditional Salish-style canoe, and study the region’s geology, ecology, and cultural history, with teamwork and problem-solving built into the experience. |
| 6th Grade: Northwest Maritime Center |
| Sixth grade brings four nights by the Salish Sea at the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend. Students build and sail their own boat, row together, explore tidepools, and study marine science. These hands-on challenges invite leadership and collaboration on the water and on shore. |
| 7th Grade: Washington, D.C. |
| In seventh grade, students take their first flight together and travel to Washington, D.C. for a week-long exploration of history, democracy, and civic life. Along the way, students practice autonomy and advocacy through real decisions, supported choices, and developmentally appropriate opportunities to stretch, including options when an experience feels emotionally intense. |
| 8th Grade: Costa Rica |
| Hallmark Trips culminate in a ten-day experience in Costa Rica. Students stay with host families, practice Spanish, and participate in service projects that support local communities. This capstone experience is intentionally designed to bring social-emotional learning to life while building confidence, cultural awareness, and a stronger sense of self. |
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BUILT TO BE JUST RIGHT FOR GIFTED STUDENTS
Gifted learners often move quickly through academic content. Our Hallmark Trips create space for a different kind of growth: resilience, independence, and the social-emotional skills that help students thrive in community and in new environments.
These trips are designed with gifted students in mind. Students practice making decisions, advocating for themselves, and taking care of their minds and bodies, all in real situations that feel meaningful. We build in clear routines with supportive adults and time to reset, so students can take on new challenges without feeling thrown in the deep end.
We also plan for different personality types, with a mix of energizing group moments and quieter pockets of time that help both introverts and extroverts feel grounded.
That support can look small, and still be powerful. One Middle School student arrived in Costa Rica certain they would not go white water rafting.
Instead of pushing through fear all at once, they chose a first step: getting suited up and sitting on the boat for a photo. After the picture, their confidence shifted, and they decided to join the trip. Moments like that are part of the learning, students notice what they need, name it, and take the next brave step when they are ready.
Across the years, the experience scaffolds. We begin with shorter trips that are closer to home, and culminate with an international, 10-day experience. Students learn the rhythms of travel, schedules, and expectations in ways that can reduce anxiety and build confidence over time.
In Middle School, these experiences become like a “school on the road,” where students do hard things together, build community outside their normal routines, and put social-emotional learning into action.
| Preparation is part of the learning, with intentional planning and weeks of conversations that help students feel ready for what’s ahead. |
