Outdoor & Community Education Pilot

The 2020-2021 school year presented unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic, including the limitations of remote learning and the heightened threat to student health. To address the needs of students most affected by the disruption, a voluntary Outdoor Education Pilot program was launched in October 2020. The program, aimed at students furthest from educational justice, received 24 applications from 19 schools, necessitating organizational change and collaborative efforts across multiple teams.

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In September 2020, a Board Task Force was convened to assess the long-term potential of integrating outdoor education into standard learning practices. The Task Force was formally approved in December 2020. While the pilot program ended following Governor Jay Inslee’s order for schools to resume in-person learning, the task force generated a series of actionable recommendations based on data and community feedback. These recommendations outlined strategies for creating a widespread, sustainable outdoor education program that could be adopted and adapted by school leaders moving forward.