Trip
Costa Rica Service and Ecology Journey, Saturday, March 20 to Sunday, March 28, 2027
Group
20 tenth-grade students and four chaperones, one adult for every five students, in the same groups of five all week
Program
Poás Volcano National Park; a rainforest field study with the Selva Verde naturalists and the Tirimbina biologists, including river water quality and the bat program; a school-improvement project with the Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center; the opening nights of the leatherback census at Pacuare Nature Reserve; a canal wildlife transect. Spanish is used every day and assessed.
Travel
Flights through Miami, then two minibuses with the host operator's own drivers for nine days. The coastal reserve has no road: the reserve's boats carry the group the last ten kilometers, about forty minutes each way
Lodging
Eight nights at three bases: an airport hotel in Alajuela on arrival and before the flight home, three nights at a rainforest lodge in Sarapiquí, and three at a coastal reserve with no mains electricity and no cell coverage

The documents

Approving the trip

First page of the Off Campus Travel Report

School office

Off Campus Travel Report

Look inside
Off Campus Travel Report, page 2
Page 2 sets out the trip facts, the three bases, the nearest emergency departments and every contact, and the Head of Upper School signs the approval here.
Off Campus Travel Report, page 3
Page 3 checks passports against Costa Rica's own entry rule, explains how the travel insurance works at a hospital, and lists the health requirements the school sets.
Off Campus Travel Report, page 4
Page 4 lists every booking with the company that holds it, from the flights through Miami to the Poás entry slot, and the calendar the office works to.
First page of the Risk Assessment Report

Head of Upper School and trip leader

Risk Assessment Report

Look inside
Risk Assessment Report, page 8
The Poás section covers volcanic gas and the cold at the crater rim, and it puts the park's own rules first among the controls.
Risk Assessment Report, page 15
The boat section covers a canceled crossing, and its emergency care names the hospital in Limón, about an hour by road after the boat leg.
Risk Assessment Report, page 21
The school asks the host operator, the reserve, the lodge and the insurer these questions before the trip, and the school's review and sign-off follow.

Telling families

First page of the Student and Parent Trip Report

Families

Student and Parent Trip Report

Look inside
Student and Parent Trip Report, page 2
The letter to families opens the report, with the report time, the cost and the deposit date across the top.
Student and Parent Trip Report, page 4
Families see the three bases on a map and the nights at each, and the page explains how the group reaches the coastal reserve by boat.
Student and Parent Trip Report, page 7
The health update goes to the school nurse and nowhere else, and families return the page with the $600 deposit.

Preparing the trip leaders

First page of the Trip Leaders Brief

Trip leaders and chaperones

Trip Leaders Brief

Look inside
Trip Leaders Brief, page 3
Each chaperone keeps the same group of five all week, and the page says what each adult does first when a student is separated or unwell.
Trip Leaders Brief, page 8
On Wednesday the group crosses to the reserve by boat. The page sets the lifejacket check and the counts into each boat, and it names the hospital about two hours away.
Trip Leaders Brief, page 13
The Emergency Plan starts with a call to 911 and the order of calls. It lists the nearest emergency department for each base and maps the road route from the reserve's landing.

Connecting the trip to learning

First page of the Educational Travel Fieldbook

Students

Educational Travel Fieldbook

Look inside
Educational Travel Fieldbook, page 2
The first page sets out the nine days and the one thing students write before they sleep, starting with a prediction about the rainforest.
Educational Travel Fieldbook, page 7
The coast pages cover the nesting beach, the hatchery's data set and the canal transect, with what students do at each.
Educational Travel Fieldbook, page 8
The final response asks for 800 to 1,000 words by April 16, with at least one source in Spanish, and students check their evidence before the flight home.

Improving next year's trip

First page of the Post Trip Report

School

Post Trip Report

Look inside
Post Trip Report, page 2
This page shows who answered, and how students, parents, the trip leaders and the host operator rated the trip, the plan and the days.

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