Horizon Ridge School of Philadelphia is taking twenty tenth graders to walk the Appalachian Trail through Shenandoah National Park for five days in October. ETI360 brought together the school's itinerary, the coach, lodge, and guiding arrangements, and the school's own procedures, drew each walking day's route from National Park Service and OpenStreetMap trail data, with the elevation along it, computed the sun times for where the group will be each day, and listed the emergency departments by drive time from each half of the ridge; the school confirms which one the group uses. Each document below is written for the person who uses it, and each opens in full.

Horizon Ridge School of Philadelphia is a fictional school; its location is shown for illustrative purposes.

Trip
Shenandoah Appalachian Trail Trek, Monday, October 4 to Friday, October 8, 2027
Group
20 tenth-grade students and four chaperones, one adult for every five students; on the Trail, two walking parties of thirteen, each with a guide and two school adults
Program
The outdoor education program and the American studies unit on the Appalachians
On foot
23.3 miles over four walking days and 4,744 feet of climb: Stony Man, Hawksbill at 4,051 feet, Dark Hollow Falls, and Rapidan Camp, with an optional rock scramble at Bearfence on Thursday afternoon
Travel
One motorcoach: about 215 road miles to the park on Monday and about 230 home on Friday, with the coach on Skyline Drive all week and meeting each walking party at the named road crossings
Lodging
Two nights at Skyland and two at Big Meadows Lodge, both inside the national park on Skyline Drive
School
Horizon Ridge School of Philadelphia, a fictional school

Decision by decision

Each decision the school makes about the trip, and the documents that support it. Every document is written for the person who uses it, and every one opens in full. Under each document, Look inside shows three of its pages as the school receives them; select a page to open the US Letter edition at that page.

ETI360 builds every document to two paper sizes. The US Letter edition (8.5 × 11 inches) is the standard in the United States; the A4 edition (210 × 297 mm) is the standard in most other countries.

Approving the trip

The record the office files, and the Trip Risk Working File for the school to review, complete, and approve.

First page of the School Trip Record

School

School Trip Record

Trip facts, contacts, and the approval line, then what is held at each lodge, the dates the office works to, and the road journey. Filed with the contracts, confirmations, roster, health records, and signed permission slips.

US LetterA4

Look inside
School Trip Record, page 2
Trip facts, the contacts table, and the approval line, with supervision and medical arrangements set out for the office.
School Trip Record, page 3
What is held at each lodge, every date the office works to, and what the trip cost covers and does not.
School Trip Record, page 4
The road journey with its rest stops, the Monday and Friday schedules, and how the coach works inside the park.
First page of the Trip Risk Working File

School

Trip Risk Working File

Hazards, controls, and emergency actions organized one section per activity group, from the road to the open rock and the optional scramble, with the emergency care for each group and the live-assessment prompts for the day. The school completes it, amends it, and approves it.

US LetterA4

Look inside
Trip Risk Working File, page 3
What the school confirms with the coach operator, the guiding company, the lodges, and the park before the trip, and where each decision made on the trip is written down.
Trip Risk Working File, page 13
Summits and open rock: a fall from the rock and lightning on exposed ground, each with its controls, its emergency actions, and its rating.
Trip Risk Working File, page 16
The optional Bearfence rock scramble: the emergency department by drive time from the south of the ridge, the live-assessment prompts for the day, and the school's review lines.

Telling families

The letter home, the week day by day, and the forms that come back with the deposit, including the backcountry consent.

First page of the Family Trip Brief

Families

Family Trip Brief

The letter home, the week day by day, the lodges and how families reach the group from a ridge with little signal, the packing list and the student agreement, and the forms that come back to the office.

US LetterA4

Look inside
Family Trip Brief, page 2
The letter home leads with the deposit, the forms, and the information evening, then says what the week is for.
Family Trip Brief, page 3
The week day by day, the lodges, supervision and medical arrangements, and how families stay in touch with a group on the ridge.
Family Trip Brief, page 5
The permission slip, backcountry consent, fitness confirmation, and health update, returned to the school office with the deposit.

Preparing the leader and chaperones

Groups and walking parties, the procedures on the Trail and at the lodges, and the emergency departments by drive time from each half of the ridge.

First page of the Trip Leader Card

Trip leader

Trip Leader Card

Groups, walking parties, contacts, and standards, the week in outline, a Route Intelligence page for each walking day, and the emergency plan: the emergency departments by drive time from each half of the ridge.

US LetterA4

Look inside
Trip Leader Card, page 2
Groups of five and two walking parties of thirteen, fifteen minutes apart, each with a guide and two school adults, and the working contacts.
Trip Leader Card, page 5
Route Intelligence for the longest day: the map, the legs, where the coach meets the group, the turnaround times, the elevation profile, and the daylight left at the finish.
Trip Leader Card, page 8
The emergency plan: the park's dispatch number first, then the emergency departments by drive time from each half of the ridge, and the route out through Thornton Gap.
First page of the Chaperone Briefing and Pocket Emergency Card

Chaperones

Chaperone Briefing and Pocket Emergency Card

For the adults who each take five students: their group and walking party, the shape of a walking day, what they do on the Trail, at the lodge, and on the coach, and a card to print, cut, and fold that carries the emergency sequence and every working number.

US LetterA4

Look inside
Chaperone Briefing and Pocket Emergency Card, page 2
Walking, open rock, the optional scramble, the lodge, and the coach, including the rule for thunder on the rock.
Chaperone Briefing and Pocket Emergency Card, page 3
When something goes wrong: a student who cannot continue, an injury, a student out of sight, and the weather, then every working number, above the line each chaperone signs.
Chaperone Briefing and Pocket Emergency Card, page 4
The pocket emergency card at finished size: the park's dispatch number and the sequence on one side, the emergency departments, the steps for a student out of sight, and where the coach is on the other.

Deciding each day's route and turnaround

The Route Intelligence page for each walking day in the Trip Leader Card, with its turnaround times, and the sun times and tree cover for where the group will be. The trip leader makes the call on the day.

First page of the Daylight and Cover Report

Trip leader

Daylight and Cover Report

Sunrise, sunset, and the last usable light for every day of the trip, computed for where the group will be, with the planned times set against them and the tree cover along each day's route.

US LetterA4

Look inside
Daylight and Cover Report, page 2
Tuesday, the first walking day: the sun times from first to last light, 4.4 hours between the planned finish and sunset, the climb along the route, and the tree cover over it.
Daylight and Cover Report, page 3
Wednesday, the long day: the sun times for where the group will be, the margin to sunset, and the ground and canopy along the route.
Daylight and Cover Report, page 6
Where each figure comes from, how it is computed, and what the figures do not describe.

Connecting the trip to learning

One question about who decides what a place is for, carried from the classroom to the places on the ridge and back.

First page of the Educational Journey

Teachers

Educational Journey

One question, the places on the ridge that answer parts of it, the walking days with a map for each, and the field journal and assessment guide.

US LetterA4

Look inside
Educational Journey, page 2
The week's question, the three strands, and the eight places in the order the group reaches them.
Educational Journey, page 5
Thursday: Dark Hollow Falls in the morning, the park's own account of its founding at the visitor center, and the optional scramble in the afternoon.
Educational Journey, page 7
The daily journal entry, a prompt for each walking day, and what a strong response does.
First page of the Student Journey Guide

Students

Student Journey Guide

The guide students carry all week: the question, the week and the road, how the group walks, one page for each walking day with the map and journal prompts with room to write, and what happens afterward.

US LetterA4

Look inside
Student Journey Guide, page 3
How We Walk, in the student's voice: the two parties, the pace, the counts, the blazes, the rock, the water, and the bears.
Student Journey Guide, page 5
Wednesday in the guide: the route map, where the coach is, the places in a student's words, and the journal prompt with room to write.
Student Journey Guide, page 8
After the Trip: the response due October 22, what makes a strong one, and who to ask about what.

Improving next year's trip

What students, families, the leaders, and the guides said, set out for the school's review.

First page of the Post-Trip Feedback Report

After the trip

Post-Trip Feedback Report

Four questions asked of students, parents, the leaders, and the guides after the trip: what each group said, the moments that did not go to plan with the day they belong to, and what in the trip each one touches. It states; it does not recommend.

US LetterA4

Look inside
Post-Trip Feedback Report, page 2
For the school's review, with example responses because the trip has not yet run: what the answers show, where parents and students differ, and who answered, with no recommendation.
Post-Trip Feedback Report, page 3
The three rated questions as each group was asked them, with the answers at each step of the scale; the leaders and the provider appear in the words they chose, and the means are printed only for year-on-year comparison.
Post-Trip Feedback Report, page 4
The moments people raised, each with its day, whether it points at the plan or at how the day was run, and the words as written.

Who decides

The school and any provider it works with retain responsibility for decisions, supervision, live assessments, and final approval.

The Trip Risk Working File is written for the school to review, complete, and approve. Its ratings are a starting point, its review lines are for the school’s own controls, and the trip leader makes the live assessment on the day.

Other worked trips

The west front of the U.S. Capitol seen across the lawn from the National Mall.City · Washington, DCWashington, DCHorizon Ridge School of ClevelandSee the documents →The crater lake at Poás Volcano National Park, a turquoise pool in a gray basin with forest on the slope above.Service · Central AmericaCosta RicaHorizon Ridge School of ClevelandSee the documents →The dome of Florence Cathedral and Giotto's bell tower above the rooftops of Florence, with hills behind.Culture · EuropeItalyHorizon Ridge School of ClevelandSee the documents →Map of the four-day route from Lafayette Place in Franconia Notch past Greenleaf, Galehead, and Zealand Falls huts to Crawford Depot, each day drawn in alternating blue and brick.Outdoor · New HampshireWhite MountainsTideline SchoolSee the documents →Map of the five paddling days on Casco Bay, from the launch at East End Beach in Portland to the camps on Little Chebeague Island and Jewell Island, and back.Outdoor · Maine coastCasco BayTideline SchoolSee the documents →The Trip Package →

Horizon Ridge School of Cleveland is a fictional school; its location is shown for illustrative purposes.

Tideline School is a fictional school; its location is shown for illustrative purposes.