As Stevenson continues to strengthen its commitment to place-based learning, students enjoy rich opportunities for experiential learning in the surrounding area. Over the weekend of October 8-10, Stevenson’s astronomy class traveled to Lake San Antonio County Park to join the San Jose Astronomical Association for their annual CalStar Star Party. The class brought three of Stevenson's field telescopes, and were treated to spectacular views of Venus, Jupiter and its Galilean moons, Saturn, the Milky Way, and the Andromeda Galaxy. The Pirate astronomers did more at the Star Party than just view what they could identify through their telescopes. They worked alongside other astronomers and astrophotographers to observe open and globular clusters, nebulae, supernova remnants, stellar nurseries, and double stars. The students will draw from this experience over the remainder of the astronomy course. Evie ’27 shared, “The trip was amazing. I was able to see some cool things I [...]

On Monday, October 11 and Wednesday, October 13, Grade 9 students had the chance to experience learning beyond Stevenson’s campus. This early introduction to meaningful field work continues Stevenson’s commitment to inviting curiosity about the world beyond the traditional classroom, and to helping students develop critical learning skills. On one trip, history students followed Monterey’s “Walking Path of History.” Splitting into small groups, they used a mobile app to compete in a scavenger hunt as they visited historic structures and gardens constructed throughout Monterey’s evolution—when it was part of New Spain, then Mexico, and then the United States. Students explored California's first theater, found Monterey's first fired clay brick, viewed the Joseph Boston mercantile shop, visited the quarters inhabited by General William T. Sherman when—as a young lieutenant—he oversaw the construction of the US Army fort on the site of the Presidio, and stopped by the boarding house where [...]