Sisters Academy offers student events and field trips throughout the year to complement the academic curriculum, to enhance the learning experience, and to simply have fun! Some of these activities are recurring while others change from year to year.
Student Blessing and Investiture
This is the first school-wide event of the academic year. The 5th grade is officially welcomed into the school at a ceremony where the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders deliver greetings through song, dance, and speech. Each 5th grader receives a stole, specifically made for that class, from the President. The stole is worn at special events during the time the student attends Sisters Academy and becomes hers to keep on her graduation day fours year later. The ceremony concludes with a blessing from the Principal.
Genesee Valley Outdoor Learning Center
One of the first outside events is a trip for all students to Genesee Valley in the fall. The natural settings of the farms and forests provide wonderful opportunities for learning and growth. Students explore the outdoors and challenge themselves to realize their own potentials. Through cooperation and trust activities, the girls discover what they can accomplish by working together.
8th Grade Retreat Day
The eighth graders spend a day of reflection offsite before their graduation in June. Venues have included the Bon Secours Retreat Center in Marriottsville and Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore.
Outward Bound
Outward Bound is an international educational movement dedicated to the idea that people are capable of far more than they know. The organization’s mission is to change lives through challenge and discovery. Outward Bound programs prepare people to take on challenges and achieve more than they ever thought possible. Programs are designed for both adults and youth and vary in duration. Those most appropriate for Sisters Academy students are one-day and week-long courses.
Middle School programs are designed to create a connection with nature and a newfound confidence in students aged 12-14. Surrounded by like-minded peers and supportive instructors, students build bonds with one another, begin to test their own independence, and acquire new insights and skills to share. As students learn skills in challenging situations, they also learn the value of teamwork, compassion for others, and the pursuit of excellence. Our eighth-grade students participate in a week-long program and seventh-graders spend a day at the Outward Bound facility.
Track and Field Day at Centennial Park
This activity is for everyone in the school – students, faculty, and staff. Each May since the beginning of the school, Moira and John Monk (scholarship sponsors) have rented a pavilion at Centennial Park in Howard County, Maryland and have organized a banner day of field activities, crafts, sports, and food. They corral a wonderful group of volunteers who organize the activities and provide all of the nourishments. The girls thoroughly enjoy having fun in the sun.