Off-Campus Programs

In addition to the eight sutainability-related courses offered here on campus, students are encouraged to explore one of three off-campus sustainability related programs. From the Bahamas to Ireland to Vermont, each program offers a unique perspective on sustainability education.

Learn more about off-campus programs offered:
Milton Mountain School Program

Exeter participates in the Fall and Spring semesters of the Mountain School Program of Milton Academy for 11th-grade students. The program offers students the opportunity to enjoy a different living and learning experience, while at the same time retaining a rigorous college-preparatory academic schedule. The school is located on a 300-acre farm in eastern Vermont and is intimate in size—45 students and 12 faculty members. The purpose of the program is to provide students, through their studies, their work on the farm and in the forest, and their day-today life in rural New England, with a new understanding of their relationship with the natural world and the responsibility this relationship creates.

Students wishing to participate in the program must apply in January of the previous school year. Students in need of financial aid should ask the chair of the Milton Mountain School Committee for information.

The Island School

The academy offers 10th and 11th graders the opportunity to attend the Island School for a term. At the Island School, a total of 48 students from different home schools share an experience in place based learned, which allows daily engagement with the people and environment of the Bahamas. Literature of the Sea, celestial navigation, environmental art, History of the Bahamas, and marine ecology are offered, and each course focuses on the application of knowledge to real-world problems. The learning, culture, and campus of the Island School are focused on sustainability. Students learn about environment problems specific to the Bahamas and look for solutions, while living a nearly sustainable lifestyle. SCUBA diving, island exploration, and two short kayaking expeditions complement daily morning exercise, science research projects, and campus work that encourage each student to develop leadership and teamwork skills.

Ninth and tenth graders wishing to apply for a term at the Island School should contact the Island School Committee chairperson. Applications are due in mid February of the previous school year.

Winter Term in Ballytobin/Callan

The Exeter-Ballytobin/Callan Program is open to qualified 12th-graders. Those selected spend the Winter Term of their Senior year living in Callan, Ireland, and working at Ballytobin, a Camphill community established in 1979 that “offers those in need of special care a sheltered environment to meet their educational, therapeutic and social needs.” The students observe and assist an experienced caregiver as he or she cares for a person with such needs. They also take the part-time art course offered to abled and disabled alike by a local Arts Centre; keep an electronic journal that they “pass in” on a weekly basis to a PEA faculty member; read appropriate articles and texts; and write a reflective paper on the experience of living, working, and studying in this community. The students receive two course credits for the term. This program is overseen by Gladys and Patrick Lydon (PEA ’68). It has at its heart service to others and asks of students much ingenuity, tenacity, and maturity.
The central assumptions of this program are two: (1) that such work is, in and of itself, of immense value, educational in the richest sense of the word; and (2) that written reflection on the experience of such work deepens the student’s sense of personal growth. In short, this program offers PEA students an opportunity to live in a sustained way the Academy’s motto of non sibi, “not for oneself.” For the school year 2009-2010, this program offers space for two students only.