Contact
403.938.4431
An everyday place for inquiry, creativity, and reflection at STS.
Outdoor lessons link with science, literacy, arts, and wellness.
Navigation, safety, teamwork, and calm decisions become habits.
For over four decades, the outdoors has been central to how STS develops students in character, confidence, and connection to the world around them. Grounded in curiosity, resiliency, and respect for the natural world, our Outdoor Education (OE) program builds real outdoor skills alongside the qualities that last well beyond any single trip. Students progress from their first overnight camp to self-planned backcountry expeditions, learning to care for each other, develop leadership skills, and take responsibility for the environment they traverse.
Watch students of all ages discover, explore, and lead in the outdoors. Click any photo to view full size.
Behind each figure is a faculty team that plans, prepares, and shows up alongside students in every environment the program takes them.
Off-campus days and multi-day trips extend skills students practice on campus. Teachers guide planning, fieldwork, and reflection so each experience builds judgment, teamwork, and care for place. Grade 4 teams navigate simple routes on local trails. Grade 7 skiers build classic technique on groomed loops. Grade 8 pairs learn rhythm and communication in canoes. Each experience follows a clear plan and ends with reflection that connects back to class
Students explore campus through the seasons, snowshoeing, kayaking on the pond, hiking the trails. Each experience is designed to match developmental stages, building confidence, teamwork, and a love for the outdoors before students ever leave the school grounds. By Grade 6, they are taking on multi-day camps, high ropes courses, and overnight adventures.
The program expands to introduce different modes of travel and environments, with a carefully scaffolded progression of independence. Students move from camp-based overnights to hostel stays to self-supported travel. Planned trips include multi-day canoeing trips, cross-country skiing adventures, and a self-supported backpacking trip by Grade 9.
Outdoor Education 10, 20, and 30 are accredited courses that take students from foundational skills to leading their own expeditions. Along the way they earn industry-recognized certifications in wilderness first aid, avalanche training, and backcountry navigation. It is one of the few school programs in Canada where students graduate having planned, organized, and led a multi-day backcountry expedition.
The program also supports the Duke of Edinburgh Award, an internationally recognized youth development program, at Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels.
Inherent in outdoor education, as in all of life, there is exposure to risk. The total elimination of risk is also not our ultimate goal, because encountering and dealing with risk teaches some of the most important lessons the outdoors has to offer.
What is imperative is that every risk is anticipated, evaluated, and addressed. At STS, that means formal assessment for every trip, faculty trained to the highest standard of care, and a clear principle that no activity proceeds unless it can be done safely. Parents retain final authority over their child’s participation at every level of the program.
Go deeper into what makes our OE program unique.
In October, Grade 6 students participated in their annual outdoor camp which included various activities around the STS campus and the Nihahi Ridge hiking trail near Kananaskis.
In October, Grade 6 students participated in their annual outdoor camp which included various activities around the STS campus and the Nihahi Ridge hiking trail near Kananaskis.
OE 10 students work toward three industry-recognized certifications: Remote Responder and Intermediate First Aid (recognized by Alberta Occupational Health and Safety), Avalanche Skills Training Level 1 (Canadian Avalanche Association), and Leave No Trace.
Yes. Senior School OE courses earn credits through Alberta’s Career and Technology Studies program, with individual modules worth one credit each.
Yes. Parents retain final authority over their child’s participation in any activity.
Your child’s education starts here – and we’re excited to share the learning journey with you. Explore our latest news and updates in our STS newsletter.
Explore Next
Explore Next
Explore Next
Explore Next