Academics

Experiential Learning and SEA Term

Experiential Learning at St. Margaret's

Experiential learning holds that curiosity, challenge, and connection are essential to a meaningful education. It is not just about hands-on activities; it is a structured, intentional approach that prioritizes the process of learning over the product. Through action, observation, reflection, and experimentation, experiential learning engages students in iterative, open-ended inquiry that integrates the emotional, intellectual, and physical dimensions of learning. From the Early School's play-based inquiry through the Upper School's extensive field work programs, experiential learning at St. Margaret's Episcopal School is mindset and a mirror through which students come to know their unique worth and their responsibility to the world.

Ben Lah, St. Margaret’s Associate Director of College Counseling

“Colleges ultimately want to get to know the humans behind the letters and numbers that tend to dominate the admissions process. They are curious about how students think and what they would add to their communities. There is tremendous value in academic and personal qualities that cannot be coached or test prepped. They can only be developed through experience.”

SEA Term

Rooted in our mission to educate the hearts and minds of young people for lives of learning, leadership, and service, St. Margaret’s Exploration Academy (SEA Term) is the school's signature experiential education program, engaging Upper School and Middle School students in purposeful, immersive learning that is academically vigorous, intellectually transformative, and emotionally resonant. Hands-on experiences ask students to engage in intellectual inquiry, cross disciplinary boundaries, and collaborate with and serve others. Empowered to pursue their passions, students navigate challenges with courage and creativity, learning through process, reflection, and iteration.

Every SEA Term course is built on four pillars of experiential learning:

List of 4 items.

  • Interdisciplinary Study:

    Courses connect and cross disciplines.

  • Place-Based Inquiry:

    Courses engage with physical settings, communities, and environments.

  • Real-World Application:

    Courses grapple with authentic problems, contexts, and experiences.

  • Open-Ended Exploration:

    Courses invite student choice, reflection, and multiple outcomes.
SEA Term courses meet nine times across the year (90-minute sessions) and culminate in a five-day intensive immersive experience in late May. Focusing on interdisciplinary inquiry, project-based learning and real-world application, SEA Term classes explicitly weave together learning, leadership and service in their design. Through engaging lessons, innovative activities and impactful experiences, SEA Term brings St. Margaret’s mission to life.
 
Participation in SEA Term is a graduation requirement for all St. Margaret’s Middle School and Upper School students. SEA Term courses are graded and students will receive a separate SEA Term transcript.
 
Representing a coherent program of study from grades 6 through 12, SEA Term courses, along with grade 8 Washington D.C. experience and the senior Independent Study Projects give students the opportunity to explore the world, pursue their passions, and construct meaning and knowledge from direct experience.

Experiential Learning News

St. Margaret’s Episcopal School

31641 La Novia Avenue
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
(949) 661-0108
 
Translation? ¿Traducción? 翻译?:

An Independent Preschool Through Grade 12 College-Preparatory Day School in Orange County California

Non-Discrimination Policy
St. Margaret's Episcopal School does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, sexual orientation or national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational, admission, financial aid, hiring and athletic policies or in other school-administered programs.