Knight School '13: February 11 - February 15

Description and mission: Knight School is a week of mini-courses offered on a pass-incomplete basis, where the usual academic schedule is suspended and students enroll in one of several elective course options. A continuing experiment in expanding the boundaries and possibilities of the academy, Knight School has two interrelated and primary purposes: to find new ways to foster joy in learning and engagement, and to honor student interest and initiative by providing experiences and opportunities that do not routinely exist in the Menlo School curricula. While all Knight School courses engage the intellect, they might also address the hand and the heart, the physical and empathic dimensions of experience.

What’s new? This year’s catalog, our first that’s available only online, is greener and organized differently than earlier catalogs. It features 35 courses, 14 of which are co-taught or initiated by students, and includes five with strong community service emphases, more than ever. Perhaps in a nod to our new and extraordinary Creative Arts and Design Center, the catalog features the most arts-oriented courses we’ve had, and eleven courses involving at least one night of overnight travel, the same number as last year, when more students travelled than ever before. Two former Knight School faculty members, one a former photography teacher and one a college-level instructor, will be teaching Knight School courses this year. Finally, three overnight courses, Botswana, Nicaragua and Panama, are eligible for support from the new Global Programs and Studies program because they combine academics with community service and student initiative to immersive travel in the developing world.

Why February? Knight School ’13, our second Knight School week in the winter term, will be held from February 11 to February 15. Next school year, Knight School ’14 will move back to the Spring. The main reason for the yearly toggle of the Knight School date is to allow both our winter and spring varsity athletes a greater array of course options, particularly in overnight travel. Toggling the dates also allows teachers and students to take advantage of the different opportunities the different seasons afford.

Knight School Director: Peter Brown
Knight School Assistant Director: Cathy Rettberg
Knight School Travel Logistics Coordinator: Bianca Nakayama
Knight School Parent Liaisons: Cathy Glazer, Vicki Woolf
Knight School Advisory Committee: Michael Brody, Christopher Cassidy ’15, Daniel Chan ’15, Maxwell Coleman ’13, James Dann, Kate Dumanian ’14, Edwige Gamache, Randy Joss, Brittney Kidwell ’15, Bridgett Longust, Tripp Robbins, Craig Schoof, Lexi van Lighten ’15, Mark Warren, Caroline Wheeler ’14

¹ Note that this is the date the financial aid application must be received, not mailed or postmarked.

² Students may not change their course preferences after 10/5, 3:00 pm. Winter athletes enrolling in overnight travel courses or KS94 Pounding Nails need to submit an online athletic exemption form at the time of registration. Late or incomplete registrations will lose placement priority.

³ Campus-based Knight School courses begin at 9:00 am and end at 3:00 pm, unless specified otherwise. On Friday, 2/15, Knight School will end at 2:00 pm, at which time Winter Break will begin.

Many Knight School courses involve fees and parental permission. Estimates of fees are included on the course pages in this catalog. On or about Tuesday, November 13, families will be notified and be able to access their child’s Knight School course, finalized fees, and directions for online or hard copy forms to complete and submit. Payment of fees and permission forms will be due by Friday, December 14. These fee payments and forms are necessary to secure a student’s placement in a Knight School course. Students with unpaid fees or incomplete permission forms will lose their placements in their preferred courses.

Overnight travel courses offer unique opportunities for students to learn through immersion in unusual cultural or natural settings. Teachers are aware of the ever-growing expense of travel and the difficulty this creates for our families, especially in the current economic climate, and have tried to reduce fees as much as possible while at the same time maintaining the safety, integrity and attractiveness of their courses.

All students registering for an overnight course must submit a non-refundable deposit to Assistant Knight School Director Cathy Rettberg at the library circulation desk by Monday, October 8, 3:00 pm, in order for that preference to be honored. The students' full name should be written on the front of the check along with the name of the overnight course for which the check is intended (e.g. John Smith - Botswana). While students can register for up to three overnight course preferences, they should bring a deposit only for their top preference: if that preference is unavailable the deposit will be applied to the next available preference. If no preference is available, the deposit will be returned. Finalized information on deposit amounts, payees and other aspects of overnight travel will be distributed at Trip Information Night.

Global Programs and Studies:

This year, three travel courses that combine foreign travel, academic rigor and student initiative with community service are eligible for a modest amount of financial support through Menlo’s new Global Programs and Studies program. These courses are designated with the following logo.

Trip Information Night:
Anyone interested in one or more of the eleven overnight travel courses should attend the meeting on Monday, September 24, at 7:00 pm, in the Athletic Center. This is an important opportunity to learn more about the travel courses and the processes and requirements for enrolling in them.

Financial Aid:

Requesting financial aid for overnight travel courses:
While fundraising may be used to defray costs for all participants on overnight travel courses, the School intends to offer limited financial aid to students who currently receive a financial aid package and who wish to enroll in a course that involves one or more nights of overnight travel. The following caveats should be noted:

• Menlo School makes no guarantee that financial aid will be available for all who apply and no guarantee that funds will be available in future years.
• Where demand for financial aid exceeds supply, financial aid grants will be given on the basis of seniority, with seniors receiving highest priority.
• Financial aid will be granted for only one Knight School trip during a student’s four-year career regardless of the amount awarded; those who have already received Knight School financial aid are ineligible for further aid.
• Names of financial aid recipients will be distributed on a need-to-know basis. While all effort will be made to maintain discretion, anonymity and confidentiality, the School cannot guarantee that teachers and other adults involved with a Knight School course will remain ignorant of names of financial aid recipients in that course.
• Where funds are available, the financial aid grant awarded to a given student will be proportionate to that student’s tuition grant, e.g., a student receiving 50% financial aid will receive 50% of the fee for a Knight School overnight travel course.

If you are a financial aid student requesting financial aid for a Knight School overnight course, you must complete the Financial Aid Request Form. The Financial Aid Office will also mail an identical form home to financial aid recipients. The Financial Aid Office must receive the completed application form by Thursday, September 27. Late applications will lose their funding priority.

Administering and distributing financial aid on behalf of award recipients:
The Financial Aid Office will notify applicants of financial aid awards by Wednesday, October 3. After financial aid is awarded, the parents will be informed of the total amount and the deposit that they must pay for the trip. Note that regardless of the aid package, a minimal non-refundable deposit is required. Financial aid will then be distributed in the following manner:

• Parents will make the non-refundable deposit to Cathy Rettberg in the library by Monday, October 8 and all installment payments for the trip until they have reached the total payment amount due from them.
• The remaining payments to the trip vendor will then be paid by the School.
• The trip vendor or the School must receive payment from a family of a student receiving partial aid before the School will release the remaining payment for that student for the Knight School trip.
  

For further information, contact Financial Aid Assistant Mary Emery, ext. 2601.

Winter athletes and Knight School overnight courses:
Students involved in the Winter athletic program who register for a course that involves overnight travel need to secure permission from Athletic Director Craig Schoof before they will be enrolled. Though exceptions are possible, varsity athletes will normally not be permitted to enroll in overnight travel courses because of the commitment required at the highest levels of high school competition. In most cases, sub-varsity athletes will be permitted to enroll in overnight travel Knight School courses. Regardless, all Winter sport athletes applying to courses that involve overnight travel (and Habitat) must complete and submit an online Athletic Exemption request for Knight School available at the registration site by Friday, October 5, 3:00 pm. Athletic Director Craig Schoof will subsequently consider all applications; no student will be permitted to enroll in an overnight travel course and play a Winter sport without Mr. Schoof’s expressed, formal permission.

Public components are optional. This year a group of student journalists will have an unofficial Knight School course circulating and documenting the campus-based courses. Their writings and photos will be published and available to the Menlo community. Several courses will offer public components, allowing the public access to the processes of the course or selected student creations or outputs from the course. Public components take a variety of forms, e.g., blogs, lunchtime talks, public discussions, etc. Families and others are encouraged to view or attend these public presentations.