MENLO SCHOOL • SINCE 1915

Menlo Abroad students enjoy a waterfall on a hike in Costa Rica 2023

Academics

Global Travel

Get out into the world to learn, serve, and make friends.

Global travel programs provide unique opportunities for learning and service through sustained encounters with diverse linguistic, cultural, and naturalistic environments.

Menlo Abroad

The Menlo Abroad program provides Upper School students with an experiential, cultural immersion course through extended travel in a foreign country. Through facilitated curricula, service-learning, and homestay, students develop meaningful relationships with people and places within that country, make friends, and use their skills to address common problems. They emerge with a better understanding of themselves and their world.

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 Menlo Borderlands

Each May, our MTerm’s Borderlands program offers a two-week course including one week of domestic travel to the Southwestern United States to study Indigenous America, the border wall, immigration, and a host of related issues. Led by Menlo faculty, small cohorts of students journey to one of three destinations in the southwest: El Paso, Texas, to study immigration; Northern Arizona to study the Navajo; or Southern Arizona to study sustainability. Each of these courses combines time on campus before travel for preparation and project-based post-trip follow up with one week of travel, during which students, learning from their direct experience, connect with diverse groups of people and engage in service-oriented activities. In these transformative—and fun—M Term courses students develop global competency and a sense of larger purposes while fostering connections with distant peoples and communities. 

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The Northern Arizona Borderlands trip ventures to Navajo Nation (2022)

Middle School Travel

We are pleased to offer Menlo Middle School students a new summer travel opportunity to Southern Arizona, June 9-June 14, 2024.

The excursion, which departs after the close of the school year, will provide a dynamic exploration of environmental, indigenous, and immigration issues. The journey begins in Tucson, Arizona, followed by a visit to Patagonia. Students will learn about traditional survival methods in the Sonoran Desert and participate in permaculture projects with the Borderlands Restoration Network and Bean Tree Farm. The proximity to the border wall at Nogales provides a unique perspective on migration and its ecological impact.

The trip then proceeds to Elgin, where students engage with the Canelo Project. This segment emphasizes sustainable living in arid environments, including hands-on learning in building with natural materials like straw and earth. The final destination is Ajo, located near the Mexico border. In Ajo, the International Sonoran Desert Alliance and the Tohono O’odham Nation host the group, offering insights into indigenous art and culture preservation, border patrol operations, and narratives of recent migrants.

Throughout the trip, students participate in various projects, hikes, and entertaining activities, all set against the backdrop of Southern Arizona’s diverse landscapes and rich cultural history. 

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