Your Child's Specific Needs

None of the meals or snacks served at Outdoor School will contain peanuts or tree nuts. For most other food allergies, in most cases we can provide your child with an alternative option if there is something in a meal or snack item they are allergic to. Please note any allergies on the Health History form.

Food and snack options at Outdoor School are abundant. Alternative options are available at every meal for vegetarian, dairy-free, and gluten-free needs. Students who do not eat pork or red meat may choose the vegetarian option during those meals. If your student has additional specific dietary considerations, Outdoor School will work with you to accommodate for them. Please note these restrictions on the Health History form so our kitchen staff can anticipate quantities. 

You may send (nut-free) supplemental or replacement food for your child if necessary; please contact Tom Eby (teby@mesd.k12.or.us / 503-257-1606) to make arrangements for this in advance.

We recognize that students may be scheduled to come to Outdoor School during a time that reflects a religion in their family practices. We can accommodate the needs of students while they are on-site (specific dietary needs, privacy, meal times, prayer times, etc.). Please let us know how we can support your students to feel comfortable and have what they need to attend Outdoor School during specific religious holidays and practices.

Our usual medication times are breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime. If your child's medications can be taken at these times, it will ensure that their normal activity time is not disrupted. If your child has a medication that must be taken at a different time, we are happy to accommodate those needs. Please note any medication details on the Health History form.

Study and hike groups containing students with asthma will typically move at a slightly slower physical pace and take more breaks. Your child will be permitted to carry their rescue inhaler with them throughout the day to use as needed. Inhalers that get used at scheduled times will be kept in the nurse's station with all other medications. Please include information about your child's asthma triggers on the Health History form.

​The level of activity at Outdoor School is very different from what your child normally experiences during a regular school day. Because of this, we will monitor blood sugar levels closely. We typically encourage erring on the side of high rather than low to accommodate additional activity, and you may send along nut-free snacks for your child to carry and consume as needed throughout the day. Every Outdoor School site has a nurse who can monitor levels and assist with injections. Please call Tom Eby (503) 257-1606 to discuss the specific needs of your child.

Outdoor School is a hands-on, active learning environment, where lessons are taught in small groups of 5-6. As such, students who experience ADD or ADHD usually have an easier time academically at Outdoor School than they do in their regular classroom. Our staff and student leaders will assist your child navigating the social difficulties that may accompany ADD and ADHD. If your child typically takes medication, please send this medication with your child's teacher to Outdoor School. As Outdoor School does still have an academic focus, it is not a good idea to give your child a "week off" of medication. Please include any successful strategies you use with your child on the Health History form.

Your child will likely be placed in a cabin with students from other schools. We work hard to create a positive, supportive community among our students, regardless of differences. Our staff and student leaders will assist your child in navigating through the complexities of making friends and bonding with their cabin mates. All of our lessons can be modified to accommodate any academic concerns you may have, and we can work with your student to make overwhelming situations (such as a loud dining hall during meals) more bearable. Though our staff has a lot of experience supporting students on the Autism spectrum, each student is different. Please include on the Health History form any information you have that well help our staff support your child. 

IEPs are usually only seen by parents and teachers. Teachers will often share with staff some strategies to help your student to be successful, but we do not generally see the paperwork itself. If there is something on your child's IEP that you feel is important for the staff at Outdoor School to know, please either include that information on the Health History form, or attach the IEP itself to the Health History form.

If your child occasionally sleepwalks, please note it on the Health History form. We will make sure your child sleeps on a bottom bunk for safety, and we will make it difficult for your child to leave their cabin without waking their cabin leader. Please share your strategies for supporting your child on the Health History form.

Each morning, a staff member discreetly checks all sleeping bags after the students have left the cabin. If a soiled sleeping bag is found, the Outdoor School nurse will wash and dry the bedding (and any soiled pajamas left inside the sleeping bag) while the students are out of the cabin engaged in their morning field study. If for some reason the process cannot be completed before the students return from lunch, the nurse will leave a decoy sleeping bag in place of your child's—this way the other students will not wonder why your child's sleeping bag is missing. Owners of soiled sleeping bags are offered an extra shower if they wish.  If wetting the bed is something your child commonly experiences, please note it on the Health History form, and talk with your child about these procedures so they know what to anticipate. Let them know that it is fairly common, and the staff will never tell other students about it.

At any age, students may experience some degree of difficulty being away from home. For students who have never participated in an overnight program like Outdoor School before, we recommend the following:

• Schedule a sleepover at a friend or family member's home to practice.
• Talk about what your student is excited about and what they can do if they start to miss home (i.e. write a letter, talk to their Student Leader, squeeze a stuffed animal).
• Reassure your student that everyone at home will be well taken care of and excited to hear about their time at Outdoor School.
• It can be helpful to use language such as "I am so excited for the great experiences you will have this week," or "I'm so excited to hear what you learn this week," rather than "I will miss you."
• Let us know on your student's health history form if your student is in a time of transition or uncertainty and could use additional reassurance on site.

Some of our Outdoor School sites are mostly flat and mostly paved, where wheelchairs and crutches present few obstacles, and some of our sites feature steep hills, almost no pavement, and narrow, rugged trails, where even getting to the cabin areas would prove difficult for crutches or wheelchairs. Generally, your child's mobility limitations are known to the classroom teacher, and if needed, the entire class will likely be assigned to a mostly flat, mostly paved site. We also have outdoor-ready wheelchairs, and all of our staff are prepared to make modifications to hikes and other activities so that all students can participate fully. If your child's mobility issues are not something the teacher is aware of (either a recent injury or something that would not be apparent in the classroom), please contact Kitty Boryer (503) 257-1607 to discuss your concerns.

Any accommodations your child typically experiences in the classroom can be used at Outdoor School, including amplification devices, preferential seating, and adjusting the position and lighting of instructors. Most of our field study specimens can be experienced through touch. We will do our best to take care of your child's auditory equipment in the damp, dirty, outdoor conditions at Outdoor School, and we can offer opportunities to charge or change batteries as often as needed. If your child's school provides an ASL interpreter in the classroom, please ask the school to send the interpreter along to Outdoor School as well. Many of our Outdoor School sites get very dark at night. If your child has limited vision in the dark, please send an extra-bright flashlight, and note it on the Health History form so we can be sure to give your child's cabin plenty of time and assistance to travel carefully after dark.

Anxiety about spending a week away from home is common among 6th grade students—some are just better at hiding it than others. Reassure your child that all of their classmates are feeling some degree of anxiety about the upcoming Outdoor School experience. Even if they have been to summer camp or something similar before, they likely haven't done something like this with classmates, or in the rain, or in an unfamiliar location.

Children also pick up on their parents' anxiety. If you are expressing anxiety about this experience, your child will too. Try your best to conceal your own anxiety around your child, and instead express how excited you are for them to have this opportunity.

A common source of anxiety is privacy. Your child will be sharing a cabin with students from other classes (as well as at least one other student from their own class). Restrooms are separated by gender, and single-stall private restrooms are available at every site. Many students choose to change in and out of their pajamas inside their sleeping bag, or to bring their clothes with them to the restroom to change in one of the stalls. Showers have individual stalls separated by walls or curtains (not big open rooms with multiple shower heads).

Though students will visit the nurse in pairs or groups, their specific medications or reasons for visiting the nurse will never be revealed and conversations with the nurse are private. We encourage you to work with your child's teacher to help alleviate some of your child's concerns. Their classroom teacher will be a trusted adult at Outdoor School that your child will be familiar with before arriving. The teacher can check in with your child throughout the week.

At Outdoor School we support a student’s right to use a facility corresponding with their gender identity. Students who consistently identify as male at school will be placed in male cabins and use male designated bathrooms. Students who consistently identify as female at school will be placed in female cabins and use female designated bathrooms. Please make sure your child's classroom teacher knows which cabin to place your child in. Students typically change clothes in cabins and shower in the bathrooms. Single stall bathrooms are also available to any student who desires increased privacy. If the student’s cabin and bathroom assignment does not meet the student’s comfort level, ODS staff will work with the student and parent to create a solution that ensures student safety and comfort.