Paying for Overnight Trips

One of the unique aspects of the Sunnyside Environmental School middle school curriculum is the opportunity for students to participate in field studies and overnight trips. These day and overnight trips are essential for student learning at Sunnyside—we highly encourage 100% student participation and work closely with families to make sure that every student attends field studies and overnights. As you may expect, these trips do come with a hefty financial expense for our school community. Our school’s philosophy is “no one goes unless everyone goes.” This means that we expect that all students will participate in all trips, and also expect that the school and parent community will make sure that every student is able to attend each trip. We fund our trips through a combination of direct contributions from families, PTSA fundraising, school-wide and grade-specific fundraising:

Direct contribution from families. Most of our expenses for overnight and day trips are paid through direct contributions from families. Prior to each trip, you will receive communication from the school, outlining the requested contribution for each student and a due date. We ask that each family contribute as much as possible. Each trip will have a set date that serves as a deadline for financial contributions. We will carefully examine our collected funds prior to the trip, and will communicate with families (and return money) if we find ourselves in the unfortunate position of not being able to travel due to insufficient funds for the entire group.

PTSA scholarships. The SES PTSA generously contributes toward each overnight trip. PTSA funds are raised via the SES Read-a-Thon, the Run/Walk/Move, and other school-wide PTSA fundraisers.

SES Go Fund. The SES Go Fund exists so that ALL SES students are able to participate in overnight trips, regardless of ability to pay. It is intended to be used by those who need it, but we also must use it mindfully, sparingly and with discretion. It’s a tricky balance! On one hand, the Go Fund is intended to be accessible and available for anyone who needs it. On the other hand, it is important that families only access this fund when it is truly necessary. The process for the Go Fund needs to be completed in advance of each trip to ensure accurate planning and budgeting.

To summarize, here are the ways SES families can contribute to the cost of overnight trips for your student:

1. We ask that all families pay/donate what they can toward the cost of the overnight and day trips. There are many options:

• Contribute in full for each trip via check, cash, or credit card payment through PPS SchoolPay.
• Donate additional money to cover the partial cost of another student (tax deductible).
• Contribute a portion of the trip cost—every single dollar truly makes a difference!

2. Request for SES Go Fund support, using the Go Fund form.