ELA
Literature, research, writing, evidence, and communication.
Student Experience
A school day that moves with the world around you.
At Arkansas Outdoor Academy, learning moves between classroom instruction, field investigation, technology, teamwork, and reflection. Students build strong academic foundations, then take those ideas into real environments where they can test, measure, map, design, question, and apply what they know.
The example below illustrates how an AOA day may feel. Exact schedules may vary by grade, course, season, and instructional plan.
Start with connection
Your day starts with people who know you.
Students begin the day connected to an advisory community and faculty mentor. Advisory supports attendance, academic progress, leadership development, goal-setting, and a sense of belonging. Student Success Plans help students and families track academic, leadership, resilience, and future-readiness goals over time.
Advisory is not an extra.
It is part of how AOA keeps students known, supported, and moving forward.
Classroom foundation
Learn the concept first.
Core instruction in English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, health, and other required courses gives students the knowledge and skills they need before they apply them outside the classroom. Instruction is aligned to Arkansas Academic Standards and supported by high-quality curriculum materials.
Mathematics
Concepts, problem solving, modeling, measurement, and data.
Science
Scientific concepts, laboratory investigation, systems, and inquiry.
Social Studies
Civics, geography, history, policy, and community understanding.
Field application
Then investigate the real world.
Outdoor learning is structured, teacher-led academic instruction. It is not recess, free time, or an occasional field trip. AOA's model includes approximately two full instructional days each week in structured field-based learning environments, with additional applied work built across the schedule so place, evidence, and community questions become part of the academic work.
Math
Trail mapping, slope and elevation, measurement, modeling, and analysis of environmental data.
ELA
Field journaling, environmental communication, persuasive writing, research, and reflection.
Science
Water-quality testing, biodiversity monitoring, ecological observation, wildlife study, and citizen-science investigation.
Social Studies
Community mapping, place-based history, conservation-policy simulations, land-use questions, and civic research.
A sample day
What might one AOA day feel like?
This is a visual timeline, not a bell schedule. Some days lean more heavily into classroom instruction. Some become full field-learning days. The important part is that the learning remains connected.
Morning advisory
Connect and get ready.
Check in with your advisor, review goals, connect with your team, and get ready for the day.
Core instruction
Build the academic concept.
Learn through direct instruction, discussion, reading, problem solving, laboratory work, or guided practice.
Field investigation
Move into an applied setting.
Collect data, test an idea, observe systems, map a site, conduct research, or solve a real problem.
Midday reset
Lunch, movement, and transition.
Reconnect before the next learning block.
Meaningful technology / EAST / pathway work
Use a tool when there is a reason.
Students might use GIS to map field observations, analyze data, research a community question, use environmental sensors, design a solution, document an investigation, or communicate what they discovered.
The device isn't the lesson. It's one of the tools.
MTSS / intervention / enrichment
Get what you need.
Receive targeted literacy or mathematics support, applied reinforcement, extension, or enrichment based on what you need.
Reflection & wrap-up
Make meaning and prepare.
Analyze evidence, document what you learned, reflect on progress, and prepare for the next step.
Outdoor days
The outdoors become a working laboratory.
AOA uses regional parks, rivers, wetlands, public lands, urban green spaces, and other appropriate environments as places for structured academic investigation. Students learn to observe carefully, collect evidence, use equipment responsibly, communicate findings, and work as a team.
Observe
Notice patterns, conditions, systems, and questions.
Measure
Collect real data using appropriate tools and methods.
Analyze
Return to academic concepts and make sense of the evidence.
Communicate
Write, present, map, design, or explain what the evidence shows.
Technology with a purpose
Start with the question. Then choose the tool.
AOA is not anti-technology. Students need to know how to use modern technology thoughtfully, responsibly, and effectively. But simply putting a device in front of a student does not automatically make learning innovative. At AOA, technology has a job to do.
Where is it happening?
GIS + digital mapping
What is changing?
Environmental sensors + field data
What does the evidence show?
Data analysis + visualization
How could we solve it?
Design + modeling tools
What do other sources tell us?
Digital research
How do we share what we learned?
Writing + presentation + mapping + multimedia
The goal isn't more screen time.
The goal is better use of technology.
When technology makes learning deeper, more powerful, or more authentic, we use it. When the better tool is a notebook, a conversation, a measuring tape, a field instrument, a book, or simply paying attention to the world in front of you, we use that instead.
Career connection
Students begin to see where their learning can take them.
Career awareness begins early and deepens as students grow. Students explore pathways connected to Arkansas's outdoor economy and community needs, then progress toward pathway study, applied research, advanced coursework, credentials, and capstone work.
Conservation Sciences
Environmental science, conservation, land and water management, ecological monitoring, and stewardship.
Outdoor Tourism & Recreation
Outdoor recreation planning, visitor experience, tourism, hospitality, trail systems, and public-land stewardship.
Outdoor First Responders / EMT & Emergency Services
Public safety such as Wildlife Officer, emergency response, health-services exploration, outdoor leadership, and expedition planning.
Support built into the day
Students do not have to wait to fall behind.
AOA includes a protected daily intervention and enrichment block within its MTSS framework. Students may receive targeted literacy or mathematics support, small-group intervention, applied reinforcement, or enrichment based on current needs and progress data.
Daily intervention and enrichment
Advisory and mentoring
Student Success Plans
Counseling, academic advising, and early intervention
Student services and accommodations extend into both classroom and outdoor learning settings so students can participate safely and meaningfully across the full AOA experience.
The week has a rhythm
Not every day looks the same.
AOA is designed around a connected weekly model rather than five identical school days. Classroom learning builds knowledge. Structured outdoor-learning days create opportunities for field investigation and application. Students return to academic settings to analyze evidence, strengthen understanding, receive intervention, and communicate what they learned.
Friday seminar and intervention structures
can provide additional time for mathematics, science, ELA, social studies, elective support, reflection, and targeted academic needs. Do not assign specific Friday schedules or times unless finalized.
What students build
More than credits.
Knowledge
Strong academic foundations aligned to Arkansas standards.
Curiosity
Confidence to ask questions and investigate them.
Resilience
The ability to adapt, persist, reflect, and try again.
Leadership
Communication, teamwork, responsibility, and service.
Direction
A clearer understanding of strengths, interests, careers, and next steps.
Okay, but you probably have questions
The stuff students actually want to know.
Do I have to be athletic?
Nope. Outdoor learning isn't a sport, and being the fastest or strongest person isn't the goal.
Do I have to know how to hike or camp?
No. You don't have to arrive knowing how to do this stuff. Learning it is part of the experience.
Do I have to love camping?
Nope.
Am I going to hike all day?
No. Some learning happens in classrooms. Some happens outside. Some happens using technology. Some happens through projects, labs, research, discussion, and fieldwork.
Are we outside when it's pouring rain or dangerously hot?
Outdoor learning doesn't mean going outside regardless of conditions. Weather and safety matter.
What if I forget my jacket?
Check the Stigma-Free Gear Closet.
What if I don't own the gear I need?
Same answer. Gear Closet.
Do I have to explain why I need to borrow something?
No labels. No explanations. Just gear.
Will I still use computers?
Definitely. AOA uses technology for mapping, data, research, design, communication, EAST projects, and solving real problems.
Will there still be normal classes?
Yes. You're still going to school. Math did not disappear because we found a trail.
What if I've never done any of this before?
Then you'll learn.
You don't have to arrive as an “outdoor kid.”
You just have to arrive ready to learn.
See yourself here
This is what school can feel like when learning has a place to go.
AOA connects strong academics, outdoor investigation, meaningful technology, leadership, and career exploration in one student experience.