Wellness Program

The Out-of-Door Academy has introduced a Wellness Initiative, which is a multi-faceted attempt at combating the nature of our changing world. The school's founders, Ms. Gavin and Ms. Harrison, forged a vision for a school where the whole child would be educated. While academic excellence has always been at the forefront of Out-of-Door's mission, teaching young people how to live active and healthy lives was equally important in the minds of our founders. In keeping with this child-centered, educational vision, a comprehensive Wellness Program has been established for our students, faculty and staff, and parents.

Mission Statement
The vision of Out-of-Door's Wellness Program is to provide our entire school community with current, research-based information, extensive programming, and resources in an effort to promote good, healthy lifestyle choices on a variety of topics, including fitness, nutrition, sleep, stress management, building healthy relationships, and substance abuse prevention. At Out-of-Door we see both a tremendous need, and a unique opportunity, to arm the young people in our care with information and support as they battle peer pressure and other external influences on a variety of lifestyle and health-related issues.

Defining Wellness
"Of course physical health is important," states Wellness Coordinator Shelley Stone. "Not only weight and fitness, but how we care for our bodies - sleep, nutrition, lack of substance use, etc."

Other key components are:
Mental health, including social and emotional health
Spiritual health, a zest for life and believing you are part of the big picture.
Environmental health, wanting to take care of our surroundings and make it better not only for our use but for generations to come