Date: July 9-10, 2026 (Thursday, 9:00 AM–4:00 PM and Friday, 9:00-1:00)
Location: Nightingale Bamford School, 20 E 92nd St, New York, NY 10128
Cost: $950 (IGL member) / $1,150 Regular
Lunch on Thursday, July 9 included
Over a day and a half, participants will create, refine, or streamline their program
Framing and learning objectives, program leader preparation, student selection and readiness, parent partnership and communication, and third-party provider alignment.
Whether you are building a new program or refining an existing one, this workshop uses a systems approach to help you create, streamline, and align your annual preparation cycle while strengthening buy-in from administration in today’s rapidly shifting landscape. Experiential programs are most powerful when understood not as trips, but as curriculum that engage students with the world beyond campus. This workshop supports program directors with all levels of experience, from novice to veteran, in designing sustainable systems that build capacity across program leaders, students, parents, and third-party partners. Participants will have dedicated design time to draft a comprehensive annual preparation cycle that supports meaning and transformative programs.
Participants Will:
- Create, refine, or streamline an annual preparation calendar that aligns program leaders, students, families, and third-party partners across the full cycle.
- Ensure program learning goals are clearly articulated and used as anchors that shape, inform, and advance all learning activities on the itinerary.
- Develop or strengthen risk-management systems that integrate medical, mental-health, security, and logistical considerations into leader, student, and parent preparation.
- Design or enhance an annual program-leader training system, including mindsets, pedagogy, roles, expectations, and communication pathways.
- Strengthen or update systems for health reviews, student vetting, and readiness conversations that support equitable participation and informed decision-making.
- Create or enhance pre-travel programming for students to address situational awareness, group norms, intercultural competence, developmental readiness, and communication structures.
- Develop or augment a parent communication and expectations-setting framework that supports partnership, independence, and alignment with the school’s risk thresholds.
- Refine emergency protocols, documentation practices, and expectations for third-party providers to ensure clarity, alignment, and effective collaboration.
