Change the Environment – Change the Outcome
San Miguel Academy collaborates with educational and environmental partners throughout the Hudson Valley to expand learning opportunities beyond the traditional classroom. Through these partnerships, students regularly engage in off-campus, outdoor exploration and experiential learning that connects classroom instruction to the world around them.
At the center of this work is San Miguel Academy’s Project and Place-Based Learning Program — an interactive, STEAM-focused educational approach that encourages inquiry, investigation, collaboration, and career-ready skill development. Inside and outside the classroom, students participate in hands-on, cross-curricular projects that nurture curiosity while strengthening problem-solving, critical thinking, and higher-order reasoning skills.
By incorporating a wide range of learning modalities into the curriculum, students build stronger connections between academic content and real-world application, leading to deeper understanding and higher retention of knowledge. Many San Miguel students experience environmental exploration and field-based learning opportunities for the very first time through this program.
Developed by San Miguel Academy staff, the Project and Place-Based Learning Program has received international recognition for its innovation and effectiveness. Faculty members have presented the program at conferences across the United States and internationally in South Africa and Canada.
Together with our Education Partners, students continue learning in diverse field settings that inspire discovery, leadership, and lifelong learning. The skills, experiences, and confidence students gain through these opportunities extend well beyond middle school and prepare them for success in secondary school, college, careers, and life.
Our Education Partners make this transformative learning possible.
Storm King Art Center
Students in each grade work with educators from the Storm King Art Center on STEAM-based and art-focused projects. Projects are begun at San Miguel Academy and culminate with two onsite visits to Storm King Art Center.
Storm King Art Center also hosts a two-week summer camp created specifically for San Miguel Academy rising 6th-graders, featuring hands-on, group building explorations of the many micro-environments at the Art Center. The camp is part of the Art Center’s commitment to developing educational programs and partnerships that have the greatest impact in the underserved Newburgh community. The unique outdoor summer learning experience that Storm King provides aligns with San Miguel Academy’s Project and Place Based Learning Program. Spending two full weeks at the Art Center gives campers and instructors alike the opportunity for an in-depth experience, grounded in place-based learning, close-looking, and fieldwork.
Storm King Art Center is a 500-acre outdoor museum and learning center with one of the largest collections of contemporary sculptures in the United States. Since 1960, Storm King has been dedicated to stewarding the hills, meadows, and forests of its site and surrounding landscape. Building on the visionary thinking of its founders, Storm King supports artists and some of their most ambitious works.
Hudson Highlands Nature Center
Throughout the school year, sixth, seventh, and eighth-graders spend time at the Hudson Highlands Nature Center, where they learn about habitats and wildlife through exploration and discovery.
The Hudson Highlands Nature Center focuses on environmental education through hands on education and play, with a mission to develop responsible caretakers of the natural world.
Stony Kill Farm Environmental Education Center
Fifth graders are at Stony Kill Farm every other week throughout the year for a wide range of experiences. Students learn about typical farm animals and their life cycles, gardening and food systems, bees and beekeeping, birds, and the challenges and importance of forest and land preservation. Farm work and chores are an integral part of the program, including animal care, barn maintenance, and seasonal tasks such as maple syrup production, planting, and harvesting. Organizations such as the Verplank Garden Club and Battenkill Fibers work with students on special projects and crafts, including holiday plants with hand decorated pots and wool spinning, carding, and felting.
Stony Kill Farm Environmental Education Center is a 750-acre farm on the ancestral land of the Wappinger and the former homesite of the Verplanck Family, who gave the land to the New York State Department of Education to be used as a teaching farm by SUNY Farmingdale in 1942. The farm and land were transferred to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in 1973 and today, the historic grounds continue as a working farm. It was added to the National Register of Historic places in 1980.
Malcolm Pray Achievement Center
At the Malcolm Pray Achievement Center, students participate in a variety of projects and programs to learn about entrepreneurship, innovation, and automobiles. As part of the Michael Maluchnik Photography Seminar, 5th graders learned the fundamentals of photography from professional photographers using cars in the Malcolm Pray Collection.
6th graders read The First Black Autos by Henry May and had the opportunity to meet the author and discuss the book. The First Black Autos chronicles the struggles and successes of the author’s distant relatives, the Patterson family, credited as America’s first African-American automotive pioneers.
8th graders attended An Evening of Grit, a presentation on motivation and persistence led by Tom Deierlien, a retired U.S. Army Major, Operation Iraqi Freedom Vet, and recipient of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Tom is co-founder of the TD Foundation, a 100% volunteer organization that provides aid to the children of wounded warriors and fallen heroes.
The Malcolm Pray Achievement Center in Bedford, NY, inspires visitors towards success through a world-class automobile collection and the entrepreneurial story of Malcolm Pray.
