What's a typical day at The EDGE look like?
The EDGE site, located at Harriet Bishop Elementary, opens at 7 a.m. You can arrive at The EDGE anytime before we leave for our daily field trip. You should plan on being at The EDGE at least 30 minutes before we are scheduled to leave that day. If you are riding one of our shuttle buses, you will arrive at the site in plenty of time for our daily fieldtrip. Each bus will also offer an opportunity for each participant to receive breakfast. Before we leave each day, you can spend time hanging out at the site with your friends and make new friends. We have over 25 arcade style video games that are free to play. We have ping-pong, pool and foosball tables to play. We have card games, arts and crafts and gym games to play. We also have a big screen movie area, a computer lab and other places to hang out and relax with your friends.
Fifteen minutes before our scheduled departure time, we will gather as a group to discuss today's field trip and give you any information you'll need about the day. We will do attendance to see who is here today. We will tell you the times and locations for check-ins on the field trip. After our meeting, we will board the buses and leave for the field trip.
On the field trip, you will either be with a group of 2 or more friends of your choice, or you will be with a group that has a staff member, depending on what your parent or guardian wants. If you're with a group of friends, you must stay with that group the whole day. At no time should any EDGE participant be alone on a field trip. Wandering off and/or ditching anyone in your group is strictly prohibited at The EDGE, and if caught doing so, you will need to be with a staff person on future field trips. At check-in times, it is very important to arrive on time; if you are late to check-in, you may need to spend the rest of the day with a staff member. Please make sure the staff person doing check-in acknowledges that you have checked-in.
Once we arrive back at the site from our field trip, you can spend time hanging out at the site if you want and we will also provide an afternoon snack for free.
The shuttle buses will then leave according to the bus schedule. A staff person will announce when each bus is leaving, and each participants responsibility to make sure that you get on the appropriate bus. If you're walking home or getting picked up, The EDGE closes at 5:00, so you should plan accordingly. The building doors close at 5:00 and The EDGE staff does NOT remain on site after 5:00.
When should I arrive at The EDGE?
You should arrive at The EDGE between 7:00 and 9:00 for most field trips. On some trips with a longer drive (like Dresser/Trollhaugen and Taylor's Falls/Wild Mountain), we may leave earlier for some trips but you will always be notified the day before by email. If you're using the provided transportation, the bus pick-up times remain the same and you will arrive at the program at the right time.
Should my child bring wear and bring sunscreen?
Yes. Many of our field trips take place outside, and we recommend participants use sunscreen on a regular basis. Participants should bring their own sunscreen. The EDGE staff will help remind participants to apply sunscreen, but the staff will not physically apply sunscreen for participants.