Summer Field Studies 2025
Summer Field Study is a class offered within the curriculum of Roncalli High School. The program is one part academics, one part adventure, and one part retreat. Students hike, climb, camp, cook, swim, raft, backpack, play and pray in a uniquely challenging program that teaches students to respect themselves, to become leaders, and to work to achieve their dreams. Most importantly, students learn to read from the Book of Creation that God has given us to make known His grandeur, wisdom and love for each of us. Over 3,000 students have participated over the past 43 years.
Destinations:
BaseCamp 1 – Chris Park, Durango, CO is located within the San Juan National Forest. The San Juan National Forest encompasses about 1.8 million acres in the southwestern corner of Colorado. From high-desert mesas to alpine peaks, these federal lands are managed for multiple uses and visitors are asked to respect each other and the natural resources.
BaseCamp 2 – Printer Boy Campground, Leadville, CO is located just outside the highest incorporated city in the United States, Leadville, CO at 10,142 ft above sea level. The campground abuts up to Emerald Lake which is fed from the snow runoff of the tallest mountains in Colorado. Students will be able to hike alpine forests that give way to alpine prairies as they ascend above the treeline. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to summit one or two of the tallest peaks in Colorado.
Auxiliary Adventures:
Arches National Park – Discover a landscape of contrasting colors, landforms, and textures unlike any other. The park has over 2,000 natural stone arches, hundreds of soaring pinnacles, massive rock fins, and giant balanced rocks. This red-rock wonderland will amaze you with its formations, refresh you with its trails, and inspire you with its sunsets.
Capitol Reef National Park – Located in south-central Utah in the heart of red rock country, Capitol Reef National Park is a hidden treasure filled with cliffs, canyons, domes, and bridges in the Waterpocket Fold, a geologic monocline (a wrinkle on the earth) extending almost 100 miles.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park – Big enough to be overwhelming, still intimate enough to feel the pulse of time, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park exposes you to some of the steepest cliffs, oldest rock, and craggiest spires in North America. With two million years to work, the Gunnison River, along with the forces of weathering, has sculpted this vertical wilderness of rock, water, and sky.
The Great Sand Dunes National Park – The tallest dunes in North America are the centerpiece in a diverse landscape of grasslands, wetlands, forests, alpine lakes, and tundra. Stay on a moonless night to experience countless stars in this International Dark Sky Park!
Mountaineering – Students will have the opportunity to climb one of Colorado’s majestic peaks reaching into the sky over 14,000 ft above sea level. This adventure will test even the most fit person’s endurance but the views from the top are a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Noah’s Ark – Every student will have the opportunity to complete a whitewater rafting trip with Noah’s Ark during the trip. Noah’s Ark is located just outside Buena Vista, Co and at the north end of the Arkansas River. While on the river the students will not only be exhilarated with the rapids they encounter but also will get to take in the grandeur of Brown’s Canyon.
Dates – JUNE 15 – 28, 2025
Tuition – $1,900 – The tuition covers all transportation, food costs, backpacks, sleeping pads, camping and park admission fees, rafting fees, laundry, showers, and lodging expenses. Students provide their own sleeping bag, daypack, and tent.
2025 Summer Field Study – Student Trip Information Form (Due May 9th, 2025)
2025 Field Trip Information and Permission Form (Due May 9th, 2025)
Payment Schedule –
November 22, 2024 – Preliminary Deposit Due – $300.00 – Check made out to Roncalli High School – Please put student name and SFS on the memo line. (Fully refundable until March 07, 2025)
March 07, 2025 – Confirmation Deposit Due – $700.00 – Check made out to Roncalli High – Please put student name and SFS on the memo line.
May 09, 2025 – Final Balance Due – $900.00 – Check made out to Roncalli High – Please put student name and SFS on the memo line.
Important Dates
April 22nd, 2025 – Family Planning Night – 7:00 PM in the Roncalli High School Auditorium.
April 23rd, 2025 – Family Planning Night – 7:00 PM in the Main Gymnasium at Bishop Chatard.
June 13, 2025 – Gear Drop Off – 6:00-8:00 PM – Front Entrance of the Ascension St. Vincent Gymnasium (Door 15) at Roncalli High School or the Parking Lot of Bishop Chatard High School.
June 14, 2025 – Gear Drop Off 8:00-10:00 AM – Front Entrance of the Ascension St. Vincent Gymnasium (Door 15) at Roncalli High School.
June 15, 2025 – Meet at Roncalli at 1:00 PM. Entry through Door 1 to the Cafeteria. Depart Roncalli at 2:00 PM.
June 15, 2025 – June 28, 2025 – Summer Field Study Adventure.
June 28, 2025 – Return to Roncalli High School around 6:00 PM.
