Fourteen days down, eighty-six to go…this semester’s crew of fifty-three landed at Rock Sound Airport a mere two weeks ago, and “the Cape” has already started to feel like home. 

After their first “circle” at the “flagpole,” an inaugural “fancy-style” dinner and a good night’s rest on “Day 0,” the day the charter touches down from Nassau, the students headed down to the school’s very own shoreline for a sunrise snorkel. 

Settling into a new routine

Every semester’s “Day 1” starts at 6:30AM with a lay on the beach and some sand on the face before a collective first of many submersions into the surrounding Bahamian waters. In fact, most days at The Island School start just as early, as students train in their respective morning exercise or “AMX” groups before the sun begins blazing down during the late morning hours. 

The semester’s maiden day also always includes a community-wide assembly before their first lunch in the campus dining hall. From teachers and mentors to interns and researchers based on the other side of “the bridge” at the Cape Eleuthera Institute, everyone on campus comes together to celebrate the students’ arrival. Even schoolchildren from the Elementary Learning Center and Deep Creek Middle School make their way to the flagpole to sing songs and personally welcome the incoming class of change-makers.

Becoming leaders who affect change

Not only do our students affect change, they live it. By the second day, the Spring 2025 cohort was already split into two and ushered into kayaking or scuba diving groups. The kayak groups embark on a four-day expedition within “the Sound,” starting at either the school’s beach or just up the coast in a settlement called Green Castle. The first groups of scuba divers remain on-campus and work with the dive team to get certified, in what is lovingly referred to as “Scuba Week.”

Though only half the class was on campus at a time for the majority of these past two weeks, every single student made an impact on the community. Whether they lent an extra hand to the kitchen team during “dish crew” or popped by the art to help paint primer on the walls during a remodel, Spring 2025 showed up, notably, without being asked to. 

Community mindedness is integral to the functionality of The Island School, and this ideal is willed upon the students from the moment they land until the moment they take off. There are so many interdependent aspects of this place, and it can only be what it is when all “march together to a common loftier goal.”

BEGINNING ACADEMICS

Now that the group has developed new skills and formed a sense of place, they can officially begin their academic rotations. For the duration of the semester, students will become active participants in the learning process and be tasked with solving real world problems. They will dive into marine ecology to examine these ecosystems up close, put pen to paper to tell stories through creative writing, learn about the history of The Bahamas and immerse themselves in the country’s rich culture, and build an understanding of the world around them through applied mathematics.

Students will also work side-by-side with research teams at the Cape Eleuthera Institute to participate in real science and apply what they are learning in class to work in the field or in the lab. They will learn how to design a study, collect and analyze data; interact with important ecosystems, answer big questions, and then communicate their findings.

We are so thrilled to welcome our Spring 2025 students, and we can’t wait to see what the semester has in store for them.

A Short Island School Glossary

The Cape—short for Cape Eleuthera, the narrow peninsula The Island School calls home

Circle—the semester program’s name for formal assembly as well as its favorite shape, the formation made every time a group meets to discuss anything

Flagpole—the center of campus, where the Bahamian flag waves and students and staff alike join together for circle

Fancy-style—dinner time–unlike other meals, students sit at tables before getting in line for the dining hall buffet…then, they are called on by table to grab their food!

Day 1—the first official day of their 100 total days on Eleuthera

AMX—morning exercise that is often split between two groups, runners and swimmers, and is the students’ training for either a half-marathon or four-mile open ocean swim!

The bridge—a walkway stilted about mangroves that separates The Island School side of campus and the Cape Eleuthera Institute side

The Sound—refers to Rock Sound, an ocean inlet north of the Cape

Dish crew—day-to-day, different groups are assigned to help clean up after mealtimes