At Arcadia, students spend the last two weeks of school in a fun, hands-on, experiential learning course or two of their choice. Students choose to be in one, full-day course, or two half-day courses.
May Term offerings change year to year, but always include a variety of topics and learning styles.
May Term topics have included forensics, international foods, baseball, dungeons and dragons, knitting, hiking, translation, horses, and creative writing.
In 2013, the Photography May Term class created hilarious "awkward 80's family portraits."
During several May Terms, a group of Aradia students restored a 43-foot trawler that they planned to sail down the Mississipi as a "floating classroom." Students learned math and carpentry skills as well as studied river ecology. In 2011, the Boat Project May Term finally put the boat on the water. It unfortunately wasn't completely sailable, but the students got to camp, kayak, and do water quality activities during their trip.
"Hard work, unique opportunity pay off for ARTech students," Northfield News, June 1 2011
May Term classes often encourage students to try new sports and stay active.
Popular May Term classes have included: Baseball, Hiking, Rock Climbing, and Canoeing.
In 2018, students learned how to restore furniture in the May Term class Art and Furniture. The class was run by Jill Luoma-Overstreet, the visual art specialist and advisor in Purple.
Students sold the restored pieces to raise money for Arcadia.
