London 2009 Trip
The trip is planned for Spring Break of 2009. Students will depart Thursday night April 2nd (missing school on Friday) and return Saturday April 11th (day before Easter). The trip will be conducted by Ivy Discovery Institute (IDI), whose founder is a former FCPS theatre director with 20 years’ experience conducting educational tours. Recent satisfied customers include Thomas Jefferson, Robinson and NOVA.
Student Participants
All student participants must be in good standing with Fairfax High School, must be active in FHS Drama in school year 2008-2009, and must participate in at least two fundraisers for the trip. All decisions as to who may participate are made by Ms. Knight and are final.
Chaperones
Current interest indicates there will be at least one adult chaperone for every 5 students, well above the 1:10 ratio set by FCPS. Every adult participant will act as a chaperone and agrees to accept chaperoning duties as assigned. All decisions as to who may participate are made by Ms. Knight and are final.
Cost
The cost for the trip is $2,500 per participant, but all rates may be subject to some fluctuation. All transportation, hotels, admission fees and (typically) two meals per day are included. Each participant will be responsible for his/her own spending money (generally including lunch daily), which is not included in the $2,500. Participants will also be responsible for procuring their own passports. Currently passport costs (not including photos) are $82 for those under 16 (good for 5 years) and $97 for those over 16 (good for 10 years). Each participant will be responsible to pay $2,500 to IDI in four installments over the next 12 months. The amount due from each student participant at each of the deadlines listed below will depend on how much that individual student has accrued in his/her individual account from fundraising activities.
Cancellation and Refund Policy
Full refunds will be granted if the cancellation is submitted in writing to IDI 90 days before departure. Optional trip insurance can be purchased from IDI for around $50. Cancellation received between 60 and 90 days before departure will be subject to a $300 administration fee per person, plus a service fee of up to 25% of the trip cost plus any other non-refundable expenses incurred for hotels, airlines, or ground contractors. In the event of a refund, the percentage of the money obtained through fundraising will be returned to the Booster account rather than to the individual student. Another student may take the place of the withdrawing participant and reimburse that student money paid by the student with Ms. Knight’s approval.
Tentative Payment Deadlines (last Thursday of the month)
1/31/08: $500 due
5/29/08: $500 due
9/25/08: $750 due
1/29/09: $750/balance due
Checks should be made payable to IDI. Participants whose checks are returned for insufficient funds will be subject to standard bank fees assessed by both the individual’s and IDI’s banking institutions.
Fundraising
Dr. Brabrand has made it clear that he does not want the students and the drama department to be adversely impacted by fundraising in terms of time and energy expenditure. The goal of the five planned fundraisers is to raise approximately half the cost of the trip per STUDENT (based on 25 students). While this is a reasonable goal based on past experience, it must be understood that meeting the goal can not be guaranteed. The fundraisers are a drama mini-camp on April 7, 2008, a one week drama camp June 23-27, 2008, a performance by the Capitol Steps on a Sunday night in Fall 2008, another mini-camp on Election Day Nov 4, 2008, and a 4 day drama camp over winter break the week of Dec 29, 2008-Jan 2, 2009. Hours of participation in fundraising will be tracked and reported to Kevin Cropp, who will maintain individual accounts. It will be necessary for each student to make up the difference between the money accrued through fundraising in his/her individual account and the amount due at each payment deadline.
Student Conduct
Student participants and their parents acknowledge that the student participants are under the direct authority of the chaperones and the agents of IDI. Should a serious behavior infraction occur, chaperones and IDI will use their collective judgment to respond to the incident. Parents and participants will agree to support any and all of the chaperones’ decisions, up to and including on site penalties, restrictions, or sending the participant home at the parents’ expense.