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What is the Tall Ship Semester for Girls?
How long has the program existed?
How often does TSSG run and how many girls enroll each semester?
How much does TSSG cost?
What school will I be enrolled in? Where will my credit come from?
What courses will I take?
What credit will I get? Will I have to go to summer school?
What if I am a senior planning to graduate at the end of the semester?
What are the dates for the 2009 program?
What does a school day look like on land?
What does the internship phase look like?
What are the ages of the girls in the program?
Who should apply?
As a student, how do I raise 10% of the tuition my family owes?
What is the timeline for the application?
What is it like to live on the ship?
What is it like to live on the ship?
How safe is it?
How often can we call home?
Will the ship accommodate special eating choices?
How much spending money do I need to bring?
What about medical expenses?
What additional cost might my family incur?
The Tall Ship Semester for Girls is an experiential education program that combines academic work with real world experience. The semester is broken into three distinct yet integrated phases. The first six weeks are classroom based and take place at SF State University. Students work with TSSG staff and are introduced to the academic courses they will take while preparing for the voyage. The next six weeks are aboard a traditionally rigged tall ship. During this time, students learn to sail the vessel, visit foreign ports and continue their academic work. The voyage culminates with the students sailing the boat to their final destination. The final six weeks are spent completing projects in a classroom setting at SF State and in a boatbuilding apprenticeship at the San Francisco National Maritime Historic Park..
The Tall Ship Semester is an alternative to classroom based education but it still offers a full semester of academic credit. The girls who enroll earn high school credit toward their high school education. Beyond that, the experience offered by this unique program offers tremendous potential for personal growth. [ top ]
The Tall Ship Semester for Girls was founded in 1998 by Caitlin Schwarzman at Mercy High School. Mercy High School ran two semesters (spring of 1999 and 2000). For each of these programs, the voyage portion of the semester was on the Californian and travel was on the Pacific coast of Mexico. With the help of a local sailing non profit, America True, the Tall Ship Education Academy was formed to support TSSG when it left Mercy High School. TSEA has run five more TSSG programs in the spring of 2002, 2004, 2005 2006 and 2008. All of these programs voyaged in the Caribbean. [ top ]
TSSG is run each spring semester. We enroll 12 to 16 girls in each program, depending on the number of students that can sleep on the vessel. Enrolled students must be in their sophomore, junior or senior year of high school.
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The Tall Ship Education Academy employs a sliding scale tuition program to ensure that all students we accept into the program are given the financial support needed to make the program a reality for them. Tuition support is given on a needs basis which is determined in one of two ways:
- Students who qualify for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch program automatically qualify for the sliding scale tuition program. There are no additional applications needed.
- For all others, parents complete a Parents’ Financial Statement and submit it to the Tall Ship Education Academy. TSEA analyzes the family’s data and determines a tuition amount based on ther family's ability to pay tuition to the Tall Ship Education Academy.
The maximum tuition charged for the Tall Ship Semester for Girls in 2008 is $10,000. Tuition may be paid in an agreed upon installment plan that is issued with the acceptance letter. All tuition must be paid before the student leaves for the voyage portion of the program.
For more information on the sliding scale tuition program and several case study examples, please click here.
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TSSG students have come from a variety of high schools in the Bay Area and beyond.
At the end of the semester, each student receives a transcript from the Tall Ship Education Academy. The “home” high school of the student will transfer the Tall Ship Education Academy credit to the student’s regular transcript.
The Tall Ship Education Acadmey is accredited by the Schools Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Our courses are currently not UC approved but the student's home school can equate it with the home school’s UC approved courses if they deem it appropriate. Course outlines for TSSG courses can be provided upon request.
TSEA works with two specific partner schools, Gateway High School in San Francisco and MetWest High School in Oakland. Students in these schools participate in TSSG as an independent study program. This means that they stay enrolled in their home institution and credit for their work in TSSG is granted from their home institution.
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Upon successful completion of coursework, your transcript will list the courses below, each carrying 5.0 units of credit. In the case of course names in parenthesis, these are courses names that our partner schools use. Partner schools allow their students to enroll in TSSG as an independent study, thus their transcript is from their home school.
English (Caribbean Literature)
World History
Applied Math (Math of Navigation)
Oceanography
Leadership Development
Seamanship
Career Exploration
Physical Education
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You will receive credit for work in the eight courses listed above. This credit can keep you on track for high school graduation but you may have to take summer school for required full year courses. For example, if you are required to take a full year of chemistry in order to graduate and you leave mid year to join TSSG, you will have to complete chemistry the following year or in summer school.
It is important to work carefully with your academic counselor at your high school to make sure that you can complete the work needed to graduate on time. With some planning, you should be able to attend TSSG and not have to take summer school.[ top ]
You cannot graduate from TSEA. If you are a senior, we need to make a very clear arrangement with your home school for you to return there for graduation. Your home school must agree to accept the TSSG transcript as part of your high school work and allow you to graduate with your class.
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Check the timeline for important dates for the 2009 program.
School days on land begin at 8:30am. Classes take place throughout the day in a single classroom. Teachers rotate in and out for the various subjects. The academic day typically ends about 3:00pm and from 3:30pm to 4:30 there is physical education (PE). PE varies each day with its activities but may include swimming, land training, dance and sailing. These activities are a required part of the day.
Click here to see a sample one week calendar from the 2008 program. Our school days before the trip are populated with guest speakers and field trips. Lunch is an hour; you can bring your own lunch (there are microwaves available on campus) or you can buy lunch at one of the many food places on campus.[ top ]
When you return from the voyage, you will be introduced to a team of boat builders and other artisans at the National Maritime Historical Park. Three days of each week, you will be working with these mentors to build a boat and learn the skills of artisans working on the historic pier. In addition, you will spend the other two days a week at SF State working on final projects. [ top ]
You do not have to know how to swim. If you do not know how to swim, you will be given swimming lessons as part of your physical training before you leave for the voyage. These lessons are designed to get you as comfortable in the water as possible so that you can enjoy the trip. [ top ]
We take girls in 10th, 11th and 12th grades; generally, our students are between 16 and 19 years old. The majority of our students are juniors. [ top ]
The program seeks to enroll students who are motivated to take advantage of new opportunities. The program demands both personal and academic responsibility from its participants and we look for those qualities in the applications we receive.
This program is designed for students who are looking for something beyond what they are getting in school currently. In some cases, our applicants have lost their motivation for school. In some cases they are struggling to learn in a traditional classroom. There are all kinds or reasons that girls apply and if you are intrigued by the program, you are probably ready to try it. You do not have to be a top student or have the record of a model citizen to be accepted into the program. You do need to be willing and interested in making the best of an opportunity.
If your image of this program is a sleek cruise ship and sandy beaches, you are applying for the wrong program. This program is challenging in many ways. It offers a break from the traditional classroom but it is NOT a vacation. If you are not ready to work toward your own personal growth, you are not ready for this program.
We maintain a low student to teacher ratio and thus can offer personal attention not available in most classrooms but we do not have staff trained to deal with severe learning differences and/or emotional challenges. [ top ]
TSSG is not free and you may need to start planning immediately to make it a reality for yourself. As a part of the philosophy of the program, each student is required to pay at least 10% of the tuition owed from her own funds. Students have accomplished this by getting a job, asking for donations from friends and family and/or applying for scholarships. The effort of raising these funds is a personal investment for each student into the program and we believe that this investment makes students place a higher value on the program than if it is paid for by someone else.
One of the best resources to answer this question is the alums! They are happy to explain how they raised funds for their tuition and beyond. You can get in contact with them by checking the TSEA myspace page[ top ]
Applications for the 2008 program are available online and from the program office. Applications for the Tall Ship Semester for Girls will be considered on the following schedule:
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Early decision application deadline: August 22, 2008
Students submitting application materials by this date will receive their admissions decision by early September..
- Regular decision application deadline: October 10, 2008
Students submitting application materials by this date will receive their admission decisions by late October.
After October 10, 2008, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis for any spaces still available. Contact the program director for more information.
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The Tall Ship Education Academy does not own its own ship. Since 2005, we have chartered a ship for TSSG from the Ocean Classroom Foundation which has three sail training vessels. In 2005 and 2006, TSSG was aboard the schooner Spirit of Massachusetts. In 2008, TSSG was aboard Westward. Click the "Ships & Crew" link on the Ocean Classroom Website to see pictures of these vessels. We expect TSSG 2009 to be aboard one of these two ships.[ top ]
This is obviously a big question that can best be answered by an alumnae of TSSG. Please feel free to contact the office and get the names of some alums who would be happy to talk to you or visit the TSEA myspace page and connect with them directly. Here are a few items to get your started:
The ship runs around the clock so you will have to be up and working at different times of the day and night.. You and your shipmates will share the duties that make the ship run from steering, to washing dishes to cleaning heads. You will also have classes during the day. Your sleep schedule will be strange and your classroom unusual.
Privacy and space is minimal on a boat. You will sleep in a bunkroom with your classmates. ALL of the gear you bring with you will be stored in your own bunk (pack carefully!) There are bathrooms (called heads) that have toilets. Water is very limited so there are no showers and you will bath using buckets of water on deck or by going swimming in the ocean. This may sound crazy but we all get used to it!
It is important to understand that this is not a cruise ship and you are not on a cruise. Although there is LOTS of work involved, you will learn a tremendous amount by being on the ship. You will not be allowed to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or use any illegal drugs for the duration of the voyage. You will be working and studying throughout the voyage. [ top ]
TSSG is an outdoor experience that carries with it inherent risks. Those risks are minimized by the following:
a. We work only with United States Coast Guard certified vessels. The vessels we sail on carry a Subchapter R classification which is specific to sail training vessels. It requires the vessels to very high safety standards and modern safety and communication equipment.
b. We work with a trained, professional crew. Sail training vessels employ officers licensed by the Coast Guard. Safety is the first priority aboard the ship and emergency drills are practiced routinely.
c. We sail in the spring to avoid the summer and fall which are historically the hurricane season in the Caribbean. We also have modern communication devices onboard that allow us to get accurate and up-to-date whether reports. If there is questionable whether, we would head for a safe harbor.
d. Our students are prepared for the voyage. Our land based training, which includes physical training as well as academic training, makes them physically and mentally prepared for shipboard life.
e. We voyage in areas that are politically stable. The ship is in daily contact with the home office in the US and will know if any area of the Caribbean becomes unsafe to travel in. If this ever became the case, we would alter our voyage.
f. We typically choose our port stops to give students a view of a culture different than their own. Thus, we choose small islands where the entire community knows about our visit instead of large cities. These ports are typically very safe and our students are well chaperoned by local people, the staff and the crew. Students are not allowed to drink, smoke or use drugs and they are always required to return to the vessel by 10pm at the latest for their anchor watch. [ top ]
Calling home is difficult to do from many of the countries that we visit. Public phones are scarce and phone locations often have limited hours. We recommend that you don't count on making calls home during the voyage, although when there are phones available, students are given time to use them. Most ports have some access to email and this is a very good option to send reports home.
In addition, our website is updated as often as possible with pictures and voyage reports written by the girls. If you haven’t checked out last year’s voyage log, please do! You’ll get a great view of the program. [ top ]
Most ships’ cooks will provide for vegetarian choices if they are told in advance. The cook’s job is one of the most difficult on board and it is important to understand that you will be fed well, but your tastes will not be catered to. Students absolutely cannot have food in their bunk – it is a sure way to begin a bug infestation on board. Any food a student brings on board must be kept in the galley and will be put into a communal snack bin. [ top ]
We recommend that you bring about $200. This money will cover laundry, internet access costs, treats you want to buy in ports and souvenirs. We highly recommend that families encourage their daughters NOT to buy gifts for every family and extended family member. Your daughter’s basic needs will be met by the vessel and she should not carry excess cash. [ top ]
Once admitted, you will need to have a physical. You will need to have medical insurance. Your parents/guardians should check that their medical insurance has coverage overseas. If not, you can purchase travel insurance. We will provide more information about this later in the process. [ top ]
Once you are accepted into the program, you will be expected to pay all of your tuition. You will also sign a behavior contract. If you are removed from the program at any time for behavioral reasons, your family will have to pay for your return to San Francisco. You will need to get a passport if you do not already have one. You also may need to purchase travel insurance as discussed above. There are a minimal number of clothing items that you may need before you sail as well. [ top ]
If so please contact the program office! [ top ]
Updated June 15, 2008
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