Living Earth School Refund & Financial Policies:
We are delighted to welcome you or your child to Living Earth School programs. We believe that developing or rediscovering a relationship with nature nurtures healthy people, strong families, and thriving communities.
At Living Earth School, we plan our programs with great care for our students, staff, and the land. While changes are rare, flexibility helps us respond responsibly to safety, enrollment, and environmental conditions.
We design our policies to balance fairness to our students and their families with responsible stewardship of staffing, supplies, and program planning. Your registration secures you or your child’s place and allows us to prepare a meaningful experience in nature.
Regarding ALL Programs
CLICK HERE to access your online Active account if you wish to check or pay your balance.
If the registration deadline has passed for a session and registration is closed, participants may email connect@livingearthva.org to ask if there are any openings for the session in question, and may still register if space is available. A $15 late fee will be charged for each late registration.
Multi-week programs may have prorated tuition options available. Please reach out to the office with inquiries.
All registrations can be transferred to alternate weeks if there are openings in the week in question. A $25 transfer fee will be charged for each administrative transfer.
To request a transfer, please email the office at connect@livingearthva.org or go to your ACTIVE account.
Payment plans are available for most programs at registration. If you need a different schedule than those offered, please contact the office at connect@livingearthva.org.
By enrolling in a payment plan, you are responsible for completing all program payments, even if the participant drops out of the program.
All payment plans are interest and fee free.
All of our programs are thoughtfully staffed to ensure a low student-instructor ratio. We plan staffing carefully based on enrollment and are committed to honoring our agreements with staff for the full program session. This shared commitment allows us to provide consistent, high-quality experiences for our awesome students. As a result, refunds are not always possible for students withdrawing from programs. Please see specific programs below for more details.
Although we rarely need to do so, we reserve the right to cancel a course or change a course duration, tuition, or location. The Living Earth School is not responsible for costs associated in these cases. We recommend that you consider refundable tickets for travel.
- We are unable to offer refunds if any duration of a program is canceled due to inclement weather or other circumstances out of our control.
- If a program is canceled due to low enrollment, tuition will be fully refundable or transferable.
We are unable to issue refunds for participants who go home for any reason: illness, homesickness, behavioral issue, injury, or family emergency.
To withdraw from a program, you please go to your ACTIVE account or email the office at connect@livingearthva.org for assistance.
For youth programs, please fill out our application form (see program pages) to be considered. Scholarship grants are decided on a rolling basis with priority given to families in the great need. We will start processing applications about a month before program registration opens, and applicants will hear back within 2 weeks. See each program page for more details.
For LEAF scholarships and work trade, please check that program page for a separate application.
ACTIVE, the registration platform we use, has recently added an option for customers called ACTIVE Refund. This functions essentially as cancellation insurance and is solely between customers and ACTIVE. This optional add-on cost allows registrants to cancel via ACTIVE for a full refund, including the LES deposit, up to 48 hours before the program start date.
LES does not have any way to affect ACTIVE Refund purchases made by our registrants, so all customer support needs related to this option must go directly to ACTIVE. For more information, please visit ACTIVE Refund Terms & Conditions for the USA.
Regarding SPECIFIC Programs
All registrants pay a $100 non-refundable deposit upon enrollment in summer day camps. Registrants may cancel registration prior to May 1 for a refund minus the $100 deposit.
After May 1, registrants may receive a refund minus the $100 non-refundable deposit only if another camper is able to fill the vacancy. Living Earth Staff will endeavor to find someone from the waiting list to fill the vacancy, if the program is full and has a waitlist, but LES cannot guarantee the space will be filled.
Please read through the general financial information regarding all programs at the top of the page.
All registrants pay a $150 non-refundable deposit upon enrollment in overnight camps.
Registrant may cancel registration prior to May 1 for a refund minus the $150 deposit.
After May 1, customer may receive a refund minus the $150 deposit only if another camper is able to fill the vacancy. Living Earth Staff will endeavor to find someone from the waiting list to fill the vacancy created by the cancellation, if the program is full and has a waitlist, but LES cannot guarantee the space will be filled.
Please read through the general financial information regarding all programs at the top of the page.
All registrants pay a non-refundable deposit upon enrollment in programs. The non-refundable deposit for Homeschool and TAP is $200. The non-refundable deposit for TAP Fundamentals, Red Arrow Boys, Woodland Girls, and Forest Dwellers is $100.
Registrants may cancel registration for a refund minus the non-refundable deposit prior to August 1st.
If the registrant wishes to cancel registration after August 1st, the registrant may receive a refund minus the non-refundable deposit, only if another person is able to fill the vacancy. Living Earth Staff will help to find a replacement to fill the vacancy from the waiting list, if the program is full and has a waitlist, but LES cannot guarantee the space will be filled.
Homeschool has 2 weeks of make-up days scheduled at the end of the year. Parents are responsible for keeping the make-up days free in case it is needed. If more than 2 class days must be canceled outside of the make-up day due to weather or other circumstances out of our control, there is no refund.
Please read through the general financial information regarding all programs at the top of the page.
For specialty programs (such as workshops) in which all registrants pay a non-refundable deposit upon enrollment, a registrant may cancel registration up to one month prior to the start of the program and receive a refund minus the deposit.
After one month before the start of the program, the customer may receive a refund, minus the deposit, only if another participant is able to fill the vacancy. Living Earth Staff will endeavor to find someone from the wait list to fill the vacancy created by the cancellation, if the program is full and has a waitlist, but LES cannot guarantee the space will be filled.
Please read through the general financial information regarding all programs at the top of the page.
All adult and family programs without a deposit upon registration are non-refundable unless the program is cancelled due to low-enrollment, or unless there is a waitlist and a person has been found to take your place, which we cannot guarantee. In that case, there is a $15 cancellation fee per person.
Please read through the general financial information regarding all programs at the top of the page.
All registrants pay a $200 non-refundable deposit upon enrollment.
Registrants may cancel registration before August 1st and receive a refund, minus the $200 deposit.
After August 1st, the customer may receive a refund, minus the $200 deposit, only if another participant is able to fill the vacancy. Living Earth Staff will endeavor to find someone from the waitlist to fill the vacancy created by the cancellation, if the program is full and has a waitlist, but LES cannot guarantee the space will be filled.
Because of the nature of outdoor education, we don’t refund for cancellations due to inclement weather.
Please read through the general financial information regarding all programs at the top of the page.
