Field Trips

Field Trip Guidelines

Preparation & Group Organization

• Admission to the museum is always free. To evaluate and improve this municipal service, however, we ask that teachers complete an online survey after the Field Trip.
• Museum Field Trips are available beginning at 9:30 AM Tuesdays through Fridays throughout the school year. The Museum is able to accommodate up to 72 students per visit.
• Prepare students for their visit by emphasizing appropriate behavior and introducing applicable curriculum.
• Provide students with name tags before they arrive.
• Bring one teacher/chaperone for each station during your Field Trip (Due to space, please limit the number of chaperones to two per station. This is subject to change for students with disabilities). All chaperones must be at least 18 years of age.  The museum reserves the right to alter or cancel scheduled programs in the event of low teacher/chaperone turnout.
• Prior to arriving, organize your students into similar sized groups (depending on the number of stations, which is usually six).
• If busing to the museum, organize students on the bus by groups to allow for easier entrance after arrival.
• The museum cannot provide space for visitors to eat inside. Groups may eat in Richardson Park (behind the museum), LeBauer Park, Center City Park, Fisher Park (for groups of 20 or less), or on their bus during cold/inclement weather.

Cancellation

For the benefit of our volunteers, we require at least 24 hours notice to cancel scheduled Field Trips. To cancel a Field Trip, please speak with a museum representative at 336.333.6831 or at 336.373.2043 during business hours, or leave a detailed message with your contact information.

Arrival

• Please arrive at the main entrance on East Lindsay Street 10 minutes before your scheduled visit to facilitate your entrance into the museum.
• If your group is running more than 15 minutes late, please call 336-373-2043 to notify staff of your situation. We reserve the right to cancel programs for groups arriving more than 30 minutes late without notice.
• Depending on availability, up to two buses may park in front of the Museum. Vehicles must not park in the fire lane. Smaller vehicles may park in the Museum’s free public parking behind the building and across East Lindsay Street.
• Teachers/chaperones should lead students off the bus in their groups, and arrange groups into distinct lines on the museum’s front plaza. In case of inclement weather, groups can be lined up inside the lobby instead. Students will be led into the auditorium and seated in their groups by row.

During Your Visit

• Field Trips at the museum are made possible by volunteers. An unexpected shortage of volunteers on the day of your visit requires Field Trips to be altered or turned into a self-guided visit.  If at anytime, including the day of the Field Trip, we become aware that the visit will be affected by a shortage of volunteers, education staff will inform and help adjust the group’s visit.
• Teachers/Chaperones are expected to escort students throughout the museum at all times, keep their groups together and on task. The downstairs restrooms accommodate a maximum of four male and four female students at one time. Chaperones are expected to supervise students’ behavior in the restrooms.
• The museum reserves the right to amend or cancel programs in case of student misbehavior.
• At the end of the program, student groups will return to the auditorium to wait for the entire group to gather before leaving.

After Your Visit

We encourage teachers to organize post-visit activities to allow students to compare and contrast their museum experiences, thus deepening the impact of their engagement with the history.