Wheels to Learning Rolls On

Wheels to Learning Rolls On
Wheels to Learning rolls on to support transportation costs for field trips for all K-12 public schools in Windham County, CT for the upcoming 2023-24 school year. The program provides bus funding to specified field trip destinations. Wheels to Learning was widely used during the 2022-23 school year, providing $28,000 to support field trips for 51 classrooms at 24 Windham County schools, enabling 3,400 students to participate in educational and enriching opportunities outside their classrooms.

Wheels to Learning was launched by The Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts and the Newell D. Hale Foundation in 2018. The program’s funders believe that every child should have access to quality educational opportunities including those outside the classroom. The program addresses the prohibitive cost of transportation and ensures increased access to field trip learning experiences for Windham County public school students.

For the upcoming school year, Wheels to Learning will offer transportation funding for an expanded list of designated venues. These organizations are:

• Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Pomfret, Pomfret CT
  Connecticut Capitol Building, Hartford, CT
  Connecticut River Museum, Essex, CT
  Connecticut Science Center, Hartford, CT
  Connecticut’s Old State House, Hartford, CT
  Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, CT
  Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT
  Mark Twain House and Museum, Hartford, CT
  Mystic Aquarium, Mystic, CT
  Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, CT
  New England Air Museum, Windsor Locks, CT
  Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA
  Performing Arts of Northeast Connecticut (formerly Opera New England)
  Samuel Slater Experience, Webster, MA
  The Three C’s (Community Cultural Committee of Northeastern Connecticut, Inc.)
  Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT

Wheels to Learning program and application information was sent to all Windham County public schools at the beginning of the school year. To access funding, teachers apply for transportation grants through a simple application process on the program’s website.

Other New England states including Rhode Island and Massachusetts have state-wide programs that offer transportation funding for school field trips. In Connecticut, no such funding is available and school districts and the venues they visit often rely on private donations to support these costs. Feedback from other funders and program participants will provide insight to inform future decisions about the funding, scope, and structure of the program.

Further information about Wheels to Learning can be found at the program’s website at wheelstolearning.org. Please direct any questions to Linda Marshall at Lmarshall@mbphilanthropy.com.