Pre-K Field Trips

 Overview

Field trips for young children should focus around experiences and building prior knowledge. Young students learn best through experiencing life and gathering their own information. The main goal of field trips should be to give children real-life application of our curriculum objectives. Therefore, Pre-K teachers should plan for and take one field trip during the year, with the cost of transportation supported by the Office of Early Childhood Programs.

After reviewing the contents of this page, please reach out to your Early Childhood Programs point of contact Links to an external site. with any questions prior to booking your trip.

 Transportation Allocations

The Office of Early Childhood Programs will help fund school buses for one trip (teacher choice) for each Pre-K class using the following guidance:

• Early Childhood Programs will support the cost of buses for Pre-K programs only. Please note, Pre-K includes half-day Pre-K, full-day Pre-K, and co-taught MINC-PK (full-day, 5 days/wk). Other programs should utilize other funding sources for transportation.
• The AM and PM trip should occur on the same day to maximize transportation costs. 
• Each school must contact designated school bus contractors Links to an external site. to secure transportation. If a quote is required, you must secure three quotes using the Quote Sheet Download Quote Sheet. Please see Submitting Invoices for more information. 

NEW: 2023-2024

• Due to limited transportation funds, each school will receive a designated allocation for the cost of transportation Links to an external site.. ECP will cover the cost of transportation up to and including this amount, but not beyond. 
• All quotes and estimated transportation costs must be provided to Early Childhood Programs for approval prior to the trip.
• Transportation costs that exceed school allocations cannot be paid. If transportation costs exceed the allocation, the school will be responsible for the remaining balance at the time of invoice. School allocations are based on the approved budget for 1302 Transportation and the number of sessions per school. 

IMPORTANT: if you secure an estimate less than your allocation, please notify Amy Raymond and Melanie Facchiano so that we can adjust allocations for other programs.

• If additional funds are needed for other prekindergarten programs to join in the field trip (with Pre-K programs), and/or a field trip requires a second bus to accommodate a school's prekindergarten enrollment - LTP funds can be used to supplement the above allocations. Please contact Early Intervention Services with any questions.

 Submitting INvoices

Each school must contact designated school bus contractors Links to an external site. to secure transportation. If a quote is required, you must secure three quotes using the Quote Sheet Download Quote Sheet Links to an external site..  All quotes and estimated transportation costs must be provided to Early Childhood Programs for approval prior to the trip. Transportation costs that exceed school allocations cannot be paid.

When the field trip has been completed, quote sheet and/or bus invoices for the field trip must be sent to Melanie Facchiano, Technical Assistant for Early Childhood Programs.

All invoices must be submitted no later than May 1 of the calendar year in order to meet end of year spending deadlines. Submissions after this date will not be guaranteed payment.

*For schools that have received notification about using a single, approved transportation company, a quote from this company is still required for Early Childhood Programs. 

 Field Trip Locations

Whenever possible, field trips should be low cost and/or free. Many businesses and community groups (such as post offices, supermarkets, restaurants, etc.) are willing to donate time and/or resources to help students discover their world. Field trip suggestions can be found in the links below.

  Field Trip Information Packet: Links to an external site.

  Field Trip Factory: Links to an external site. find free or inexpensive field trips in your community

Please note, Pre-K classes do not take a trip to the library, as all students visit the library in kindergarten. The On the Road to Kindergarten mobile van will visit each prekindergarten program. This provides an opportunity for students to check out a book.