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IV. D. 4. Field Trips
Well-planned field trips that are coordinated with the curriculum and give concrete meaning to a specific learning project can be a vital part of the learning process at levels of schooling. As such, they shall be conducted in the West Warwick schools where ever and when ever deemed appropriate by the school department administration in accordance West Warwick School department policies.
References
Policy adopted: 4/23/81
Requests
Any individual within the school department planning a trip including West Warwick school students made during the school periods or vacation periods must submit a request for field trip and receive approval from the department chairperson, if applicable, the principal and the superintendent.
All approved field trips must be in compliance with all pertinent West Warwick School Committee policies, i.e. school department bidding, insurance, safety and transportation procedures. In addition, each participating school student must return a properly signed parental permission slip.
Any field trip beyond a fifty-mile (50) radius of the school and/or overnight must receive the approval of the West Warwick School Committee. Upon the return from the trip, a report shall be submitted through the superintendent to the school committee at it's next regularly schedule meeting.
Policy adopted: 4/23/81
Travel Agencies
Under existing legislation, if schools planning a field trip overnight do not use an existing travel agency, the school must give each individual a notice that schools are exempt from any liability. Therefore, the West Warwick School Committee endorses the use of Travel Agencies to book overnight field trips.
Policy adopted: 5/23/77
West Warwick Elementary Schools Educational Field Trip Guidelines
All buses must be inspected by the teacher or administrator before boarding and after each trip for damage and cleanliness. Minimally, each bus shall have a teacher who is responsible for supervision. Additional personnel shall be included where safety factors warrant. Chaperones should sit near the middle and rear of the bus for more complete supervision.
While on the bus, the driver has equal supervising status with staff and chaperones, and shall be the determining voice in matters pertaining to behavior which may endanger proper operation of the vehicle. The bus driver has no official responsibility for pupils when they are not on the bus. The teacher or other adult, if the situation permits, will have full responsibility for supervision of students when not riding on the bus. The authority of the driver while en-route extends to discontinuance of the trip, and return to the starting point, if in his judgment, the safety of the passengers would be jeopardized otherwise. These rare determinations are to be made in concert with the teacher in charge of the field trip. The driver of the bus will strictly follow the transportation order and will not allow a change in destination.
If a field trip must be discontinued once it begins or becomes significantly altered due to emergencies or factors such as storm or inclement weather or other situation beyond the control of the teacher and/or coach in charge or bus driver, it will be the responsibility of the teacher and/or coach in charge to notify the school of the changes. The school principal would then have the responsibility of notifying the Superintendent of Schools and the parents of students attending the field trip. If deemed necessary. students will be housed overnight in a proper facility under supervision of the teacher and/or coach in charge and the chaperones.
Field Trip Procedures
1. The teacher in charge of the field trip management notifies the school principal of the tentative plan.
2. The principal or designee calls the bus company to have busing costs determined and reports back to the teacher in charge of the trip.
3. The teacher in charge fills out the proper field trip forms and submits them to the school principal.
4. Absent extraordinary circumstances, field trip requests must be submitted at least two (2) weeks prior to the request date on the forms provided for all trips on the recommended list.
5. The principal forwards the request to the Superintendent of Schools for consideration/approval.
6. Upon approval of the Superintendent of Schools, the principal notifies the teacher in charge of the field trip and confirms the field trip with the busing company.
7. All classes in grade one through eight are encouraged to plan at least one field trip yearly. Kindergarten and pre-grade one classes will be optional.
8. Field trips that are requested which are not on the approved grade level must be requested in writing. Such requests should be addressed to the building principal for approval.
9. Approval for out-of-state and overnight field trips shall first be made by the principal and then by the Superintendent of Schools to the West Warwick School Committee.
10. Teachers of a particular grade level can opt to take a field trip assigned to a lower grade level if the particular trip was never taken by the classroom children in question.
11. School bus arrangements are to be made by the school principal/designee.
12. Private automobiles are not to be used to transport students on field trips.
13. If there is an admission charge or other expense connected to the trip, financing of the trip must be approved by the principal and arranged so as not to exclude any student who is unable to meet the expense.
14. Chaperones must be provided in sufficient numbers to maintain order throughout the trip.
15. Only those students designated to participate in the field trip, teachers and other adult chaperones may ride on the buses.
16. Students shall be under the supervision of a chaperone at all times. Disregard for the authority of the chaperones or for misconduct may be deemed sufficient cause to exclude students from the trip. In such cases, full refunds shall be made except where prior non-refundable arrangements are made.
17. The educational objectives of the field trip must be clearly stated on the "Objectives" form.
18. No field trips shall be taken during the last week of school unless a rain date has been pre-arranged. Exclusion: Grade Level Field Days
19. When cancellation is necessary, teachers should notify the principal/designee as soon as possible, who in turn will notify the bus company. This must be done early enough not to incur a charge from the bus company.
20. Generally, field trips will require no more than two hours driving time (one way) to its destination unless it is an overnight field trip.
Suggested Field Trip List
Recommended Field Trips for West Warwick Elementary School Children
PRE-SCHOOL |
Optional | |
KINDERGARTEN |
Optional | Casey Farm, North Kingstown |
| Pawtucket Children's Museum | ||
PRE-GRADE 1 |
Optional | Community Tour of West Warwick and/or surrounding communities |
| (Library, Police Station, Fire | ||
| Department, Post Office and Local Businesses), Prudence Island | ||
SELF-CONTAINED |
Optional | |
GRADE 1 |
Mystic Aquarium (Mystic hands-on in-service) Roger Williams Park and Museum Wright's Farm Schartner Farms Enchanted Forest |
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GRADE 2 |
Boston Children's Museum Colt State Park/Coggeshall Farm Community Tour Sunbeam Bread Company |
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GRADE 3 |
Boston Aquarium Worcester Science Center Parker Woodland, Coventry, RI Dinosaur Park, Hartford, CT Frito Lay Company Battleship Cove |
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GRADE 4 |
Day in Newport Sturbridge Village Plymouth Plantation RI State Capitol Tour and Slater Mill Alton Jones Campus of URI Mystic Seaport |
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GRADE 5 |
Boston Museum of Science Boston's Freedom Trail/Kennedy Library and Bunker Hill Memorial Essex, CT (tour boat & train) Grade 5 Field Day |
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Recommended Field Trips for John F. Deering Middle School Students |
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GRADES 6-8 |
Battleship Cove (Fail River) Boston Aquarium Boston Museum of Science Ellis Island (New York) EPA Lab (Narragansett) Fine Arts Museum (Boston) Freedom Trail (Boston) Gilbert Stuart Birthplace Guillette Castle Holocaust Museum Mystic Aquarium Narragansett Electric Company Plymouth Plantation Rhode Island Landfill RISD Museum of Art Roger Williams Museum of Natural History Roger Williams Park & Zoo (Habitat & Endangered Species) Save the Bay Salem Witch Museum Scituate Reservoir RI State House Sturbridge Village URI School of Oceanography West Warwick Sewer Plant Worcester Armory Museum Worcester Science Center |
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* Movies, theatrical performances, concerts, etc. will be at the discretion of the teachers at the grade level most appropriate.
Policy adopted: August 19, 1985
Policy revised: May 13, 1996
Financing
Financing of all approved field trips may be made through the use of West Warwick School Department funds or through club, class, activity funds, parent-teacher organizations and/or parent/student contributions.
Parent (students) may be asked to contribute a maximum of ten dollars ($10) per year towards their child's (own) field trip participation for field trips that are approved as an essential aspect of the curriculum.
When a curriculum related field trip utilizes such funds, no individual student shall be eliminated from participation because of insufficient funds to finance the trip.
Elective trips that are not an essential part of the curriculum (ski trips, New York theater tours, athletic team tours, foreign tours, etc.) if sponsored by the schools and under the direction of staff employed by the West Warwick School Department must be approved in the required manner and financed totally by those involved. Fund raising for such events must also be pre-approved through normal administrative procedures.
Policy Adopted: September 17, 1974
Policy Revised: October 21, 1991
Project In-Site
Participation by West Warwick High School students in Project In-Site is endorsed by the West Warwick School Committee providing that all field trip policies as adopted are adhered to.
Policy adopted: 4/23/81
Project Close-Up
Participation by West Warwick High School students in Project Close-Up is endorsed by the West Warwick School Committee providing that all field trip policies as adopted are adhered to.
References
Policy adopted: 3/12/74