Resources for Teachers
GCV&M has staff and resources to enhance your teaching experience. We host summer professional development seminars, offer tailored lesson plans to compliment your experience, have access to primary source material from our collection, and at times can cover on-site and classroom experiences with limited grant funding. For questions or more information, contact education@gcv.org
Free Admission
Planning a field trip? Want to see how the museum might connect to your classroom? Scoping out all that the museum has to offer? K-12 teachers receive FREE admission on day-time Museum general admission!
Please send an email before you arrive to: education@gcv.org and be prepared to show a school ID or badge at the Admissions Booth.
Free Teacher Workshops
In the summer we offer FREE, half day teacher workshops focused on history, art, and science. Educators will learn about ways to incorporate GCV&M’s collection, historic village, and nature center into their curriculum.
Stay tuned for more information about upcoming teacher workshops!
Grant Funding
Various generous donors allow GCV&M to offer limited grant funding to schools that meet certain qualifications. All grant funding is limited, and is offered first-come, first-served.
For the 2024-2025 School Year:
- FREE admission and transportation for RCSD public and public charter schools.
- This is limited to 2 programs per grade. A program is a field trip to the museum OR an in-classroom moveable.
- FREE admission for schools who have a 50% or more economically disadvantaged student population
- This is limited to 2 field trips to the museum, per grade.
- This cannot be used for in-classroom moveables.
- FREE 30-minute art gallery enrichment, “Framing Nature” or “Framing History” for ANY school group grades 6-12.
- This can be paired with either of the grant options above when using it for a field trip to the museum.
Contact education@gcv.org to learn more.
FAQs
Various generous donors allow GCV&M to offer grant funding to schools that meet certain qualifications. All RCSD schools, including public charters, are eligible for free student admission and transportation. Any rural/suburban school district where 50% or more students qualify for free/reduced lunch is also eligible for free student admission. Each teacher at qualifying schools can use these grants for two programs per academic year.
The cost of chaperone admission is $13/individual. Chaperones will pay upon arrival at the admissions tunnel – do not collect their payment in advance. If you bring an EBT card and ID you are eligible for $3 admission.
- This varies depending on the type of program. On a regular, non-guided, field trip day we recommend a 1:10 staff/chaperone to student ratio. For guided field trips – there will be a set number of chaperone spots available.
You need to fill out the bus order form in your main office and put GCV&M down as the person to bill. Specific contact information for First Student is: William Simpson, Rochester First Student, 1-585-288-8080.
It is important to dress for the weather, as all of our programs have outdoor portions that take place rain or shine.
Yes, we recommend bringing lunch for your students to enjoy while at the Museum. Upon arrival you will receive a lunch location where you can both store your lunches and eat. On busy days, lunch times will be assigned by the Museum.
Retail locations will be open Wednesday – Sunday from May 6th until October 9th. The Museum Store may be open on select days throughout the off season. Click here to learn more.
Enrichments are ½ hour activities that cost an additional $4 per student. They allow students to engage in hands on historical activities. The extra cost of enrichments can not be covered by grant funding. Enrichments must be booked at the time of registration.
The Nature Center is located to the right of the Museum, just before the first two parking bays. You will see a turn-off to the right at this location; turn in there and pull up to the Nature Center Loop for student drop-off and check-in.
The lead teacher is responsible for collecting student payment, presenting a final headcount upon arrival, communicating with GCV&M about any changes to your confirmation, and receiving and distributing materials from the museum upon arrival (maps, schedules, etc.). We also recommend the lead teacher gives their cell phone number to all parent chaperones and bus drivers to facilitate communication.
All necessary teachers, aides, nurses, and bus drivers count as school staff and are admitted at no charge. Parent chaperones do not count as school staff.
Yes, homeschool groups may sign up, as school groups, for any regular, non-guided field trip day. Parents pay the reduced chaperone fee. Additionally, we offer specific homeschool theme days throughout the year. Click here to learn more about Homeschool Programs at GCV&M.
Thank you for being a Museum Member! In the instance of school programs, all students must pay regardless of membership status.