School in the Park

Funded through the generosity of Price Charities, School in the Park is an innovative program that shifts the location of school from a traditional classroom setting in an inner-city school to the resources and educational opportunities available at museums in Balboa Park. The instructional environment offers interactive learning and encourages students to become active participants in their own education. Serving third, fourth, and fifth grades, students and their families are invited to return to the Museum free of charge for unlimited visits. 

Students from Rosa Parks and Hamilton Elementary Schools participate in a program that is designed to fully utilize the unique educational opportunities of San Diego's cultural institutions in Balboa Park. The plan allows all third, fourth and fifth grade students to spend up to eight weeks at San Diego's famous Balboa Park, where they participate in week-long educational programs at nine institutions. In essence, the students spend almost twenty-five percent of their time learning in this hands-on, real world setting.

Visits to museums and cultural institutions bring meaning to the printed page because many of the students do not have prior knowledge about the variety of subjects covered in their school materials. Hence, the Park Program has the potential to engage students in learning that has real world connections.