Our extensive Field Education program engages students in the rich community that surrounds us, building confident learners able to navigate their community, their learning, and ultimately, their lives.

 

Our Field Education Program works in three specific ways:

Academically, our program enables children to make connections between classroom learning and the world outside, to see and touch authentic objects, and to learn from experts in a particular field.

Socially, it provides children with opportunities to interact with each other in a variety of environments and contexts, and exposes them to many different kinds of people and places.

Philosophically, it helps children realize that learning is a process that can go on anywhere that circumstances and interest permit - a process that can continue for the rest of their lives.

 

Here are some examples of field trips throughout the grades:

 

Early Childhood

For PK unit on Oceans:  

• National Aquarium
• Maine Avenue Fish Market
• octopus feeding at the National Zoo's Invertebrates Exhibit
• Ocean Hall at Museum of Natural History

For 1^st grade unit on Balance and Motion:  

• University of Maryland Girl's Gymnastics Team Class in College Park
• Pointe Class demo at Washington School of Ballet
• Calder Mobiles at National Gallery of Art
• Ice Skating at Fort Dupont Park

 

 

Primary Grades

For 2^nd grade unit on Native Americans:

• Potomac Overlook Park:  Lifestyle and Culture of Woodland Indians
• Deer Hide Tanning Workshop
• Brookside Nature Center:  Maple Sugaring
• Renwick Gallery:  Indian Art by George Catlin

For 4^th grade unit on the History of Immigration in the United States:

• Baltimore Museum of Industry
• Museum of Frontier Culture
• New York City:  Ellis Island, Tenement Museum (overnight trip)
• National Archives:  Research Ancestral Primary sources

 

Upper Grades

6^th grade:

• Archaeological Dig a Mount Calvert (History)
• Sheridan Mountain Campus (overnight; Team Building/Wilderness Survival)
• Forensic Anthropology Lab Workshop at Museum of Natural History (Science)
• Politics and Prowse to meet author Anthony Horowitz (Literature)

7^th grade: 

• Chesapeake Bay Foundation Overnight  (Environmental Science)
• Jamestown/Quebec/Santa Fe Exhibit at Ripley Center (French)
• Jazz Program at Kennedy Center (Music)
• Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant (Science)

 8^th grade: 

• Shakespeare Workshops with Key School at the Folger (Drama)
• Sail on Schooner Sultand and Tour of Chestertown, MD (History)
• Volunteered and Met founder/Director of DC Central Kitchen (Service Learning)
• Monticello and University of Virginia, VA (History)

 

Lisa Sommers, our Director of Field Education, arrived at Capitol Hill Day School in the fall of 1984 after earning a Master's Degree in Museum Education from George Washington University and having worked at several area museums.  During her 25 years at the School, the Field Education Program has expanded considerably; there are now overnight trips in grades 4 through 8, and over 300 trips school-wide per year.  Her work is inspired by the School's rich curriculum, and the exciting resources of the DC Metro area and beyond; connecting the two is her mission and passion.  When she is not "in the field," Lisa is busy with her musical interests.  She is a Soprano with the Choral Arts Society of Washington, and is the Choir Director at her Synagogue, Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation.

The Field Education Calendar is published biweekly and updated frequently so please check back regularly for the most complete and current information.  The Field Education Calendar appears on this website and in the Tuesday News Notes for parents.