Anonymous wrote:I would complain as well. My 3rd grade DS went to the natural history museum and there were pics from several different exhibits. They ate lunch there and it was all free.

How could they spend so much time there with the bus schedules?

Is this the only field trip they take in 6th grade? That sucks.

Anonymous wrote:I would complain as well. My 3rd grade DS went to the natural history museum and there were pics from several different exhibits. They ate lunch there and it was all free.

We were told they could only spend less than an hour at a DC museum because of the timing for using the buses, therefore, the school didn't bother going to museums at all. I guess except for this field trip, my kid isn't in 6th yet.

Anonymous wrote:Our school did a similar field trip this year, but it was really great. The museum has a great program where they really went into detail about certain paintings. I think it’s way better than having kids randomly wander around. They learned a lot and really learned how to appreciate paintings.

But to go all the way to the museum and spent less than an hour there and only see 2-3 paintings sounds really lame to me. Do you work at Gatehouse? Like sure, start the program that way, then let them see the rest of the museum!

I’m so glad we have something else to complain about.

Our school did a similar field trip this year, but it was really great. The museum has a great program where they really went into detail about certain paintings. I think it’s way better than having kids randomly wander around. They learned a lot and really learned how to appreciate paintings.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had the same experience. My husband took my kids again on the next day off so they could have a much better experience. FWIW my son said the kids were not well behaved so maybe starting small was a good idea. These were 6th graders who hadn’t been on a trip since 3rd grade.

Starting small? This is the only field trip they will take all year.

Do other schools' 6th graders get another field trip?

Yeah IDK just attempting to guess why they decided to do it this way…. But should have expected to get flamed this is DCUM after all.

I would complain as well. My 3rd grade DS went to the natural history museum and there were pics from several different exhibits. They ate lunch there and it was all free.

Anonymous wrote:We had the same experience. My husband took my kids again on the next day off so they could have a much better experience. FWIW my son said the kids were not well behaved so maybe starting small was a good idea. These were 6th graders who hadn’t been on a trip since 3rd grade.

Starting small? This is the only field trip they will take all year.

Do other schools' 6th graders get another field trip?

My son's class hadn't been on a field trip since second grade, and they got 41 minutes in a museum and weren't allowed to actually see anything. They had to wait for a long time in the lobby for a docent to show up, she showed them TWO paintings, and then it was time to leave.

I thought it was our school because they are notoriously bad at planning anything, but it sounds like an FCPS-wide embarassment.

Oh no! You need to complain. What a waste of everyone's time. Buses polluting and taking up space on the streets for nothing!

Yep, same and same. These kids didn't even get to go to Jamestown, and they spent less than an hour at the museum on this "field trip".

Then the school sent us an email asking for $5.00. It was bizarre.

We had the same experience. My husband took my kids again on the next day off so they could have a much better experience. FWIW my son said the kids were not well behaved so maybe starting small was a good idea. These were 6th graders who hadn’t been on a trip since 3rd grade.

Anonymous wrote:My kid was so excited to FINALLY get to go on a field trip (her grade hasn't had one since pre-covid).

They spent less than an hour at the art museum and saw three paintings. That's it. The teacher said the whole thing is planned by FCPS Gatehouse. The kids weren't allowed to walk around at all, they had to leave because the buses had to be back to do middle school runs.

My kid complained the same.

My kid was so excited to FINALLY get to go on a field trip (her grade hasn't had one since pre-covid).

They spent less than an hour at the art museum and saw three paintings. That's it. The teacher said the whole thing is planned by FCPS Gatehouse. The kids weren't allowed to walk around at all, they had to leave because the buses had to be back to do middle school runs.