8th Grade Boston Trip

Call Us At: 407.332.6363

Why and What? With its wealth of museums and cultural and historic sites, Boston provides students with an unparalleled opportunity to encounter several centuries of the world’s finest art and architecture. Coming late in the spring of the eighth grade year, the trip is designed both as a culmination of the dialectic school curriculum and as an experiential preparation for the study of history, theology and philosophy that awaits them in the rhetoric school. Key here is our visit to the Museum of Fine Art, with its magnificent collection of Ancient Near East and Greco-Roman art and artifacts, and our visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner and Harvard Museums, with their extensive collections of Medieval and Modern European art. Be assured of the profound way students have been affected by encountering these objects in person—having seen this or that piece “when we were in Boston” has been a regular refrain in rhetoric school classes over the years.

Though we will certainly spend a good deal of time in museums, the Boston trip is anything but an extended museum trip. Students will encounter significant sights in American history by walking the Freedom Trail, visiting Paul Revere’s home and the Old North Church where he began his famed ride. We will also take in the architectural wonders of sites such as Trinity Church, the I.M. Pei building, and the Prudential Tower. Of course, navigating a major American city—via airplanes, ferries, subway trains, and city walks—has been a great formative experience for our largely suburban students.

INFORMATION FOR BOSTON 2013

Dates: April 30 – May 3
Trip Leaders: Mr. Kevin Clark and Mr. Michael Miller
Cost: The cost of the trip in 2012 was $700
More information will be sent in fall

With its wealth of museums and cultural and historic sites, Boston provides students with an unparalleled opportunity to encounter several centuries of the world’s finest art and architecture. Coming late in the spring of the eighth grade year, the trip is designed both as a culmination of the Dialectic school curriculum and as an experiential preparation for the study of history, theology and philosophy that awaits them in the Rhetoric school. Key here is our visit to the Museum of Fine Art, with its magnificent collection of Ancient Near East and Greco-Roman art and artifacts, and our visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner and Harvard Museums, with their extensive collections of Medieval and Modern European art. As a teacher in the Rhetoric school, I can assure you of the profound way students have been affected by encountering these objects in person—having seen this or that piece “when we were in Boston” has been a regular refrain in my classes over the years.

Though we will certainly spend a good deal of time in museums, the Boston trip is anything but an extended museum trip. Students will encounter significant sights in American history by walking the Freedom Trail, visiting Paul Revere’s home and the Old North Church where he began his famed ride. We will also take in the architectural wonders of sites such as Trinity Church, the I.M. Pei building, and the Prudential Tower. Of course, navigating a major American city—complete with Airplanes, ferries, subway trains, and city walks—has been a great formative experience for our largely suburban students.