8th Grade DC Trip

A Capstone Middle School Experience
since the 1980s

The 8th Grade trip to Washington DC has been a time honored Greenwich Public Schools tradition for over 4 decades.  When COVID threatened its continuation in 2022, a group of parents teamed up with the Greenwich Alliance for Education as well as the PTAs, principals and teachers of Central, Eastern, and Western Middle Schools to form the 8th Grade DC Trip Fundraising Committee. 

The mission of the DC Trip Fundraising Committee is to ensure that all 8th graders can go on the trip regardless of financial need and that students at every middle school have the same experience.  The 8th Grade DC Trip Committee is now part of the Greenwich Alliance for Education and is actively fundraising throughout the year.

WHAT IS THE DC TRIP?

• Open to ALL 8th grade GPS Students
• 3 day, 2 night trip to Washington, D.C.
• Students tour key US government locations, monuments, and museums such as Capitol Hill, the Capitol building, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Memorial, Arlington Cemetery, the Vietnam Memorial, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Museum of African American History and Culture, and more.

TRIP BENEFITS:

• Directly corresponds to the GPS 8th Grade Social Studies curriculum – Structure of US government and democracy
• Introduction to our nation’s Capitol and encourages a lifetime of civic engagement
• Community building, contributing to adolescent mental health wellness
• Provides tangible EQUITY and INCLUSION for GPS students
• Ensures trip continues which benefits ALL, those able and unable to afford
• Helps to UNIFY students from all three GPS middle schools to work together towards a common goal
• Provides a social emotional BONDING milestone
• Fosters CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, INDEPENDENCE, LEADERSHIP for GPS students