Wheels to Learning
Wheels to Learning transportation funding is available for the 2023-2024 school year.
Funding field trip transportation in Connecticut
In the fall of 2018, The Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts and the Newell D. Hale Foundation launched Wheels to Learning as a pilot program to provide transportation funding for field trips for all K-12 Windham County, Connecticut public schools traveling to designated non-profit cultural institutions in the arts, sciences and humanities.
An experiment in increasing access
The cost of busing is often cited as an impediment to valuable out-of-classroom learning experiences. The funders of Wheels to Learning seek to understand if providing funding for transportation will increase access to these opportunities for public school students. SFFEA also hopes to learn about the impact on visitation and revenues to the participating non-profit organizations.
Since the program’s launch in 2018, Wheels to Learning has provided over $59,000 of transportation grants benefitting approximately 9,400 students. These grants were provided to 35 schools for 135 field trips to 10 different educational venues.
Cumulative Program Totals
As of July 2023
Grants: $59,000
Field Trips: 135
Students: 9,400
Creating connections
SFFEA welcomes the interest of other funders to expand this important source of education funding to other underserved school districts in Connecticut.
For further information about Wheels to Learning, please visit the program website at wheelstolearning.org.
Updated September 2023