Throughout the school year our students participate in a number of field trips. Below is a list of some of the trips our learners have taken recently.
2nd Grade: Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum
The second graders visit the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum. One of their social studies units focuses on our community history. Second graders learn about how Cold Spring Harbor was a whaling community and they learn a lot about whales. When they visit the museum they get to see a real whaling ship, whale artifacts and they get a sense of what it was like to live back when Cold Spring Harbor was a whaling town. Each second grader makes his or her own scrimshaw craft to take home as a souvenir.
3rd Grade: Vanderbilt Planetarium
The third graders go to the Vanderbilt Planetarium in Centerport each year as part of their investigation of the Solar System. They traditionally go in the springtime to watch a program about the ways in which the planets in our Solar System are unique.
4th Grade: Philadelphia
As part of the fourth grade study of the American Revolution and early government, the students travel to Historic Philadelphia. The fourth graders spend a full day touring Historic Philadelphia and visiting different sites. These sites include The Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross House, Independence Hall, and Elfreth's Alley.
5th Grade: Cold Spring Harbor Labs
The fifth graders are immersed in the world of leading scientists conducting research just a mile from West Side School at the Cold Spring Harbor Labs. The students get to peek at what motivates CSHL scientists to do research. Students get to rotate through three working labs, feeling real life experiences and technologies for themselves.
6th Grade: The Cloisters Museum and St. John the Divine Cathedral
For more than thirty years, the sixth graders at West Side School have gone on a medieval tour of New York City, which correlates to their study of the Middle Ages in Social Studies. Their first stop is at the Cloisters Museum, which is dedicated solely to the art and artifacts of the Middle Ages. Next, they visit the magnificent St. John the Divine Cathedral, which is the world's largest Gothic cathedral. They are lucky to have all of this just a short bus ride away!
6th Grade Trip:
Each spring our sixth graders take a day trip with their peers from Lloyd Harbor School. The purpose of the trip is to meet up with old friends, to forge relationships for the future, and have fun!