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Field Trips
New Haven Reads offers a free field trip program to area schools and teachers. Through this programming, we help students build their home libraries by giving each child five free books, and we promote literacy skills and engagement with story time.
These trips last 45 minutes and are available on a first-come, first-serve basis for one class at a time. We offer field trips for Pre-K through fifth grade. For more information, please review our FAQs below.
Field trip bookings for the 2024-2025 school year are now open! Schedule your today by clicking here!
FAQ – General
When and where are field trips held?
Field trips take place at our Book Bank. These field trips run Tuesday-Friday from 10:00 AM – 10:45 AM at 45 Bristol Street in New Haven. This location is right across the street from both Scantlebury Park and the Yale Police Department.
When will scheduling open up for this school year?
We will wait as late as mid-October to open up field trips scheduling so that teachers can check bus availability while booking their trip. To make sure you receive notification of when scheduling goes live, you can sign up for our Teachers email list.
Can you host more than one class at a time?
Unfortunately, our space is not large enough to accommodate more than one classroom at a time, and we are not able to honor any such requests. Teachers may only bring the number of students enrolled in their class.
Can you host my middle or high school class?
We have tried hosting older classes in the past, and have found that our programming doesn’t engage older students as much. Paired with the high demand from Pre-K to 5th grade teachers, we are not able to bring in older classes for a trip. However, we highly encourage you to request books for your students through the book orders program, or to visit in person to select titles for them!
FAQ – Field Trip Programming
Can I arrive early or stay later?
Unfortunately, we cannot let classes arrive early or stay late. Our dedicated volunteers arrive and set up 15 minutes ahead of time to run the field trips. If we let your class in early, it is difficult and sometimes impossible to complete set-up. This, in turn, makes the field trip difficult to run. Similarly, please make sure your bus will return within 45 minutes to ensure that we are respectful of the volunteers’ time and any programs that begin after your field trip has concluded.
Where can the school bus park?
For Book Bank field trips, there is no designated parking spot for buses. Buses may idle in any free space on Bristol St. Wexler-Grant school is just a few blocks away and they may allow the bus to idle there.
Can I select books for my classroom library during the trip?
YES! You may feel free to browse our shelves along with your students. Additionally, you may request extra books for pick up through the book orders program. Except for board books, there is no limit for teachers choosing books for their classrooms.
FAQ – Scheduling & Confirmations
How many trips can I schedule for my class?
You may schedule ONE trip per year. The field trips program is incredibly popular, and we want to ensure that as many students as possible are able to visit us and enjoy this resource. There is, however, no limit on the number of book orders you can place throughout the year. We highly encourage you to
request more books for your students through that program!
Can I schedule field trips for another teacher?
Although we know teaching can be hectic, we ask that all teachers personally schedule their own field trips. If we become aware that a trip was scheduled by someone else (your grade partner, a librarian, etc.) we will ask that the teacher actually visiting confirms the trip.
Will New Haven Reads send me a reminder?
Yes! After you book your trip, you will receive the following confirmation emails.
- You will receive a reminder from the Book Bank Director about a month before your trip.
- You will receive one final confirmation the week before your field trip, asking you to confirm attendance.
The second email will ask you to confirm your attendance. If you do not respond, you will receive one confirmation call. Lastly, if NHR is unable to reach you, your field trip will be cancelled.
If you do not receive these emails, please check your Spam folder.
What if I need to cancel my field trip?
The number of teachers who want to come to field trips exceeds the number of trips we have available. As a result, we have felt the need to institute a strict cancellation policy.
It is essential that you notify New Haven Reads as soon as you are aware that you need to cancel. That way, we are able to schedule someone from the wait list with enough time for them to book a bus. You may send notification to books@test.newhavenreads.org.
Any last minute cancellations must be sent with at least 24 hours notice so that we can alert the field trip volunteers.
Any teacher who does not show up for a field trip, or who cancels within less than 24 hours, forfeits the right to book a field trip for the next academic year.
Can New Haven Reads reschedule my field trip?
If any dates are still available, you may reschedule your field trip by using the reschedule link in the booking confirmation you receive from our field trip scheduler, calendly.
If all dates are booked, we can only reschedule your trip if it is cancelled for inclement weather. These will be dates very close to the end of the school year.
Any other questions or concerns?
Please email books@newhavenreads.org.