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Your specific itinerary will depend on which destinations you choose, what learning objectives you’re trying to reach, and how long you’ll be spending in different destination cities. Your Account Manager is a destination expert who will help you choose activities that meet your group’s needs. Take a look at some of our samples itineraries to get a feel for the various options.
We use all major carriers. American, United, Northwest, Southwest, and US Airways are our top carriers.
All of our hotels are nationally recognized chain hotels such as Marriott properties, Holiday Inn, Hilton, Embassy Suites, or comparable.
Full American breakfasts are served at the hotel or at a local restaurant. Lunches include food courts, fast food, or cafeteria locations, and dinners are sit down, buffet style, food court, or cafeteria. Specialty meals for participants with dietary restrictions can usually be easily accommodated.
WorldStrides contracts with only the most reputable suppliers. While your specific trip details will be developed with your Account Manager, click here for more information about our suppliers.
History Programs
All reservations and logistical planning; round-trip transportation; Course Leader; quality overnight accommodations; On-site Coordinators at hotel (East Coast history programs only); professional night chaperones; all meals; comprehensive liability insurance and accident and illness coverage for all participants; all admissions, fees, and gratuities; Student Discovery Journals; parent presentation materials, including the Online Parent Meeting; registration letters and brochures; promotional materials, including videos, brochures, Online Promotion Tutorial, an interactive promotion presentation, and your own promotional trip website; MyTrip, your complete online resource for planning your trip; Fundraising Handbook; Teacher’s Guide with pre- and post-program lesson plans (for select programs); Online Learning Center for all students -- those attending and not attending -- to explore the content covered on your WorldStrides program; Discovery for Credit program that allows participating students to earn high school credit after their trip; all accounting and invoicing services, customer service staff to handle all parent inquiries; on-line resources for educators, parents, and students; one free adult chaperone for every 15 full-paying participants (unless requested otherwise).
Science Programs
All reservations and logistical planning; round-trip transportation; 24-hour specially-trained Course Leader; quality hotel accommodations; professional night chaperones, in addition to hotel security (except for Costa Rica); hearty meals; comprehensive liability insurance and accident and illness coverage for all participants; all admissions, fees, and gratuities; parent presentation materials; registration letters and brochures; promotional materials (videos for most programs, posters, etc.); Fundraising Handbook; all accounting and invoicing services, Teacher’s Guide with pre- and post-program lesson plans (except for Costa Rica, Habitat: H2O, Science in Motion, Splash into Science, and Dive In: Life in the Field); customer service staff to handle all parent inquiries; on-line resources for educators, parents, and students; one free adult chaperone for every 15 full-paying participants (unless required otherwise).
Most of our groups travel during their Spring Break, right after school lets out for summer vacation, or during an extended holiday weekend (i.e. Presidents' Day, etc.). Some groups prefer to travel in the early fall months. We can schedule your trip for whatever time works best for you and your students.
Click here for details about WorldStrides’ rigorous safety standards.
With WorldStrides’ outstanding educational materials, every student in your class benefits from the program, even those who are unable to travel with your group. You can share the benefits of the Online Learning Center with all your students, and our teacher guides give you classroom activities and facts to share with the whole class.
In the history classroom, students learn the fundamentals of how a Bill becomes a Law. When students come to Washington, D.C. they take learning to a higher level when they walk through the Capitol and sit in the Congressional or Senate galleries where our laws are made. In the science classroom, students learn the fundamentals of biology and aquatic science. When students visit Florida or Costa Rica, they are immersed in a living laboratory where they come face to face with manatees, dolphins, and exotic animals in a tropical rainforest. Focused educational travel with a WorldStrides’ Course Leader enables learning to come to life. Click here for details about WorldStrides Integrated approach to learning.
In addition to the unparalleled educational value of interactive, hands-on learning, your students will also develop some important life skills. Students learn to rely on themselves to budget spending money and manage free time. For many students, this marks their first trip on an airplane or the first time they’ve been away from their parents, and the personal growth they experience is remarkable. Most importantly (from the student perspective), they have FUN and make memories that last a lifetime!
A WorldStrides educational travel program is fun, rewarding, easy, and educational. You will connect with your students on a deeper level, and they will always remember you as the teacher that took them further than they ever thought possible. Their parents will recognize your commitment to education. You travel free with your group, and since you choose the other adult chaperones, you could bring a friend, a spouse, another teacher, or anyone else you want. You become a more effective educator when you share all the knowledge and details your acquired through your on-site discoveries. When you complete your trip, you also have the opportunity to earn Professional Development Points (PDPs) to enhance your professional development efforts.
WorldStrides’ Discover D.C. program is recommended for the abilities and curriculum of middle school students while Make New York Yours is geared more to high school students. Our Habitat: H2O, Science in Motion, and Splash into Science programs are recommended for middle school students, while our Costa Rica: Wild Science program is customized to meet the needs of both middle and high school students (each level has a different Discovery Journal and activity level), and our Dive In: Life in the Field program is directed towards high school students. However, our specially-trained Course Leaders can adapt the learning experience to students of other ages and skill levels. Call 1-800-688-8584 to speak with an Educational Travel Specialist who can help you choose the right program for your students.
Once you have chosen to take your students on an educational tour, you will present your decision to your school's administration, your students, and their parents. Accreditation is a guarantee of superior educational content. Without accreditation, you may never receive administrative support, and parents may question the true value of this experience. To make this experience a success and have as many students as possible taking advantage of it, an accredited organization is your best and only choice.
Planning an educational travel program with WorldStrides is easy. Call today to speak to an Educational Travel Specialist at 1-800-688-8584. He or she will help you choose the right program for your curriculum and set desired travel dates. Then, let our Account Managers plan your itinerary and arrange your travel. We’ll take care of all the billing, collection, and payments, and our Customer Support staff is available to answer parent questions.
All you have to do is promote the trip using our proven promotional materials.
With 40 years of experience, we know what kinds of questions parents and principals have, and we can prepare you with the answers and the confidence to help them understand your travel program. In addition, our Educational Travel Specialists speak with administrators often and are available to speak with yours to help explain program specifics, liability coverage, our accredited status, or anything else.
WorldStrides maintains the most comprehensive liability insurance in the student travel field, protecting you and your students. In addition, accident, illness, and accident-related dental insurance coverage is provided for all participants.
WorldStrides takes care of all the billing and collection. You’ll never have to track down a student to ask for money. You will have your own Financial Services Representative, who can answer questions you have about any of the financial details of your program
After you commit to traveling with a group, WorldStrides can provide you with a fundraising handbook full of different ideas that allows you to choose the right revenue-generating activity for you and your students. In addition, if you decide to do fundraising, our Financial Services Representatives can set up accounts to distribute earnings among participating students. To learn more about fundraising, click here.
If you’ve done a traditional field trip, then you know it’s great way to take your curriculum outside the classroom. Imagine how exciting and effective it would be to take your students to the actual sites where history was made, or where science comes alive! Unlike a traditional field trip, a WorldStrides educational travel program takes the pressure off you. Most of our programs are non-school-sponsored, which means the school neither pays for nor plans the programs. You won't spend time and energy on paperwork usually associated with traditional school field trip processes. The non-school-sponsored status provides additional protection for your administration -- we make it clear that the programs are sponsored by us, so all communication comes to us, not your school. We take care of all the planning and provide a specially-trained Course Leader to help students through the educational content at each site. Your students will also experience tremendous personal growth from an overnight program, where they manage their own time, spending money, and decisions within their group of peers.
You travel free with a minimum group size, and we can customize a chaperone ratio to your group's needs so you can bring other adult chaperones as well. You can bring another teacher, your spouse, anyone you want!
One step WorldStrides has taken to help you avoid problems is a student behavior contract each student and a parent/legal guardian must sign before the student can participate in the program. The contract outlines general rules for behavior and explains that if a student fails to follow the guidelines in the contract or the instructions of chaperones, the student will be sent home immediately at his/her parents’ expense.
With 40 years of experience, WorldStrides knows that the best way to keep students out of trouble is to keep them interested in what they’re doing. We plan full days, complete with interaction with a trained Course Leader and fun, hands-on activities.
Your certified WorldStrides Course Leader is an educator who has been trained to engage students through WorldStrides’ “discovery” method of learning. The Course Leader is a destination and subject matter expert who will not only lead you and your students from site to site but will also ask questions that help students think about the issues and concepts each site provokes. Click here for more specific details on what a Course Leader would do with your students.
We have a detailed contingency plan in place for all types of emergency situations including evacuation of a specific site or an entire city. All of our on-tour staff are trained to implement this plan. The plan was developed in conjunction with major organizations specializing in safety and security procedures, including local government authorities in our program locations. An important component of the plan includes educating you at the beginning of the travel program on what to do in the event of an emergency. Another crucial component is getting in touch with parents as soon as possible to inform them of the alternative plans that are underway and reassure them about their child's safety. While these plans have been modified and improved since September 11, the basic elements have been in place for many years, and our staff is well trained to react quickly and responsibly in the event of an emergency.
The cost of a WorldStrides educational program depends on many factors: where you want to go, where you’re coming from, how you want to travel, where you want to stay, what you want to do on your program, and many other details. To get an estimate on the cost of the program you’re interested in, please call our Educational Travel Specialists at 1-800-688-8584.
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