NEW YORK – Chancellor Banks today joined 40 second- and third-grade students from Brooklyn’s PS 46 Edward C. Blum on a class field trip to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) on Manhattan's Upper West Side. As the city returns to normalcy following the pandemic, NYC Public School field trips are back in full swing, engaging students in important opportunities to observe, explore, discover, and learn via in-person, hands-on experiences. 
 
Three PS 46 classes, including an ICT class, a Spanish dual language class and a self-contained special education class, explored the Museum's Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life as part of their classroom curriculum on habitat and the environment. Photos from their visit can be found here. 
 
"New York City is the arts and cultural center of the world, and I am committed to ensuring that NYC Public School students have access to the arts," said Schools Chancellor David C. Banks. "Our city’s museums and arts centers are world-class portals to other cultures, time periods, and ways of seeing the world. I encourage all of our schools to provide opportunities for students to get out of their school building and into the city, the world's greatest classroom, to expand their interests and explore their passions. I am proud to partner with the American Museum of Natural History and Urban Advantage to provide free field trips for our students, actively engaging them in experiential learning opportunities at every turn." 
 
“With a dual mission of scientific research and science education, generations of New Yorkers have visited the Museum on field trips that are instructive, inspiring, and fun,” said Museum President Ellen V. Futter. “As we welcome back school groups, we are thrilled to engage today’s students in the processes of science and the wonders of the natural world. Our educational impact is dramatically enhanced by our continued partnership with the New York City Department of Education, and we are proud of programs like Urban Advantage that deepen and amplify in-school science instruction.” 
 
School field trips build important connections between the classroom and the real world, immersing students in their learning and encouraging them to think beyond their textbooks. 

New York City is home to countless cultural institutions like AMNH, and it is vital that more of our students and their families feel empowered to visit and explore the amazing programs these sites have to offer. The top field trip destination in New York City, AMNH served up to 400,000 school and camp trip visitors per year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This summer, the Museum saw camp groups visit in increasing numbers and looks forward to this trend continuing with school field trips.  
 
About AMNH 
The American Museum of Natural History, founded in 1869, is one of the world’s preeminent scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. The Museum encompasses more than 40 permanent exhibition halls and those in the Rose Center for Earth and Space and the Hayden Planetarium, as well as galleries for temporary exhibitions. The Museum’s scientists draw on a world-class permanent collection of more than 34 million specimens and artifacts, some of which are billions of years old, and on one of the largest natural history libraries in the world. Through its Richard Gilder Graduate School, the Museum grants the Ph.D. degree in Comparative Biology and the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree, the only such freestanding, degree-granting programs at any museum in the United States. The Museum’s website, digital videos, and apps for mobile devices bring its collections, exhibitions, and educational programs to millions around the world. Visit amnh.org for more information. 
 
About Urban Advantage  
Since 2004, eight of New York City’s leading cultural institutions — including museums, zoos, and botanical gardens — have worked with the New York City Department of Education to support cutting-edge science instruction in the city’s middle schools. This program is called Urban Advantage (UA) and includes the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the New York Botanical Garden, the New York Hall of Science, the Queens Botanical Garden, the Staten Island Zoo, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium, and the New York City Department of Education, with leadership funding from the New York City Council. Over the course of the last 5 years, UA has also expanded into elementary schools.