The Discovery Museums, The Uxbridge Public Schools,

    Worcester Center for Crafts, The Uxbridge Police Department

Massachusetts Cultural Council Education Partnership

Implementation Grant 1997-2000 (wow - first time I've written that for real!)

Explore and Discover: A Museum School Partnership

Our long-term educational goals are:

¥ To involve students in inquiry-based learning by doing, bringing concepts and content to life by directly connecting knowledge and skills in the arts, sciences and humanities to students' lives;

¥ To connect all elements of the Uxbridge community in a synergistic, fully inclusionary relationship using partnerships with community resources to enhance the school curriculum;

¥ To create lifelong learners who have the necessary frameworks to develop visual and critical thinking skills;

¥ To transform school culture to a museum school environment where the work of student and adult artists and interpretive scientists are exhibited and integrated throughout the school system and in the community, and where artists and scientists visit, work, and impact the environment and influence the culture;

¥ To establish a sustainable partnership where all partners influence each other and share resources.

Our objectives are:

¥ To develop plans for a professional development program institute based upon Explore and Discover workshops and inquiry-based education;

¥ To involve students in the hands-on development of exhibits;

¥ To establish a system-wide exhibit loaning center;

¥ To establish a plan for class field trips to the outdoor classroom and ED museum;

¥ To provide support, continuity, and linkage to the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks in Education;

¥ To provide opportunities for community service learning through the outdoor classroom, ED museum, exhibit loaning center, and partner sites;

¥ To provide opportunities and curriculum connections between visiting artists and museum staff and classrooms;

¥ To display student made exhibits at the museum to support museum visitors' recognition of our role as a community resource and its impact on classroom learning.