School Programs
Each year the Greenwich Historical Society hosts thousands of students and teachers at Bush-Holley House, the centerpiece of our beautiful historic site on Cos Cob Harbor.
Our interactive, inquiry-based programs give students the opportunity to creatively explore topics and sharpen their critical thinking skills. Each experience is specially designed to complement classroom teaching while providing students and teachers a memorable day full of fun and discovery. Our programs cover topics such as Colonial American history, the American Revolution, slavery in the North, the Industrial Age and the development of American Impressionism. All programs meet state curriculum standards for both Connecticut and New York.
Featured America 250 Programs
Rebels & Royalists: The American Revolution
On-Site Programs for Grades 3-5
Rebels & Royalists uses people who lived at this site during the American Revolution to explore the complexities of choosing a side. During a tour of the Bush-Holley House, students will be introduced to various members of the Bush household and challenged to think about the details of their lives and how that might have influenced which side they chose to support. In the Education Center, students will become history detectives through examining a basket containing reproduction historic objects and being tasked with determining the occupation of the owner of those items and whether they would have been a Patriot or a Loyalist.
Time Travel to 1776: Life in Revolutionary Greenwich
Outreach program for Grades K-5 | New for the 2025-2026 School Year
Time Travel to 1776 leads students on an exploration of what daily life 250 years ago was like for families in Greenwich. Through costumed interpretation used by museum educators alongside reproduction historical objects, students will learn about food, clothing, entertainment, education, and careers in 18th-century Connecticut. This is the perfect program to honor the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026 with your class.
On-Site Programming
Available March – June 2026
Historic Homes
Recommended for Grades PreK – 1
Historic Homes introduces young learners to the concept of historic houses and buildings in their community. Featuring a tour of the historic Bush-Holley House, a museum educator will lead students through an 18th-century kitchen, parlor, and bedroom with a focus on comparing and contrasting these spaces with homes today.
Life In Colonial New England
Recommended for Grades K-3
Life in Colonial New England leads students on an exploration of what life in the 18th century was like for families in Greenwich. Through costumed interpretation used by museum educators while touring the historic Bush-Holley House and an interactive workshop in the Education Center, students will learn about food, daily life, and colonial trades.
Create Your Own Impression
Recommended for Grades 2-5
Create Your Own Impression introduces students to the Cos Cob Art Colony that was based at the Holley boarding house during the turn of the 20th century. Students will learn through a tour of the Bush-Holley House about the artists who made Greenwich the cradle of American Impressionism and will have the opportunity to follow in their footsteps by creating their own en plein-air painting on the Historical Society’s campus.
Slavery in Connecticut
Recommended for Grades 6-12
Slavery in Connecticut guides students through the lives of enslaved people including Cull, Patience, Candice, Jack, and Hester who lived at the Bush-Holley House in the 18th century. The program includes a tour of the historic house with a focus on the daily life of these enslaved individuals and an interactive workshop that utilizes primary sources and objects, allowing students to piece together Candice’s life story from slavery to freedom.
Outreach Programming
Available September 2025 – June 2026
Ask a Historian
Recommended for Grades K-8 | Virtual program available
Ask a Historian provides students with a unique opportunity to have their questions about Greenwich’s history answered by a museum educator! Using your classes questions, the Historical Society’s education team will create an engaging presentation featuring photographs, artwork, and articles from the Historical Society’s archive.
Monuments in Greenwich
Recommended for Grades 2-4 | Virtual program available
Monuments in Greenwich teaches students about the history of Greenwich by exploring its monuments. Students will learn about historical figures from Greenwich such as Raynal Bolling, Dorthy Hamill, and Edwin Binney (the inventor of crayons and founder of the Crayola company!) through the lens of how they are memorialized and remembered in the place they called home.
Mapping Our Community
Recommended for Grades 3-5
Mapping Our Community utilizes maps to show changes to the students’ own elementary school and local neighborhood from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. Students will examine at school district maps, 19th and 20th century maps, as well as photographs, newspaper articles, and other ephemera from these eras from the Historical Society’s archive.
Schedule your visit today!
2025-2026 School Program Pricing
Standard Onsite Programs: $200 per Class