Title 1 School Partnership
Since 2009, the Historical Society has nurtured a close partnership with local Title 1 schools. As part of the partnership, children and teachers work with artists and educators who conduct classroom workshops at the school and on the Historical Society campus.
We continue to expand our programming to all children in Greenwich, reaching a diverse audience as we work to incorporate a broad representation of voices in the Greenwich story. The Title 1 partnerships continues to be an important outreach to the Greenwich Public Schools and our community as we share a love for history, the arts and civics with our youngest residents.
History teaches vital skills. Historical thinking requires critical approaches to evidence and argument and develops contextual understanding and historical perspective, encouraging meaningful engagement with concepts like continuity, change, connection and the ability to interpret and communicate complex ideas clearly and coherently.
Instruction time for history has decreased significantly in public and private school curricula while the need for critical-thinking, well-informed young minds becomes more important than ever. Privately funded institutions like the Greenwich Historical Society work to fill the crucial gaps with resources and educational programming that support teachers and children.
First & Second Graders
Students in grades first and second experience a tour of the Bush-Holley House to helps the school meet curriculum requirements for art and history, including a trip to a museum and historic site.
Third Graders
Students in the third grade study the House’s Colonial period and create quilt squares to reflect what they’ve seen and learned.
Fourth Grade
Fourth-graders pay particular attention to the portraits, especially those created by Cos Cob artists, and explore what they represent before drawing and painting their own images.
Fifth Grade
Fifth-graders train as junior docents, becoming experts on the portraits in a particular room, and then they help the fourth-graders relate to the paintings and the techniques used to create them.
End of Year Showcase
At the end of the school year, the third- through fifth-grade students and their families come to a reception at the Historic Site to see an exhibition of the students’ work and take junior-docent-led tours of the Bush-Holley House.
