Class Trip 2024
Founding Fathers East Coast Trip
The 8th grade Class of 2024 is invited to take a 7-day 6-night trip with the Palms Middle School History Department for the Founding Fathers East Coast Tour during the week of Spring Recess in the Spring 2024 semester.
Departure Date: Saturday, March 23, 2024
Return Date: Friday, March 29, 2024
The tour is run by the Explorica educational travel service, with Palms teachers as chaperones. There is at least one adult for each 9 students.
The trip is for students and teachers only, not for parents, not even as chaperones.
Students Will Visit...
Boston
- Old North Church
- Paul Revere's House
- Old Granary Burial Ground
- Boston Common
- King's Chapel
- Old State House
- Faneuil Hall (dinner)
- Harvard Museum of Natural History
- Harvard Square
- USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides")
- Museum of Fine Arts
New York
- Apollo Theater
- Top of the Rock
- Ellis Island
- Statue of Liberty
- Trinity Church
- Wall Street
- Chinatown
- Little Italy
- 9/11 Memorial
- Brooklyn Bridge
- Times Square
- Broadway theaters
Philadelphia
- Independence Hall
- Liberty Bell
- Ben Franklin's grave
- Elfreth's Alley
- Friendship Meeting House
- National Constitution Center
Washington DC
- Mount Vernon
- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- World War II Memorial
- Lincoln Memorial
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial
- FDR Memorial
- MLK Monument
- Korean War Memorial
- National Mall
- Jefferson Memorial
- Tidal Basin
- Washington Monument
- White House
- Ford's Theatre
- Arlington National Cemetery
- Iwo Jima Marine Corps War Memorial
Registration
Discounted early registration deadline: May 2023
Regular registration deadline: Fall 2023 or when we reach trip capacity
Ways to sign up
1. Go to the Palms Class Trip page and click sign up now
2. Fill out and mail the Flights Travel Registration Form
3. Register by phone: 1-888-310-7121
The Trip ID is Palms-2024.
Capacity
There is a practical limit to the number of students that can be taken on the trip and space fills up quickly. Once the initial cap is reached, a waiting list will be available. If enough students sign up for the waiting list, we can reopen registration and take additional students.
Number of students: 39
Once capacity is reached, contact Ms. Rivera to be added to the waiting list. The capacity may be increased.
Eligibility
Eligibility is based on the rules for Eighth Grade Eligibility as of the Fall semester 20-week report card. Students must not have any U's in Cooperation.
The Travel Protection Plan Plus travel insurance plan will cover students who are unable to take the trip because they do not meet these eligibility requirements. The standard Travel Protection Plan does not cover this possibility.
Cost
The cost for the 2022 trip is $2,976 per student.
A $60 discount is available ($2,916) if you sign up in May 2023. Click or tap I have a voucher code on the Payment page and enter code Travel2024.
The price covers:
- round-trip transportation
- 6 overnight stays in hotels
- lodging, 3 or 4 students to a room (or just 1 other student for $45 extra/night)
- tours and tourguides
- security
- meals and meal expenses
- tips
- trip diary on the Explorica website (also on the Palms website)
The price does not include:
- travel insurance (see below)
- souvenirs
- airline baggage fees
Students share rooms with 2 or 3 other students of the same sex. For $270 extra, a student can share with just one other student of the same sex.
Minimum cost, with early registration and no extras: $2,916.
Maximum cost, with later registration, room shared with one other student, and Travel Protection Plan Plus: $3,372.
Payment Plans
Four payment plans are offered with no extra fees:
- Pay in full.
- Pay $50 deposit and the rest in equal monthly checking account payments ending by March 5, 2023. For example, 8 payments of about $319 from July to February.
- Pay $50 deposit and the rest in equal monthly credit or debit card charges ending by February 3, 2023. For example, 8 payments of about $319 from June to January.
- Pay $99 deposit, $300 in 30 days, and the balance by January 4, 2023.
See below for optional choice of travel protection plan, at extra cost, due with your first payment above.
Scholarships
Two full trip scholarships, sponsored by Friends of Palms, were announced in Fall 2023. Student applicants must provide a teacher recommendation and write an essay for the Lisa Clark Scholarship Contest by the deadline of November 15, 2023.
Each scholarship consists of a spot on the trip and $2,652 to pay for it.
Each student's essay should tell who they you, what inspires them, if they have traveled before, several reasons why they want to go to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., specific sites they want to see, what they hope to gain from the sights, why they need financial aid, and the behavior that trip leaders and fellow students would expect from you on the trip.
Essays are read, evaluated, and winners chosen by Palms Middle School staff and Friends of Palms members.
Travel Insurance
Optional travel insurance, payable with your initial deposit, provides protection against trip cancellation.
Travel Protection Plan: $84
Covers injury, sickness, death of a family member, bad-weather flight cancelations, lost luggage, and a few other conditions.
Travel Protection Plan Plus: $126
Also covers cancelation for any reason, with a partial refund, 30 days or more before the trip.
See travel plan details at the Explorica website.
See Also
See the Class Trip page for general information.
See the Class Trip Journals section for day-by-day descriptions and photos from previous Class Trips.
