Coming soon: "Coolidge Classroom," a free field trip program for students grades 6–12!
This school-year series of comprehensive field trips will feature an introduction providing context, a film screening, lunch, and discussion.
Sign up here for email updates if you are interested in learning more about new youth cinema education programs coming to the Coolidge this fall! Learn more and register for the program here.
The Program
Developed in collaboration with local educators, Coolidge Classroom programs support existing curriculum in a variety of disciplines including STEM, world language, and the humanities, while simultaneously engaging media literacy skills and foundations of cinema studies.
In order to ensure youth programs are accessible for all, the Coolidge is committed to providing pro bono transportation and meals for students.
More Details and FAQs
Beginning in Fall 2024, the Coolidge is excited to offer free field trips for local students. Our new Center for Education and Community Engagement can accommodate up to 50 students at a time for a screening, lunch, and discussion. Larger groups are also encouraged to contact us. Curriculum designed by Director of Education Sophie Blum in collaboration with an advisory committee of local high school teachers representing 5 local districts and 4 core disciplines.
Who can sign up for this?
Coolidge Classroom welcomes middle- and high school teachers of all disciplines and their students. For more information about whether our program is appropriate for your students, register for updates here.
How many students can I bring?
Our new Center for Education and Community Engagement can accommodate up to 50 students and chaperones. Moviehouse 1 can accommodate more than 400! We look forward to facilitating dialogue among students from multiple schools, classrooms, or disciplines simultaneously, so whether your class is large or small, you’re invited!
What movies will you be offering?
Our official program is still in development, but we’re curating a series of films that speak to themes in STEM, world language, social studies, and ELA. You can count on a variety of documentary and narrative, classic and contemporary, international and American films. Our program will include Science on Screen events with in-person introductions from local scientists and researchers, and films that represent the plural, intersecting identities of our students. Coolidge curriculum will address both Massachusetts State Frameworks and the Learning for Justice Social Justice Standards.
About Sophie Blum
Sophie Blum (they/she) joined the Coolidge in July 2023 as the organization’s first-ever Director of Education. After earning a B.A. in film from Vassar College and an M.A. in cinema studies from NYU, Sophie honed a passion for pedagogy at the Newton Teacher Residency and for six years at Lexington High School, where they taught English and film, including original curricula on genre, authorship, and the politics of representation. Sophie looks forward to leveraging the power of film and the Coolidge’s cultural resources to continue inspiring dialogue, discovery, and community.
