Apply Today for STEM Matters NYC’s New Spring Break Program

Ready for your K–8 student to ‘discover’ science, technology, engineering, art, or math (STEAM) this spring break?

From now until Wednesday, February 10, NYC families with students in grades K–8 can apply to participate in Discovery Day, a brand-new, free learning opportunity within the NYC Department of Education’s STEM Matters NYC program.

Discovery Day provides selected students, along with their designated adult caregiver, the opportunity to participate in one day-long, hands-on learning experience at a City museum, zoo, park, or urban farm during Spring Recess (March 29–April 2, 2021). Discovery Day experiences will be available at cultural institutions in all five boroughs, and each one will provide participating students and their caregivers with an hour-long special interactive learning program along with free access to the program’s host site.

Where will Discovery Day take place?

Discovery Day will take place at the following sites throughout the week of Spring Recess (March 29–April 2, 2021). All program sites will enforce COVID-19 health and safety protocols for all guests, so the number of guests will be limited, and all participating students and their adult caregivers will be required to wear masks at all times. Only ONE adult caregiver per household will be allowed entry to program sites. Please note that some sites will administer a brief health questionnaire upon arrival:

• Audubon New York in Central Park and Forest Park;
• Bronx Zoo;
• Central Park Zoo;
• Green-Wood Cemetery;
• GrowNYC Teaching Garden at Governors Island;
• Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum;
• Makerspace NYC;
• New York Aquarium;
• New York Botanical Garden;
• NYC DOE’s Genovesi Environmental Study Center;
• Prospect Park Zoo;
• Queens Botanical Garden;
• Queens County Farm Museum;
• Queens Zoo;
• Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden;
• Solar One;
• Staten Island Museum;
• Staten Island Zoo; and
• Wave Hill.

Don’t miss out on this outstanding learning opportunity—apply by Wednesday, February 10, 2021 for a chance to be selected for Discovery Day! But hurry, spots are limited, and preference will be given to students who attend Title I schools.

For more information about Discovery Day, including answers to Frequently Asked Questions and translations in nine other languages, visit the DOE’s official STEM Matters NYC page.

On behalf of the NYC DOE, we wish all of our Discovery Day applicants a wonderful Spring Recess!

Banner Photo by Gabby K. Used under Creative Commons license. Original can be found on Pexels.