Cincinnati Zoo offers free field trips to low-income students

CINCINNATI - About 30 students from Rockdale Academy in Avondale were among the first recipients Friday of a new program that offers free trips to The Cincinnati Zoo for eligible students.

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is teaming up with area organizations to make field trips free to qualifying schools through its Living Classroom Education Access Fund.

As part of its program, the zoo will also offer Nocturnal Adventures, in which students can spend overnight at the facility.

Partners in the program include The Helen G., Henry f. and Louise Tuechter Dornette Foundation, along with Time Warner Cable, The John A. Schroth Family Foundation, PNC Bank and the Ambassador Council.

Also, grants were provided by Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America.

More than 86,000 youth visited The Cincinnati Zoo last year, from nearly 1,400 area schools.

For schools to apply for assistance on a daytime field trip, teachers must submit documentation of financial need as either a school with 50 percent or more students receiving free or reduced lunches, or as a Title I school.

If funding is granted, students and one chaperone for every 10 students will receive free admission. Additional chaperones will be $5 per person.

School bus parking is free, while individual vehicles may park for $8 per day.

An online application and more information may be found at http://cincinnatizoo.org/access .