Imagine a museum, art galleries, or City Hall as your classroom for a week...

Beyond Classrooms Kingston (BCK) is Kingston's innovative curriculum-oriented, Inquiry Learning program that moves a class into a community space for an entire week. This "Take Over a Community Site" learning week becomes the catalyst for a year of inquiry and slowed-down learning.

During the year, the teacher works with BCK to design a week-long program that reflects the teacher's year-long teaching goals and focus on inquiry, critical thinking skills, and literacy learning. The students receive workshops in sketching and journaling, and become active citizens as they learn about Kingston's cultural heritage.

During the "Take Over a Community Site" week, students become immersed in the environment of a museum or community space, and interact directly and deeply with the site, experts, and artifacts. The teacher's and students' ideas, questions, interests, and experiences shape the class' learning week as they slow down their learning to explore and journal.