Children learning to drill like the soldiers did.

The curriculum-based educational program at Morristown National Historical Park: From Farming Village to Log Hut City: Morristown During the American Revolution 1770-1780.

Through a cooperative effort National Park Service staff, New Jersey teachers, and other educational professionals have created a teacher’s guide for Morristown National Historical Park.

The guide, From Farming Village to Log Hut City: Morristown during the American Revolution 1779-1780, was funded by the National Park Service Parks-as-Classrooms program with support from the Washington Association of New Jersey. This educational experience relates directly to state of New Jersey core curriculum standards.

The curriculum-based educational program is available to 4th and 5th grade classes and focuses on the winter encampments of the Continental Army at Morristown and the effect they had on both soldiers and the local population. The program helps children understand the American Revolution’s impact on all facets of society and helps illustrate the great costs, personal hardships, and organizational obstacles associated with building and sustaining an army and winning American independence.

Teachers who would like their class to participate in the program must attend a one-day workshop offered by Morristown National Historical Park. Class participation is by reservation only. Space is extremely limited.

Reservation System: The park will accept reservations for the 2008-2009 school year by e-mail only, and we ask you to observe the guidelines listed below. The park will not be able to respond to any reservation requests initiated via the telephone, whether in person or through a message left on Mr. Winslow’s voice mail.

All e-mail requests MUST include the following:

1. Teacher name.

2. School name and address

3. e-mail and telephone numbers (day and evening) where you can be reached; your class’ grade and the number of students in the class.

4. Your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices for dates. 

Do not send any reservation requests prior to 9 AM Wednesday Sep.10th, 2008. Any e-mail reservation requests sent before then will not be considered. You are free to continue to send requests until all spaces are full.  We will not begin responding to any of the requests until Tuesday, September 16, 2008. All requests will be honored on a first come, first served basis.

All requests will be responded to, but again, responses will not begin until Tuesday, September 16, 2008. We will respond to you via e-mail only. If we cannot honor any of the dates you requested, it might be necessary to reach you by telephone; if so, we will set up a telephone contact date with you via e-mail.

Please observe these guidelines. If they are not followed, your reservation request will not be considered. Morristown National Historical Park’s curriculum-based educational program is for 4th and 5th grade students only and is conducted at the Jockey Hollow unit of the park. Due to staff and space limitations, we offer only one program to one class per day. This class can number no more than twenty five students. There must be a teacher and at least two additional adult chaperones with the group at all times. Programs will occur on most Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays, beginning at 10:00 AM. Groups should plan to spend at least two and a half hours in the park.

The first program will be offered on November 20, 2008 and the last on May 22 2009. The supervisory educator who brings the class to the program is required to attend a one-day teacher workshop held at Morristown National Historical Park. The teacher must sign up for this workshop after we’ve confirmed the reservation for the class visit. It is a full day training workshop usually held in early October. Teachers who attended a workshop last school year need not attend this school year. The teacher who attends the workshop must be the same teacher who accompanies the class for their visit; otherwise they will not be able to visit the facilities. 

 A $50.00 fee is required of each class that wishes to participate in the program. DO NOT SEND ANY PAYMENT UNTIL YOU RECEIVE FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.

Cancellation Policy:   Because a number of schools have canceled at the last minute in past years, we will be enforcing our cancellation policy. In order to receive a refund of your fee, cancellations must be made three weeks prior to your scheduled program. Classes that cancel less than three weeks before their scheduled date will not receive a refund. We will make every effort to reschedule any cancellations made by Morristown National Historical Park due to inclement weather, etc. and we will refund the fee paid by schools we are not able to reschedule.

Thank you for your assistance with these matters. We want to serve as many classes as possible in a fair and equitable manner.