Learning Outside the Classroom

The Children’s Museum of Memphis
The Brooks Museum
The National Civil Rights Museum
The Memphis Zoo
Lichterman Nature Center
The Pink Palace Museum

Among the many advantages of teaching in Memphis is the opportunity to utilize the resources the city and community have to offer. With strong relationships with local universities, businesses and cultural programs, MCS teachers have found innovative ways to take learning far beyond the classroom walls.

The Children’s Museum of Memphis
This museum encourages the curiosity and imagination of children through interactive exhibitions, programs and resources that help demystify the arts, sciences, humanities and technology. The Children’s Museum of Memphis (CMOM) is committed to providing educators with the tools they need to make learning fun, and provide everything from special exhibits to curriculum guides to traveling labs for our classrooms.
For more information, please click here.


The Brooks Museum
The Brooks Museum of Art has partnered with MCS to provide educational art field trips. Trained docents conduct Discipline-Based Art Education tours of the Brooks’ Special Exhibitions for groups of 10-60 students in grades 1-12. Hands-on studio art activities enhance the material introduced in the tour. Teachers also receive lesson plans for classroom preparation and follow-up.


The National Civil Rights Museum
The National Civil Rights Museum, located at the site of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination, chronicles key episodes of the American civil rights movement and the global struggle for human rights. Students in Memphis participate in the museum’s educational programs and are able to understand this movement first-hand through the museums numerous collections and exhibitions.
For more information, please click here.


The Memphis Zoo
The Memphis Zoo has long been a treasure of educational resources for Memphis teachers. They provide curriculum guides, education programs designed to meet Tennessee science standards, classroom programs, hand-on learning opportunities including dissection for older students and even overnight field trips.
For more information, please click here.


Lichterman Nature Center
The Lichterman Nature Center features exhibits, extensive gardens with native wildflowers and trees, and a series of environmental education programs. The Backyard Wildlife Center is a natural extension of the science curriculum, with live animals, hands-on explorations, microscopic discoveries, a forest boardwalk three stories high, and an underwater viewing area.
For more information, please click here.


The Pink Palace Museum
This museum, an important part of Memphis history, allows students to explore the cultural and natural history of the Mid-South through exhibits, dioramas and audio-visuals. From dinosaur fossils to the history of Memphis’ firmly established tradition of medical excellence, the museum provides teachers with the resources to engage students and bring history to life.
For more information, please click here.