Summer in the City (SITC) is a series of free cultural field trips for Dallas ISD students and their parents. The program was developed by Big Thought as part of the Dallas Arts Partners collaboration.

2008 marked the 8th Year of the Summer in the City Program and it kicked off with a bang! Over the course of eight days, participants boarded 12 busses to visit 10 sites, including the Latino Cultural Center, Dallas Zoo, Dallas Children’s Theatre, Dallas Arboretum, Museum of Nature and Science, and Nasher Sculpture Center. Each day an average of 427 parents and children took part.

This year is also the pilot year of the Summer in the City program for the Thriving Minds neighborhood hubs.  To find a program happening near you, check out our Events page and search for "Summer in the City".  Our neighborhood groups have already been out and about since the beginning of July, and we have a few more weeks of trips planned to finish out the program!

For many families, SITC is a passport to a world beyond their reach, breaking down barriers of transportation and cost. One parent noted that there was no way they could walk to these facilities even if they could get in free. It’s important to expand these children’s minds,” she said. “You get so busy during the school year; you don’t have time to get these experiences in the classroom."

The program offers even more than field trips. One school teacher who worked with the program last summer said the kids wrote in journals to record their field trips: “It’s a good tool,” he said. “It makes the students record their experiences and that helps them remember. It becomes a kind of memento.”