A fund to bring Wake County students to area arts and cultural destinations!
The Wheels on the Bus Fund covers transportation and admission costs for one grade level per school annually at Wake County Title I public elementary schools for field trips to area arts and cultural destinations.
Schools must choose their field trip destination from a list of three available options. Field trips must take place during the school day. Schools may submit only one application per school year.
For the 2025-2026 school year, we offered the following three field trip options:
- 2nd graders may see Carolina Ballet’s Nutcracker on Friday, December 12, 2025 at 12 noon (run time of 60 minutes)
- 3rd graders may visit the North Carolina Museum of Art on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday between between October 2025 and April 2026
- 5th graders may see Raleigh Little Theatre’s Cinderella on Wednesday, December 17, 2025 at 11:00 am (run time of 90 minutes, no intermission)
The fund covers transportation and admission costs for one grade-level field trip.
Why is there no 4th grade option? All WCPSS 4th graders already attend a performance of the North Carolina Symphony, so this funding opportunity makes an arts field trip available to other grade levels.
The application for the 2025-2026 school year is now closed. The field trip options and application for the 2026-2027 school year will be available in late summer 2026.
“Thank you so much for providing our third grade with the Wheels on the Bus award. We value all that the United Arts Council does for WCPSS and for our school. Thank you for providing our students with a valuable learning experience!” -Kelly F. Wilson, Assistant Principal, Combs Elementary
