A Brief History

Before the pandemic put everything on pause, parents of Oak Park Middle Schools organized and led Washington D.C. trips via the PTO's and with school support, much as our neighboring district in River Forest does today. It was not a District led trip. 

After 2022, D97 took over the trip and changed the fundraising and organization model. In the hopes of achieving higher participation across our demographic groups, in 2025, the District decided to support a trip to Springfield and St. Louis, though they missed their goals, and participating families overwhelmingly found the trip lackluster. The following spring, students went to Nashville, which had even lower participation, and spurred a small group of parents to go to D.C. without school or district support.  

In July of 2026, D97 announced their decision to support in-state day trips instead of a bigger overnight option going forward.

After asking for family input and fundraising help in January of 2026, Oak Park's District 97 decided to hand 8th grade Washington D.C. trip planning back to parents in July of 2026.

When D97 passed it off, several parents decided to carry on with trip organizing and fundraising efforts to send 8th graders to Washington D.C. 

We reached out to several trip providers including World Strides, Bob Rodgers, and CloseUP, and determined that based on our need for solid logistics and chaperone support, as well as fundraising impact, CloseUp offered the best solution in terms of programming, 501(c)3 giving options that include donation matching, and hands-on leadership to manage student groups without the need for dedicated support from the school district itself.

Over the summer of 2026, we raised over $5000 in funds to help students afford this trip, and we are in the process of planning further fundraising efforts now.

Please Join Us to Assist with this ENTIRELY Parent Led Effort!

Email: oakpark4dc@gmail.com