K-12 school programs are thriving at The Ringling! Over 12,000 students visited The Ringling virtually and on-site in the 2021-22 school year! Students always visit FREE through Ringling School Visits.

Based on the size of your group, you can choose the visit option that best meets your individual learning and experience goals. For every 10 students, you can bring 2 adults for free. All visits include FREE admission to the Museum of Art, Circus Museum, and the Bayfront Gardens.

► Children's Welcome Center: All visit options give your group access to our Children’s Welcome Center (CWC). The CWC is full of educational resources and activities for your students. This is also a location where your group can leave their personal belongings and lunches during your visit. 

► Complimentary Planning Visits: Educators may schedule a complimentary planning visit to The Ringling prior to bringing their class on a free field trip. To reserve your complimentary planning visit ticket, please email [email protected] with the preferred date of your planning visit.

► Requesting an On-Site Visit:  You may request an on-site visit by submitting the online request for,. All requests must be received at least two weeks prior to your anticipated visit date. Please allow up to 5 business days for education to confirm your guided tour booking. Some dates may not be available, and visits confirmed only when you receive an emailed confirmation from the education department.

On-site School Visit for up to 50 participants

Check back for Fall 2023 availability.

Bring your students to visit The Ringling for a guided experience! Guided Tours are an engaging way to visit The Ringling. Trained guides will lead your students on a 45-55 minute tour involving 2-6 interactive stops. School tour guides are trained in interacting with students, tying the tour to Florida State curriculum, and leading engaging discussions and activities around our works of art. 

Guided Tours are offered for all grade levels in the Museum of Art. After your guided experience, your free school visit allows your group access to both circus museums and all gardens. Each guided tour has an optional post-tour worksheet to accompany the lessons in the tours. Post-tour worksheets are available for download in our Teacher Resource Center.

There are four engaging tour themes for your groups! Read the information below to choose the right experience for your students.

Meet The Ringling | Grades K-5

Meet The Ringling is an introductory tour for elementary aged children. In this tour, students will define what art is and what museums do. Students will explore The Ringling galleries and learn about the collection. Then, students will analyze and interpret 3-5 works of art from The Ringling Collection. This tour is an opportunity to explore all the Museum of Art has to experience! This tour practices visual arts standards, English language arts, and social and emotional learning (SEL) skills.

The sister tour for "Meet The Ringling" is "Elements to Art", which is offered for secondary students.

Elements of Art | Grades 6-12

Elements of Art is the sister tour for Meet The Ringling. This tour explores The Ringling and then focuses on a deeper, formal analysis of artworks in the collection. Here, students will use the elements of art as a lens to analyze paintings, prints, photographs and sculptures from The Ringling collection. Students will discuss the building blocks of art including color, line, shape, form, and pattern. Secondary students will practice critiquing works of art and will analyze the composition and choices made by the artist. This tour practices visual arts standards and is ideal for students taking art or art history.

Myths and Legends  | Grades 4-8 and 9-12

Discover thrilling tales from ancient cultures! After learning about various gods, goddesses, mythical creatures, and magical objects, students will explore artworks from The Ringling’s collections that depict scenes from the epic Greek poems and various legends. Students will analyze the works of art in the context of Homer’s poems, and will discuss how subsequent generations and cultures have interpreted The Iliad and The Odyssey. This tour practices English language arts and social and emotional learning (SEL) skills, and is customizable to fit your curriculum.

Portraits and Identity (Grades K-5)

Portraits and Identity is an introductory tour for elementary aged children. This tour focuses on conversation, interpretation, and exploring art through close looking. On this tour, the students will do most of the talking. The main objective of this tour is to teach the students how to look at portraits through the lens of the 6 elements of portraiture: Focal point, facial expression, clothing, objects, gestures, and setting. Students will practice their looking and interpretation skills throughout the tour. This tour practices visual arts standards, English language arts, and social and emotional learning (SEL) skills.

On-site Teacher-Led Visits | Up to 300 participants

Check back for Fall 2023 availability.

Bring your students to visit The Ringling and use the museum as your classroom for the day! Teacher-led visits offer teachers the opportunity to take a FREE field trip to the various venues on campus including the Museum of Art, Circus Museum and Bayfront Gardens. Museum educators do not facilitate teacher-led visits, allowing teachers the flexibility to engage with The Ringling’s collections however you’d like. Click here for Teacher resources to help you guide your students through the museum.

Ca' d'Zan Visit

A first floor walk-through of Ca’ d’Zan is available upon request. Schools must arrive at 9:30 and enter Ca’ d’Zan at 10 for walk-through.