MIAMI CHILDRENS MUSEUM INC
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Mission Statement
Miami Children’s Museum is dedicated to enriching the lives of all children by fostering a love of learning through play and enabling children to realize their highest potential. Visitors of all ages, abilities and learning styles are encouraged to play, learn, imagine, and create through hands-on interaction with exhibits, activities, and live theater performances. It is our vision to be recognized as a premier institution serving children and their families while inspiring children to learn about themselves and the culturally diverse community we live in through art, science, literacy, and early childhood education. A national model and recognized leader in innovative and interactive education for children, the Museum fulfills a critical role in Miami-Dade County by providing children and families with interactive learning opportunities that help children develop school readiness skills. Arts-based learning offerings include theater/music/dance activities, classes and performances, public programs, camps, after-school programs, community festivals, and in-school outreaches. The Museum serves children of all ages with a focus on those aged 0-8, from a diverse population through interactive exhibits, activities, programs, exposure to arts & culture, STEM subjects and provides transformative experiences for children and their families. The Museum features 17 galleries of interactive exhibits and learning activities focused on arts, culture, community, and communication. Miami Children’s Museum is the only children’s museum in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and is among the largest in the United States in annual attendance. As a non-profit educational institution, the Museum strives to meet the needs of all children in South Florida’s multicultural community by providing hands-on informal educational opportunities through 17 interactive exhibits, programs, classes, a NAEYC-accredited preschool for children for 60 fee-based students, and 30 VPK students, and activities including approximately 3,000+ opportunities for children to engage in approximately 200 different programs and events. The Museum's exhibits and programs are designed to promote positive child development and creative expression; increase communication, early literacy, and social skills that increase school readiness, and help children meet school learning objectives. The Museum has a long track record of providing hands-on high-quality arts, music, and theatrical programming which has resulted in local, national and international public recognition, awards, and honors including being: • awarded two grants by the Institute of Museum and Library Services to support two of our exhibit gallery redesigns and renovations: Music Makers Studio with Symphony room and our Construction Zone STEM exhibit. • named “The Best Designed Museum” in Florida by Architectural Digest Magazine in August 2018; • awarded South Florida Parenting Magazine Kids Crown Award Winners in the following categories: Miami-Dade-Best Museum (2018, 2017, 2016), and Miami-Dade-Best Free Family Fun (for Free Third Fridays) (2017) and Miami-Dade-Best Afterschool Program (2017); • honored in April 2018 (for the seventh consecutive year) as one of the Top 10 Women-Led Not-For-Profits in the State of Florida; • recognized with the MUSE Award 2016 in the category of Media and Technology by the American Alliance of Museums; • Museum CEO/Executive Director Deborah Spiegelman honored with Ultimate CEO award by South Florida Business Journal; • described as “Miami’s crown jewel” by City of Miami Mayor, Tomas Regalado; • distinguished as “Best Museum in Miami” by the Miami New Times; • awarded Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s NOVO award recognizing the innovative work of the Museum's Sensory-Friendly Saturday program and the impact it has made in the lives of the children served; • awarded the Beacon Council’s prestigious Education Award; • named one of the “Top 10 Children’s Museums in the World” by VIATOR Travel blog, a list that included only four U.S. institutions; • referred to as “undoubtedly one of the most innovative and interesting children’s museums in America” by Foxnews.com; • recognized by numerous popular bloggers as an excellent destination for children and families. While the Museum sustained a hard hit financially since temporarily closing its doors to the public on March 13th, our dedication to fulfilling our mission has never waned. Throughout the physical closure of the Museum facility, our team never ceased to create educational tools and resources for children and families and to find new ways to reach, serve and grow our audience. By so doing we were able to continue to fulfill a critical role in our community throughout the duration of the closure.
About This Cause
Since its inception, Miami Children's Museum has provided an inclusive environment where all children are welcome to play, learn, imagine, create and explore through hands-on interaction with exhibits, activities, and performances. The Museum proudly serves as a model for children's museums in the 21st century by mobilizing the community and partnering with civic leaders and organizations to address the needs of children and their families. As an early childhood education expert, the Museum has long been recognized as a leader in South Florida for providing programming for children with special needs. Since 2013, the Museum has been undergoing a renovation of its facility and all major exhibit galleries as we prepare for a growing presence in the local community for both residents of South Florida, visitors, and tourists. As a part of our refresh, we have ensured that we continue to serve the needs of children with autism and other disabilities. The oldest and largest children’s museum in Florida, the Museum is a national model and is noted for providing exceptional contributions in educating young learners. All Museum programming addresses the intellectual, emotional, and social needs of young children. Thanks largely to this holistic approach; The Museum is a recognized leader in innovative and interactive education for children and families. Our Early Childhood Institute is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, considered the gold standard for early childhood programs across the country. As the only children’s Museum in Miami-Dade County, Miami Children’s Museum provides formal and informal educational opportunities for children to inspire them to learn about themselves and the culturally diverse community in which we live through art, science, literacy, and early childhood education. We are committed to reaching all children and families including those with different learning abilities and economic backgrounds. To ensure that our programs and exhibits are available to as many people as possible we provide several opportunities to attend and participate at no cost. We offer a discounted admission to our Sensory-Friendly Saturday which takes place from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month and we offer free admission during our monthly Free Third Friday program from 3 p.m. – 9 p.m. We offer 50% admission to City of Miami Residents daily, a monthly free day, and an annual free literacy day. The Museum’s 56,500 square foot home on Watson Island encompasses 17 galleries of interactive exhibits and learning activities focused on arts, culture, community, and communication for children ages 0-8 and their families. The Museum offers educational programs that promote child development, meet school learning objectives, enhance school readiness, increase creative expression and multicultural enrichment. The Museum's programming includes: • Daily drop-in activities including storytime, dance party, art activities, puppet shows, and music based on the monthly theme or traveling exhibition. The Museum Players provide live dramatic and musical theater performances in the Auditorium and throughout the Museum. • Early Childhood Institute daily NAEYC accredited Reggio-Emilio-inspired preschool for children ages 12 months - 5 years old. Serves 70-100 children annually. • School Field Trips include a variety of themed educational tours for teachers to choose one most appropriate for their students. Serves 32,500 annually. • Mini Mondays offer parent & child classes for children under the age of three to introduce young visitors to art, music, puppets, storytime, explore shapes, color, texture, and art techniques of famous artists. • Traveling Exhibits in the What's Up Gallery: offers visitors a rotation of special exhibits that are new to Florida 2-3 times per year. • Very Important Potential (VIP) program provides free admission days, camp scholarships, and educational field trips to children and families from underserved neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County. o FREE after-school programs, supported by The Children’s Trust, the Museum provides three programs; one at the Museum and two at Title 1 schools in Miami, for low-income children. Serves 300 children Monday-Friday. o STEAM Integration Program served low-income disadvantaged and at-risk children and their parents and teachers. o Scholarships to Summer Camp, through the support of the MDC Department of Cultural Affairs Summer Arts & Sciences Camp Grant Program and other philanthropy, elementary students attend full-day weekly camp under full scholarship with lunch. About 50 scholarships annually. o Free Educational Explorations Field Trips, guided tours with an art activity for more than 9,025 Title elementary students including 625 with special needs and 500 children from South Dade. o Monthly Free Third Fridays is a Free Admission day offered every month when and the Museum stays open late to accommodate over 18,000 Miami-Dade County children and families annually. o Parent-child literacy enrichment classes for Head Start children and their families using music as a basis for learning. Serves 100 families annually. o Dr. Seuss's Birthday, an annual literacy event sponsored by The Children’s Trust is a FREE Community Day when the Museum shares a love of reading with all the children of Miami-Dade County. Serves 1,800 children annually. o 50% admission for City of Miami residents all year round. • VIP Programming for Children with Special Needs: o Sensory Saturday, each second Saturday of the month, the Museum opens early to accommodate youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders and children with special needs by providing access to the Museum without large crowds and with lights and sounds lowered to ensure a sensory-friendly environment. o VSA Programming for children with special needs includes school outreaches and museum visits to provide access to literary, dramatic, performing, and visual arts. Serves 241 children annually. • Multi-Cultural Camps provide educational arts and science curriculums to more than 1,000 children annually. o One Day Camps throughout the year on Teacher Planning Days; o Summer Camp – Each week Campers “visit” a different global destination and develop new skills and gain an appreciation for our cultural differences and similarities through hands-on activities including art, music, dance, theater, and special interactions with global ambassadors. o One-week musical theater camps during winter and spring breaks. • Outreaches provide arts programming for kids at numerous community festivals. • Annual events and themes include Black History Month (Feb), Women's History Month (Mar) Autism Awareness Month (Apr), Rainbow Families Day (Jun), Kindergarten Kickoff (August), Hispanic Heritage Month (Sep), Not-So-Scary Halloween (Oct), Season of the Arts (Dec) Noon Year's Eve (Dec). In service to the more than 445,000 thousand people, including approximately 250,000 children, who visit the Museum each year, we are committed to providing appropriate ADA access for our audience. The Museum’s exhibit galleries, auditorium, and other spaces are equipped with an elevator, ramps, flexible seating, and entrances that ensure accessibility for visitors. Exhibit videos include color-coded open captioning in English and Spanish to meet the needs of the hearing impaired. Public signage throughout the facility contains Braille and large print, following American Association of Museums' guidelines for maximum visibility for sight-impaired visitors. Go-talk communication devices are available for speech, hearing, or language impaired visitors. The entire museum facility – both floors, including classrooms, Auditorium, and all galleries – are available to be rented for special events, meetings, and conferences. Our 200-seat auditorium, which has stadium-style seating, can be reconfigured for events with conference set-up or banquet-style tables. This 2,500 square-foot room has a stage, theatrical lighting, and a/v capabilities. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Museum's creative, educational and programming teams immediately pivoted to begin developing online digital and virtual content to ensure that our educational programs continue to be available to all children in Miami-Dade County. We transitioned our preschool classes and our free afterschool program that serves 345 disadvantaged students in several of Miami’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods to daily distance learning experiences using Zoom, hosting Zoom parent empowerment sessions, and by launching a new online program “Museum At Home”. Since launching, we have produced more than 250 videos and how-to guides to provide children with remote Museum experiences. Through this new Museum At Home program, families can access free educational resources, such as musical storytimes by our theater troupe, resources for children with disabilities, and instructional art projects designed by our studio artists. Our Museum At Home programming is developed by Museum’s employees utilizing Florida Learning and Developmental Standards. All resources embody the various core domains such as language/literacy, mathematical thinking, physical development, science inquiry, social studies, social/emotional development, and creative expression through the arts. New and unique content is released each week on the Museum’s social media platforms, which have over 50,400 followers, email subscribers (20,000), and partners on local/state/national levels. The Museum’s website and YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/miamichildrensmuseum/videos) serves as a digital library and hosts the collection of all digital content. Digital content creation will continue for the foreseeable future even now that the Museum has reopened for in-person programming. We continue to develop additional online, digital, and virtual programming to support the needs of children and families in our community.