What is Pets in the Classroom?
Pets in the Classroom is a grant program that provides funding toward a small animal and pet supplies to pre-kindergarten through 9th grade teachers in both private and public schools. While classroom pets are a valuable teaching tool, we understand that many teachers have very limited resources for the support of classroom animals. Through the program, teachers can get an initial grant to help with the cost of purchasing a small animal pet and its supplies, and then a sustaining grant each school year after to help with the continued cost of feeding and caring for the pet.
Why Have Pets in the Classroom?
Both research and teachers’ feedback show that classroom pets can have a profound impact on students.
Research:
In 2019, Phase II of the American Humane Research Study on pets in the classroom was published in the Human Animal Interaction Research Bulletin. In the study, teachers with classroom pets reported significantly greater increases in overall social skills (including communication, cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, engagement, and self-control); better social competence; and improved academic reading competence. Parent respondents indicated they saw significantly greater increases in pro-social behaviors among their children compared to parents with children in classrooms without pets.
Amy McCullogh, PhD, Principal Investigator and Senior Research Advisor with American Humane stated: “The utilization of classroom pets in the 3rd and 4th grade U.S. classrooms appears to hold significant benefits for children’s social, behavioral and academic development.”
Learn more about this study, its 1st phase, and more research studies on our Research page.
Teacher Feedback:
Teachers have shared the value of the program and the impact it is having through our annual teacher survey in which we survey grant recipients on their classroom pet experience. The graphic below shows the results of the 2021-22 school year survey.
You can read the full results of the survey (as well as some wonderful testimonials) by visiting: Teacher Survey Shows the Benefits of Classroom Pets.
How is Pets in the Classroom Making a Difference?
From the program’s inception in 2011 through October 2022, over 220,600 grants have been issued to teachers, meaning an estimated 8.8 million students have experienced the joys of interacting with and caring for pets as a result of receiving a Pets in the Classroom grant.
Here is what a few teachers shared with us:
“I just wanted to reach out to you all to tell you how THANKFUL we are for this grant in my classroom. We have our pet named Cheerio who is a guinea pig and is the highlight of my students’ day! My students who have special needs love to help take care of Cheerio and love having Cheerio time once they have completed their work! They have learned independence skills with Cheerio and now understand what it means to take care of him! Cheerio has such an amazing addition to our classroom and we are so thankful for this grant to provide us with funding for Cheerio!”
~ Abigail Napper, Pets in the Classroom grant recipient
“The pet grant each year gives our classroom students such joy and teaches so much responsibility. The students learn so much about habitats and it has such a calming effect on them in the science center. Thank you so much for this grant.”
~ Connie Fox, Pets in the Classroom grant recipient
“Although I used Pets in the Classroom to get a bearded dragon for my 4th grade class, she was a wonderful motivator and reward for several students with special needs. When nothing else would calm them down, the mention of visiting Jellybean would immediately turn behaviors around. Students all around the school would get so excited to see and pet her. Students would work hard to get the opportunity to have her on their shoulder as they did their work. Students lined up to give up their recess time to care for her, clean her enclosure, and feed her. I loved this opportunity to share my love of animals with students and provide a rewarding experience for them.”
~ Nicole Sisco, Pets in the Classroom grant recipient
“We received our Pets in the Classroom Grant in October 2021. After two extremely stressful and challenging school years, our Bearded Dragon brought so much joy to our classroom. “Ms. Roz” has provided us with many science lessons, life lessons, and even reading and math opportunities (they LOVE to count how many bugs she can eat)! We are so grateful for Pets in the Classroom for providing us with the resources we needed to give Ms. Roz a home!”
~ Ryann Ibanez, Pets in the Classroom grant recipient
How Can You Support Pets in the Classroom?
Pets in the Classroom strives to continue educating the public on the benefits of pet care while providing grants to teachers so they can impact the lives of millions more children across the United States and Canada.
Here are a few ways you can help:
- Share our program with your teacher friends!
- Follow us on social media and share the impact that classroom pets can have!
- Donate to the program! We would not exist without donations from supporters: https://petsintheclassroom.org/donate/
- Sponsor a teacher: If you know of a specific teacher or school that you would like to provide with a classroom pet, we would like to assist you in making that possible: https://petsintheclassroom.org/sponsor-a-classroom/
- Create a Facebook Fundraiser with Pets in the Classroom as the recipient. Here’s how: https://www.facebook.com/help/356680401435429
Learn more: www.dbf9eaf4ed.nxcli.io.
