Purchasing tickets: To place an order or ask questions about an existing order, call the Box Office's School Matinee Series line at 603.646.9600. SMS orders for 10 or fewer students must be paid for either at time of order; orders for groups of 10 or more must be paid for 30 days prior to the show. Unpaid orders may be released and sold to another school group after this date. Orders placed fewer than 30 days prior to the show will require payment at time of order. Every person who is attending must have a seat purchased for them.

Grade recommendations: Although every performance is open to any grade level, a recommended range of grades has been assigned to each performance. These guidelines are based on performances' content and artists' recommendations.

Length of performance: Most of our School Matinee Series performances are 60 minutes in length, followed by a brief question and answer session with the artist. Please refer to the web page for a given performance to confirm its run time.

Study guides: Study guides are created for each school performance. These documents include classroom activities to prepare students in advance for the live performances they will see. Feel free to print and copy the guides for distribution.

Communication: Thirty days before the show date, Hop staff will email information about the performance to those with fully completed orders. The email will include a digital version of the study guide for the performance as well as information about buses, staying for lunch at the Hop, and the arrival and dismissal process. (Schools with unpaid balances will receive this information when payment is received.) All communication will go to the name, address and email address associated with the invoice. For questions about performance content, policy and accommodations, email Kate Adams at kate.e.adams@dartmouth.edu.

Homeschool families: All homeschool families purchasing tickets to the School Matinee Series will need to register with the Hop. Click here for more information on registering.

Waiting list: In the event that a performance sells out, the Box Office will start a waiting list and call those on it as tickets become available. Please call the Box Office's group sales number at 603.646.9600; once on the list, you will be contacted if seats become available.

Accessibility: The Hopkins Center is committed to making our facilities and programs accessible to all members of our community. Please let us know what you require in advance of your arrival at the Hop.

Chaperones: We advise all groups to provide an adequate number of chaperones, and we prefer at least one adult chaperone (teacher or parent) for every 15-20 students. For many students this will be their first live performance; we appreciate your help in showing them how to be excellent audience members!

Day of the show

Busing: Due to the large amount of bus traffic during school matinee performances, the Hop has developed a procedure for unloading and reloading the buses. Please read and share with any bus drivers or bus companies with whom you contract. 

Arrival: Please plan to arrive 30 minutes prior to show time. When your bus arrives in front of the Hop, please stay on your bus. A Hop staff member will come out to greet you and give you instructions. An usher will escort you and your students into the building and to your seats. After you have found your seats you may escort students to the restrooms in the lobby before the performance starts. Homeschool families will check in with Hop Staff in the theater lobby before being seated.

Photo policy: The Hop may photograph your visit for use on our website or in promotional materials. If you or your students do not wish to be photographed, please inform a Hop staff member prior to the show. No photography or videography is permitted by audience members during a performance.

Seating: We seat school groups and homeschoolers in blocks within the theater at our discretion, doing our best to make sure each group is seated together. If you have seating requests for your group, please let Hop staff know prior to your arrival.

Q&A: Most of our performers generously agree to stay after the performance for a few minutes to do a question and answer session with the students in the audience. These Q&As are moderated by Hop staff and only last five to 10 minutes, due to artist availability and school schedules.

Leaving the theater: After the performance, all students who arrived by bus should remain in their seats. In order keep things organized and safe, we will dismiss schools by name. Hop staff will announce which schools are dismissed over an intercom system and ushers will lead the various school group to their waiting buses.

Lunch: For some performances, we make a large room available in which groups can eat bag lunches. If you would like to stay for lunch, please let Hop staff know in the email communication one month before the performance date. When groups are preparing to depart following lunch, they will need to call their bus on their own.

Cancellation

Schools will be notified by email and/or phone in the unlikely event that a performance is cancelled by the Hop.

Inclement weather policy: Refunds are not issued for weather-related circumstances.

If school will be closed for weather the day of a performance, there are two options:
1. Parents may bring students to the performance. The school is responsible for notifying families of this option.
Or
2. An effort will be made by Hop staff to place the group into another age-appropriate performance in the current school year. This will be done at the discretion of Hop staff and is subject to availability.