Mashantucket — The Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center has announced that it will offer free admission to groups of students from three surrounding towns.  

“Now, more than 3,700 students from Ledyard, North Stonington and Preston public schools may freely access the world’s largest Native American museum, where they can explore interactive environments, view an award-winning film, learn about the region’s rich natural history and benefit from unique multicultural learning opportunities,” the museum said in a statement.

Groups of students in kindergarten through grade 12 from the designated towns will be admitted free once per academic year, effective immediately, the museum said.

The museum, which closed to the general public for the winter Nov. 29, is open Wednesdays to museum members and, by reservation, student groups. It will reopen to the general public April 1, 2016.

“We love seeing students’ enthusiasm as they participate in the museum’s multi-sensory journey through time,” Jason Mancini, the museum’s executive director, said in the statement. “Designed not only to encourage a deeper understanding of our area’s rich Native history, the experience also exposes them to messages of diversity and multicultural tolerance — invaluable concepts as they prepare for life in today’s globalized world.”

Teachers who arrange museum tours “can incorporate timely lessons highlighting social justice and tolerance,” the museum said. "Furthermore, museum visits directly support fourth and ninth grade Common Core curriculum initiatives in Native American studies and U.S. history.”

To plan a museum visit, contact Endawnis Spears, group sales associate, by calling (860) 396-6839, or emailing groupsales@pequotmuseum.org.