School Program Tips | Preparing for your visit | Upon Arrival |
Student Behavior | Chaperones Behavior
  
All four school programs (Estuary, Marine Mammals, Birds, Native Americans) are available either morning or afternoon, Tuesday through Fridays, year-round. Morning programs start at 10:00 AM and afternoon programs start at 1:00 PM. You must select only one program for your visit. You can view currently available dates by clicking on our calendar.
Please take into account the following when requesting a reservation:
• School programs are all two hours in length. We regret they can't be customized to a shorter time.
• Reservations must be requested at least one month in advance of the desired program date.
• A maximum 60 students can be accommodated per group.
• There should be two adult chaperons for each 15 students.
• A name tag for each student and chaperone is requested.
• All programs involve outdoor activities and walks so closed toe shoes are a must.
• The weather at Morro Bay can be windy and foggy so warm jackets are often necessary.
• If you are coming for the Bird Program, binoculars are desirable.
If you are coming for the Estuary Program, it is recommended that you choose a time at low
tide to better view the mudflats. Also that your students bring shoes appropriate to walk on the mudflats.
Before visiting the museum, review tips for a successful visit.
School Program Tips
Please follow these guidelines to make your visit to the Museum a success. If there are any changes to your scheduled trip, notify us through our email address:
schoolgroups@gmail.com. For last minute changes, call (805) 772-2694, ext. 0, between 10 am and 4:45 pm seven days a week. We will call the lead teacher a
few days before the trip to verify plans and numbers of students and adults.
If you are running late the day of your visit, please call the Museum at 805-772-2694 (select ‘0’ to skip the menu and speak directly to the front desk). If no one is available, please wait for the prompt and leave a message, including a phone number.
Preparing for your visit
• Introduce students to the vocabulary and educational concepts to be presented in the program (refer to the cover letter for the program).
• Assure that parents prepare the students for coastal weather – jackets and closed shoes appropriate for the mud. This is necessary all year long.
• Divide students into groups of 15. Assign the most reliable students to any groups that will not have a teacher.
• Have at least two chaperones for each 15 students.
• Have a name tag for each student and chaperone.
• Plan your own alternative activities and additional chaperones for any pre-school children, if they must accompany your group. Our outdoor walks are not appropriate for children in strollers. Our program content is designed for grades 2 and above. We will divide multi-grade groups into smaller groups by grade level.
• Instruct students and chaperones on the museum’s behavior code (see below).
• Check your estimated arrival time at the museum. Allow for road construction delays. Please call if you are running late. If you are traveling from the Central Valley, allow time for a rest stop before arrival.
• Please have students leave cell phones, cameras, iPods, and other electronic devices at home (one camera is sufficient for group photos, which should be limited).
• Bring anti-bacterial wipes or waterless soap for younger students.
• 5 -6 picnic tables are available at the Museum. Larger groups may wish to move to another park for lunch. To reserve picnic space in the day use area of Morro Bay State Park without charge, call the kiosk at the park 48 hours before your trip: (805) 772-7434.
Upon arrival
• Buses may drop students off at the far end of the upper Museum parking lot. Then park either at the Marina parking lot below the Museum (not by the Bayside Café), or in the gravel parking lot at the bottom of the north Museum driveway, adjacent to the golf course. The driver may return to the upper parking lot at the end of the tour for pick-up.
• Reiterate expectations for behavior before leaving the bus and clarify how adults will help.
• Assure that students are organized in their groups of 15, with adults/chaperones assigned, before they leave the bus.
• Meet the docents at the front door of the bus. Introduce the lead teacher.
• If there is any special information you would like emphasized, please notify one of the docents.
• If students will visit the Nature Store at the end of the program, please plan only 10 in the store at a time; space is very limited. Ask 2 chaperones to assist in the store and the others with students waiting outside. If only a few students have shopping money, consider if it is fair to the others to take time for this (students can return another time with their families).
Behavior code for students
• Listen when a docent or someone else is talking.
• Stay on the trails. Walk; don’t run.
• Be careful not to disturb things when you pick up rocks, plants and animals, including those in tide pools. Put things back approximately where you found them (they are in their homes/habitats).
• Leave everything as it was before you came.
• Use indoor voices inside the Museum.
• Be considerate in the restrooms; please help keep them clean.
Behavior code for chaperones
• Listen when a docent or someone else is talking.
• Serve as a role model for the students. Limit cell phone use to emergencies.
• Position yourself among the students and help maintain a good environment for learning.
• Require students who are having trouble following the behavior code to stand quietly beside you until the group moves to the next destination.
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