Teachers

2023-2024 Field Trips in Santa Cruz Area State Parks are Now Available!

Teacher Resources

If you are seeking additional resources for teaching Mission Studies, either to augment your field trip or in lieu of one, we have an ongoing list. 

Please see this curated resource document for the Santa Cruz Mission recommended resources, divided by Teacher Resources, Teacher Curricula, Stories, & Student Resources. 

Explore Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park

Reservations for both FALL and SPRING of the 2023-2024 school year are open. 

Register for an in-person field trip!
Register for a virtual field trip!

Overlooking downtown Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park features the only building left of the twelfth California Mission, founded in 1791. The restored adobe was once housing for the California Indian residents of the Mission. The park interprets the story of the mission through the lens of the experience of the Ohlone and Yokuts people. Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park offers several unique field trip options where students will delve into the complicated history of the site through exhibits and activities.

Please note: The themes and discussions that we approach in our program with students may be challenging for some communities or individuals.

Made a reservation? Look for confirmations from "no-reply@acuityscheduling.com"

Couldn't reserve a field trip? Join our Waitlist!

 

In-Person Programs

Program Options: 

Mission Day: The Mission Day program takes your students from the life of the Ohlone people in their village to their life in the Santa Cruz Mission with the Spanish. Students will understand how the California Mission System changed traditional Indigenous life forever. They will consider ways in which Native People responded to this change resulting in cultural continuity and cultural change. This program has a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 45 students, and is geared towards 4th grade. We have a required total of 3-9 chaperones for this field trip event. 

This Environmental Studies Day Program (ESD) includes a mixture of highly interactive discussions, demonstrations, hands-on activities, and an adobe tour. We recommended this experience for fourth grade students and above. When registering for your program, please indicate how we can support learning in the classroom during your field trip. For questions or concerns, please contact us at (831) 425-5849 or santacruzmission@ports-ca.us.

Mission Life: Before and After: This small group program is for group sizes of 7 - 20, for grades K-12. The program runs 1.5 hours, and must be scheduled by phone. Focused on comparative building methods, students will get an overview of pre-contact Ohlone life, and consider the intensive change that impacted culture and land during the Mission era. Program elements include hands-on living history activities, as well as museum exploration, and facilitated group discussion. Please call (831) 425-5849 or email santacruzmission@ports-ca.us to schedule. 

Mission Portals: If you require a large group (45+ students) and you aren’t able to participate in a Mission Day, Mission Portals programs are designed for fourth grade students with a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 90 students. During this program, your students will participate in several avtivites as portals looking into the daily life in the Santa Cruz Mission (including an adobe tour). To book a Mission Portals Program, please call (831) 425-5849 or email santacruzmission@ports-ca.us.
 

Virtual Programs 

Cultures in Conflict: In this 45 minute interactive program we will introduce your students to the Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park. We will give a brief overview of how the daily life of the indigenous people from this area dramatically changed as they navigated life at the Santa Cruz Mission, and then discuss some of the lasting cultural impacts of the resulting aftermath.