School Tours

Program Details

Sites

The Petaluma Adobe SHP is the primary location for our school tour program. Additionally, we are partners with Sonoma SHP and honor the San Francisco Solano Mission and General Vallejo's Home as additional sites. Please see the 'Pricing' section for details.

Length of Guided Tour

The average tour takes about 45 minutes.

Group Size

The maximum group size is 35 people. We require one adult per ten children, but we prefer one adult per five children. We do NOT accept combined classes.

Tour Availability

School group tours are available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 10:30 AM, 11:45 AM, and 1:30 PM. School tours must be arranged at least two weeks in advance. Teachers can make school tour arrangements by calling ReserveCalifornia toll-free at 1-866-240-4655. They are open from 8am-5pm daily. Please note that tour times may be different at Sonoma SHP (View Sonoma SHP School Tour Program Details). We make every effort to provide tours to groups with reservations, but we cannot guarantee one due to staffing limitations. If staff is not available self-guided brochures will be provided on-site.

Curriculum

The school tour and/or self-guided tour relate to the History/Social Science Content Standards for Grades K-12 in the following ways:
1. 4.2.5 is met by discussing the daily lives of the people who occupied the Petaluma Rancho.
2. 4.2.8, 4.3.1, and 4.3.3 are met by discussing mission secularization, land grants, the rancho economy, the location of Mexican settlements, Fort Ross, Sutter's Fort, and the effect of the Gold Rush on settlements.

We have a downloadable school tour manual available for teachers here: A_Teachers_Guide_to_School_Tours_at_Petaluma_Adobe_SHP.pdf

Pricing

One tour for one class at one site is $40.00. If you want to add another tour on the same day for another site, it is an additional $10.00 on top of your $40.00 fee. Payments should be made on the day of your tour at the park site. We accept cash, card and check. Checks can be made payable to "CA Department of Parks & Recreation". If you need an invoice, please contact the park at (707)762-4871.