2024-2025 Virtual and In-Person Field Trips to Santa Cruz-area State Parks are Now Available! 

Explore Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park

Please note: The themes and discussions that we approach in our program with students may be challenging for some communities or individuals. As we continue our work in telling this complex history the most effective way possible, some parts of our field trip may differ from previous years. We ask the educators and chaperones to embrace these exciting changes. As we move through prototype activities and scheduling ideas, please don’t prepare students with specific expectations, particularly regarding take-home crafts. 

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.

Can't find a reservation that works for you? Please add your group to our 2024-2025 Waitlist!

In-Person Programs

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 under 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 colonial institution resulting in cultural continuity and cultural change. This program has a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 45 students. This works best with a minimum of 3 chaperones, and a maximum of 9 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. Register for a Mission Day Program!

Mission Life: Before and After: This small group program is for group sizes of 7 - 20, for grades K-12, particularly merged-grade groups. 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 teachers and students with a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 90 students. During this program, your students will participate in several activity portals looking into the daily life in the Santa Cruz Mission (including an adobe tour).  Please call (831) 425-5849 or email santacruzmission@ports-ca.us to schedule.
 

Virtual Program

Cultures in Conflict: In this 50 minute interactive program, we will introduce your students to the Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park. It 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. We will then discuss some of the lasting cultural impacts of the resulting aftermath. One class per program, teacher participation required. Register for a Virtual Field Trip!

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, and Student Resources.