Fifth-grade In-person School Program

Collect this information in advance:

• Proposed visit dates (Wednesday- Friday); NOTE: the program fills quickly, so calendar flexibility helps!
• County and School District
• Complete School Name
• School Address and Phone
• Number of fifth-grade classes 
• Number of students (per class)
• Names and contact info (email/cell phone) for ALL teachers that are part of the reservation
• Principal name and email address

To start your reservation:

• Find your school name in the list below. Choose your county, then the public school district your school is located in, and then your school. If you find it, select and click the button and you’ll be logged into our reservation system. If you don’t find your school name select SCHOOL NOT LISTED for that district or County and you’ll be logged in. You’ll be able to make a reservation, but our staff will need to contact you later to get all your school info.
• You will be asked the number of classes and the teacher information for your school. You can register up to 7 classes at a time. If you are registering for multiple classes, you will be asked for the name, email address, and phone number for each teacher. 
• Enter the amount of students per class.
• You will be taken to the calendar page where you can select the date you would like to register for. By clicking on the calendar you can see how many spots are still available for that day. You can only register on days that will accommodate the number of students you are registering. When you have found a day that works, then you can select it, and it will ask you to Add to Cart.
• Chaperones are included in the checkout process and will be calculated by how many students per class there are once you’ve selected a date.
• You will be asked to review all the students and chaperones before checkout, and you will be able to make adjustments if you see any mistakes to your class sizes.
• Registrant and principal information will also be collected in order to send confirmation emails to them.

Please make sure to read through the confirmation emails as they will have instructions to complete the process. The confirmation email also includes a Visit Information packet and an Educational Resources packet. A requirement of the program is that you will need to supply proof that you have secured bus transportation. Your principal and each teacher will also receive certification emails in which you will need to fill out and electronically sign a document that details the needs of your students and reconfirm the number of students.

If you are making more than one reservation you must accurately type in each principal’s and each teacher’s name, email, and phone number in their respective boxes. Please do not input one teacher’s or principal’s name and information for all reservations. Reservations are made by class. Failure to do so will result in your reservation being canceled.

• Verify your district/school will provide bus transportation for your visit.
• You will need to certify you have secured a bus prior to your visit.
• Everyone participating in the school visit program must arrive by bus (including all chaperones); no other vehicles are permitted.
• Buses must arrive at the Observatory by 9:00 a.m. so we can begin the program on time. There is no break during the program. This means anyone requiring a restroom must use the exterior restrooms located in the parking lot and/or eat any snacks before that time.
• Buses will drop off and pick up at the Observatory’s horseshoe driveway. During the program, buses must park elsewhere in Griffith Park.
• Information about Griffith Observatory Foundation’s Bus Scholarship program will be provided once you complete the registration process. At this time, the Bus Scholarship is only available to Title I schools. If your class is not part of a Title I school, please check with your school, district, or local council person for other funding opportunities.

We need your help to ensure a successful program for everyone.

• Teachers/chaperones must actively supervise their students and stay with their class at all times.
• The Observatory is a historic, multi-level facility. Program participants will be moving through the building, up and down stairs and through galleries. Courteous and orderly behavior throughout the program is essential.
• This is especially true for the program in the Samuel Oschin Planetarium, which is conducted by a live presenter in near-total darkness. The environment of the planetarium theater is specifically crafted for maximum visitor enjoyment of the show. Those in the planetarium should refrain from activities that would be disruptive to those around them (or to the presenter). Such activities include talking, yelling, making distracting noises, standing up, or using cell phones or other devices. We reserve the right to remove disruptive guests from the theater at any time. If you must leave the theater during the show, you cannot be readmitted.
• To protect the historic building and its exhibits, food, drinks, candy, and gum are not permitted at any time in the building or during the school program. Teachers and chaperones must enforce this policy.
• Please do not bring backpacks into the building.

• Only students enrolled in the fifth grade may attend. We also cannot permit siblings of students or other children of teachers or chaperones to attend the programs or enter the building.
• Only teachers, chaperones, and classes listed on the reservation will be admitted. You must have one adult chaperone/teacher for every ten student participants. Because of the limited program space, you may not bring additional chaperones. 
• The Observatory welcomes special education and special needs students (including those in wheelchairs, with visual/hearing impairments, or emotional issues). We do need to have advance notice to understand how best to meet the needs of your students. If your class includes students with special needs, please specify the number of these students during the reservation process and explain what, if any, accommodations your students will require and the number of 1:1 aides required per I.E.P.