Let our docents enrich the Academy experience for you and your students. We offer the following free tours for school children, grades three and above, on Tuesday through Friday mornings, October through mid-June. Tours are on a space-available basis and advanced reservations are required. Admission is free for all children younger than four and for all students in San Francisco. To make your visit to the Academy safer and more enjoyable, you must have at least one adult chaperone for every ten students.
Food service is available in the cafeteria.
Bag lunches can be eaten outdoors in the Fountain Courtyard, on the Music Concourse, or at any of the nearby recreation fields. The special format tour includes a pre-tour orientation session in an Academy classroom, introducing students to the scientific concepts that will be emphasized on the tour. The discussions, slides and hands-on activities of the special format session are designed to enhance what students will get from the tour, no matter what their grade level. Each tour can accommodate up to 35 students, and all tours incorporate appropriate themes from the California State Science Framework. If you wish to take advantage of both a Docent Tour and a planetarium show during your visit, the Morrison Planetarium at the Academy offers a show at noon, available by reservation.