Schools
School Programs
IMPORTANT Registration for school programs is closed for the 22-23 school year. We will open registration for 2023-24 in August. If you have questions about your registration or your visit to the Park, please email Columbiaschoolliaison@gmail.com
Friends of Columbia sponsors the School programs in Columbia State Historic Park. Park staff, volunteers, and concessionaires at Columbia State Historic Park take great pride in the quality of our school presentations. We offer a variety of opportunities for school children to have first-hand experiences to augment classroom learning about the California Gold Rush. More than 15,000 fourth graders attend presentations at Columbia State Historic Park each year.
The park staff and volunteers offer 4 different formal programs aimed at the 4th-grade audience that meet California State History Content Standards for fourth grade social studies content. Financial support for these programs is provided by Friends of Columbia State Historic Park.
Parking and admission are free, and school groups are welcome to visit the park at any time for self-guided presentations. The park’s concessionaires offer many programs designed for school audiences.
The Columbia Passport, a self-guided touring aid, is available at the museum, or may be ordered in advance of your trip for $1.25 each. Scroll to bottom of page for the link
COLUMBIA FOURTH GRADE TOWN TOUR
The Columbia 4th Grade Town tour consists of a one-hour program led by park staff that interprets the town of Columbia and it’s participation during the California Gold Rush.
Included in the tour is:
- An overview of what life was like in Columbia during the Gold Rush
- A hands-on mining demonstration *
- General mercantilism presentation
- Student involved bucket brigade activity*
* activities weather permitting.
The maximum number of 4th grade students per group is 35 with up to 4 adults. The minimum number of students is 12.
Reservation Information
Homeschool Option – 4th Grade Town Tour
The Columbia 4th Grade Town Tour program is available for 4th grade level homeschool students from formal homeschool programs. Each student is allowed one parent chaperone.
Other members of the homeschool program are not able to participate in the tour. However, students and parents will be able to visit the historic buildings, exhibits, and merchants of Columbia State Historic Park while they wait for their 4th graders to complete the program.
COLUMBIA SCHOOLHOUSE 4TH GRADE LIVING HISTORY PROGRAM
The Columbia Schoolhouse 4th Grade Living History Program will provide your students the opportunity to step back into time and participate in what it was like to attend school during the Gold Rush days of the 1861. This “living history” program engages students by:
- Meeting inside the original two story brick schoolhouse built in 1860
- Sitting in historic wooden desks
- Participating in school lessons from the 1861 including history, rules/consequences, mathematics, (ciphering) reading, writing, and spelling.
- Using historic school tools like chalkboards and old textbooks
- Following instructions from a schoolhouse docents dressed in period clothing and teaching as if she was from that time period (1st person interpretation)
The maximum number of students is 35 with up to 4 adults. The minimum number of 4th grade students is 12.
Program Information
Homeschool Option – Columbia Schoolhouse 4th Grade
The Columbia Schoolhouse 4th Grade program is available for 4th grade level students from formal homeschool programs. Each student is allowed one parent chaperone.
Other members of the homeschool program are not able to participate in the guided walk. However, students and parents will be able to visit the historic buildings, exhibits, and merchants of Columbia State Historic Park while they wait for their 4th graders to complete the program.
GOLD TREK LIVING HISTORY PROGRAM
The 4th Grade Gold Trek Living History Program at Columbia State Historic Park consists of a 3-hour program lead by park staff and docents that is meant to replicate the experience that many young men faced as they traveled from Stockton to the gold fields of California in search of gold. Students are provided the opportunity to directly engage in this same experience within the park.
When students arrive at the park, they participate as 
“companies” in an auction where they have the opportunity to spend or save their money, purchase maps, carts, supplies, and shovels, and start on their journey. Along the route to the gold fields, they encounter charlatans, merchants, ferry crossings, and opportunities to make critical decisions that affect their ability to arrive at the gold fields ready to work.
The Gold Trek Living History program is meant to replicate the experience that many gold seekers faced as they traveled from Stockton to the diggings in search of gold.
This program adheres to the state’s curriculum standards and provides an unbeatable opportunity for students to experience first-hand what they’ve learned in the classroom. This program is very popular and reservations are required.
The maximum number of 4th grade students per group is 35 with up to 4 adults.
This program requires a one-hour online pre-lesson with park’s distance learning interpreter. The pre-lesson is offered in January and February to introduce students to the Gold Rush so they will be better prepared for the Gold Trek and can have a more enriching experience. The lesson covers historical Gold Rush history, Columbia’s town history, routes of travel, and information about the trek from the Port of Stockton to Columbia. The lesson is approximately ½ hour long. They will contact you once you are registered to schedule the online lesson.
WAITLIST: If you are unable to make reservations for this program because the timeslot is full, please send an email to columbia.shp@parks.ca.gov with your name, school name, # of students, and phone number to be added to our waitlist. If there are additional spots available or a cancellation, the park will contact you.
Program Information
Homeschool Option – Gold Trek
The Gold Trek Homeschool program is available for 4th grade level homeschool students from formal homeschool programs. Each student is allowed one parent chaperone.
Other members of the homeschool program are not able to participate in the Gold Trek program. However, students and parents will be able to visit the historic buildings, exhibits, and merchants of Columbia State Historic Park while they wait for their 4th graders to complete the Gold Trek journey.
For more information on park school programs contact the columbiaschoolliaison@gmail.com
DIGGINS TENT TOWN 1852
The 4th Grade Diggins Tent Town Living History Program at Columbia State Historic Park consists of a 2-hour program lead by park staff and docents that is meant to replicate the experience of a Gold Rush era tent town in California. Students are provided the opportunity to directly engage in this “living history” town and find out what life was like in 1852.
Educational programs for 4th graders are offered on the Thursday and Friday of Columbia Diggins Tent Town. Students get a chance to tour the camp and interact with characters from 1852.
This program adheres to the state’s curriculum standards and provides an unbeatable opportunity for students to experience first-hand what they’ve learned in the classroom. This program is very popular and reservations are required.
The maximum number of 4th grade students is 35 with up to 4 adults. The minimum number of students is 12.
To preserve the learning environment, schools without reservations are not admitted on Thursday or Friday of the event.
The cost includes $5 worth of “Columbia Eagles” which are redeemed for goods, food or services in the camp, giving students an opportunity to interact in the mercantile economy of the camp.
WAITLIST: If you are unable to make a reservation for this program because the timeslot is full, please send an email toColumbia.SHP@parks.ca.gov with your name, school name, # of students, and phone number to be added to our waitlist. If the park has additional spots available or a cancellation, park staff will contact you.
Homeschool Option – Diggins
The Diggins Homeschool program is available for 4th grade level students from homeschool programs. Each student is allowed one parent chaperone.
Other members of the homeschool program are not able to participate in the Diggins tent town school program. However, non-participating children and parents will be able to enter the Diggins tent town event as a member of the public and participate in Diggins as the public does. General admission prices apply. See Events page
For more information on park school programs contact the Columbia School Group Coordinator at columbia.shp@parks.ca.gov
EXPLORE PORTS COLUMBIA
Sign up for a virtual field trip to Columbia State Historic Park! Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students (PORTS) program provides FREE, live, interactive videoconference programs, also known as virtual field trips. K-12 students from California and around the world are connecting with live State Park Interpreters and learning academic content standards within the context of California’s dynamic state park system.
You can view additional virtual field trips on the PORTS Programs page.
Join us for virtual programs or use our digital resources to supplement your lesson plans and provide engaging, educational content for your students!
Check out these 360° Virtual Tours of Columbia SHP and Schoolhouse!
Open Educational Resources
Columbia Padlet Columbia YouTube Flipgrid
Digital resources available through Smithsonian Learning Lab.
History of Columbia Mining in Columbia Mining Tools Mining Techniques Chinese in Gold Rush Columbia
Introduction California’s Gold Rush Traveling to the Gold Rush
Photos of the cultures who came to the Gold Rush Coins of the California Gold Rush
EXPLORE THE PARK ON YOUR OWN
Agents of Discovery
Self-guided adventures for families and students: This program takes you on a free, fun, interactive tour through Columbia State Historic Park. This virtual scavenger hunt makes learning fun with multiple choice questions, historic photos and artifacts.
To Play – Download the Agents of Discovery app using the free ParkWIFI or your mobile data plan. Click the “Missions” button in the app to find Columbia and download the park mission. Once the app is downloaded, WIFI is not needed. Good Luck, Agents!
Passports
Columbia’s Passports is a self-guided touring aid where students are required to find, identify and list items found in locations throughout the park. It’s a treasure hunt of information where they learn firsthand about details of the mining days. It meets the California State Curriculum Standards for fourth grade social studies content.
Passports can be purchased for $1.25 each in the museum or ordered in advance of your school trip by clicking Passports Order Form to download and print a Passport order form. Due to high demand for the Passports, prepaid orders are filled first and no orders are shipped without prepayment.
For additional information or questions, please email columbiashp@parks.ca.gov Orcolumbiaschoolliaison@gmail.com