The water district's award-winning school program has reached thousands of young people with educational, interactive lessons on every water topic imaginable.

The program offers age-appropriate school presentations and tours for Kindergarten through college classes.

Scheduling is conducted on a first-come, first-serve basis, provided free to schools in Santa Clara County and begins August 1 for the current school year.

The newsletter Aquacycles and the AquaDrops eNews are great places to look for upcoming events and new water education resources. E-mail or call Kathy Machado at (408) 265-2607, ext. 2331 to join the mailing list and email newsletter list. Or you can download current and past issues.

Presentations

Class presentations, Kindergarten through College
District staff will come to your school. Classroom presentations include hands-on experiments, conservation tips, water awareness activities, flood control information and careers in the water industry. To schedule, contact Kathy Machado at (408) 265-2607, ext. 2331.

Puppet plays (English and Spanish), Preschool
In spring, summer and fall, our Conservation Puppet Play teaches valuable lessons about caring for water and the environment. In the winter, our FloodSAFE Puppet Show
points out the dangers associated with flooding and gives
some tips on what to do. To schedule, contact Kathy Machado
at (408) 265-2607, ext. 2331.

Tours

Alamitos Groundwater Recharge Facility
5750 Almaden Expressway, San Jose Grades 3+

This one-hour tour includes a percolation pond, gravel dam, weather station, drop structure and spillway, urban runoff display and nature labyrinth. Lessons include the water sources, water cycle, groundwater model demonstration, purposes of dams and reservoirs, watershed stewardship and water conservation. For more information on our labyrinth, download the nature labyrinth brochure (PDF 2.5 MB), best printed
two-sided on 11X17 paper.

Coyote Creek Outdoor Classroom
791 Williams Street , San Jose Grades 4+

The Coyote Creek outdoor Classroom lies on a site where massive flooding destroyed three homes in 1997. The tour and interactive lessons focus on a natural stream habitat, sampling water from a groundwater monitoring well and plantings that feature native trees and shrubs as well as drought-tolerant gardening. Students will enjoy this visit to a flood plain, water quality testing, stream profiling activities, and watershed stewardship lessons. See more about the classroom here.

Morley Park Outdoor Classroom
Technology Parkway, Campbell Grades 3+

In the year 2000, the Santa Clara Valley Water District and City of Campbell collaborated on this project to produce a beautiful
5-acre park adjacent to the McGlincey Percolation Ponds. Visitors enjoy beautiful trails, a large grass area, an oak upland habitat, a marshland with separate pond and wooden path, wildflower gardens and picnic tables. Dogs are allowed on leashes. The tour includes watershed, groundwater,urban runoff, wetlands, weather station and water quality testing activities. See more about Morley Park here.

Rinconada Water Treatment Plant
We regret that our tours of our Rinconada Water Treatment Plant have been suspended due to security constraints. However, you and your students can learn about the treatment process here on our site. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also has a site for kids that describes the water treatment process.