PLEASE NOTE: The Norrie Point Environmental Center will be closed through mid-2027 as the building receives energy efficiency upgrades. Please visit our FAQ page to learn more about the temporary closure.
In the meantime, the Education Team will offer field programs at other sites including the Power House, also located at Mills-Norrie State Park. You can still request hands-on, outdoor experiential learning opportunities here. The primary audience are local High School and College classes visiting Mills-Norrie State Park for day-long Hudson River focused lessons. Programs are flexible and dependent on the needs and interests of the students with a participant maximum capacity of 30 people. Common topics include watershed and estuary dynamics, water quality concepts, aquatic and terrestrial biological diversity, and wetland ecology. Special emphasis is put on interaction with or observation of live plants and animals such as fish, invertebrates, birds, and turtles. Program elements may include seining for fish in the river, paddling canoes in a wetland, studying live invertebrates in our wet classroom, hiking the forested trails at the Mills-Norrie State Park.
Environmental Education Field Programs support the National Estuarine Research Reserve’s efforts in science, stewardship, and restoration. Programs are free to the school groups who attend and funding is available for bus transportation costs.
Objectives
- Introduce or deepen the experience of students with their local outdoors.
- Provide Hudson Valley high school and college students with safe and free river excursions.
- Build a positive connection between young people and the Hudson River wildlife.
- Introduce students and teachers to Key Understandings of the Estuary
Resources
- Help your students prepare for their visit with the Hudson River Curriculum Guide for pre- and post-visit classroom lessons.
- Did you know you can get your transportation costs covered? Check out the Connect Kids Grant Program.
