Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society

School Star Parties

School star parties are events where SVAS volunteers go out to a host organization’s planned event with telescopes and educational astronomy presentations and activities. Please note that this is an educational, not entertainment, program. For those who qualify we will travel to an appropriate location of your choice within a 30 mile radius of Sacramento.

Please be sure to read all of the guidelines before requesting to schedule a date. There are no fees for this service, but donations to SVAS are accepted.

Guidelines

The following requirements are to help ensure the maximum benefit of our free programs. Thank you for your cooperation.

• Host must read, understand and agree to all guidelines below.
• Host must provide an application with the following information:
  • Name and contact information of the Host
  • Name of the event
  • Proposed Location of event
  • Type of event (Public admittance or private. Scout, school, etc.)
  • Estimated number of attendees
  • Will the attendees be charged for the event
  • Start and End times
  • What activities are planned for the over-all event
  • What activities are requested from the SVAS
  • Name, address and driving directions to the location
  • Specifics of setup location, where to park
  • Confirm that sprinklers will be turned off (if you are on or near grass)
  • Confirm that lights have been turned off
  • Possible date(s) requested
  • Confirm that children will be supervised by adults (other than SVAS volunteers)
• Volunteers must be provided a level area that they can drive onto for set up of their equipment.
• No food allowed near the equipment. This is a strict policy!
• Participants must have clean hands before entering the telescope viewing areas. A box of handi-wipes works well.
• Sprinklers must be turned off. Be sure that automatic turn-on times are also overridden. A test the night before is a good idea.
• Lights shining into observing area turned off. Be sure that automatic turn-on times are also overridden. A test the night before is a good idea.
• Hosts are responsible to pay for replacing damaged equipment due to participant misconduct and for the safety of the event.

Submit Information using Email to the Outreach Director

Please note: This is a free, volunteer service and so there is no guarantee for volunteer attendance. We will try our best to make sure there are plenty of volunteers for your event but we are dependent upon volunteer availability.