SLO to Santa Barbara Amtrak Field Trip-Heartland Charter School

Registration window February 18, 10:00 a.m. -February 24, 7:00 p.m.

Join other Heartland families on a day trip on Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara!

We will leave SLO early in the morning (6am), and arrive in Santa Barbara at 8:49am to spend the day! Students will see the sun rise and the sun set!

Students will complete a Scavenger Hunt as they pass by mountains, valleys, rivers, the Pacific Ocean, the Channel Islands, and other California landmarks. Part of the scavenger Hunt will involve looking for birds native to San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara county including the red tailed hawk, western gull, California scrub jay, peregrine falcon, red winged blackbird, and turkey vulture. Students will learn about birdwatching, the act of observing birds in their natural environment. Students will also be able to see native plants including lupine, California poppy, toyon, manzanita, Santa Barbara Jewelflower, and ceonothus and mark them off on the Scavenger Hunt list.

Once we arrive in Santa Barbara, your family is free to explore! You can spend the day any way you’d like: the MOXI Museum is just steps away from the train station. Other ideas are visiting the SB Zoo, the beach, the Presidio, the Courthouse, the Sea Center on the Wharf or exploring State Street. 

We will meet at the Train Station to catch the 5:49pm train to get back to San Luis Obispo at 8:46pm.

This field trip is part of Amtrak’s Kids 'n' Trains Program which offers discount train tickets to schools.

Ticket cost:

• Students ages 5+ $20.00
• Chaperones $20.00
• CHILDREN AGES 0-4 CAN NOT PARTICIPATE IN THIS FIELD TRIP

*The price for tickets paid with a credit card will be slightly higher due to the Ticketbud processing fee.

Heartland events are designed for families to attend together. Students need to be accompanied by an adult chaperone. If your student will be attending with another family, please let the field trip host know. Chaperones must be the legal parent or 25 years and older. All chaperones must be healthy, ethical people with the skills to be responsible adult chaperones.

**To ensure the health and safety of all attendees, please do not attend a field trip or event if you, your student(s), or anyone in your household is ill or showing possible signs of illness.**

Please read our refund policy!

Refunds will not be given for any reason. As a courtesy, if you are sick or unable to attend a field trip, please contact the teacher who planned the event and let them know so they do not have to wait at the venue for you.* Families who are no-shows may lose access to future field trips.*

May I pay using my student's planning amount? Yes! You can pay for your student's ticket and one chaperone ticket with your student's planning amount. Reminder, only one chaperone ticket per family may be purchased using planning amounts. There are two steps to purchase tickets for field trips with your student's planning amount.

Step 1. Reserve your ticket on Ticketbud. Please select the "Student ticket paid with planning amounts through Procurify" and or "Chaperone ticket paid with planning amounts through Procurify" ticket options on Ticketbud. Complete the checkout process on Ticketbud. You will receive an email confirmation from Ticketbud once your order is complete. (If you do not receive an email please check your Spam folder.) This is the first step in reserving your tickets. Immediately after you receive confirmation from Ticketbud, you will move to step 2.

Step 2. Place an order for your tickets in Procurify. Search the name of this field trip in the Procurify catalog and complete your order just like you would for any other order. Your spot on this field trip will not be confirmed until you have placed your order in Procurify. Failure to place an order in Procurify within three days will result in being removed from the attendee list and having your funds manually deducted.

What are the check-in procedures? Meet at SLO Amtrak Train Station at 5:40 am for check in. You need to arrive in time for check in before the train arrives!

Train leaves SLO at 6:11am.

HST Laura McCarley will have a Heartland baseball cap on & will have a clip board. Please check in with her when you arrive.

Does this trip have any grade or age restrictions? Only students enrolled as Heartland students ages 5 and over can be part of this field trip with these special low-price tickets. Parents traveling with children under the age of five (5) are not considered as part of the group reservation. If families would like to bring younger children with them they have to purchase 1 full price adult ticket on their own through the Amtrak website (price around $68 ) AND 1 full price child ticket ($34) for the child under the age of 5. You can not use school funds for these tickets. Parents traveling with children under the age of five (5) are not considered as part of the group reservation. Parents traveling with children under the age of five (5) must make a separate reservation at regular rates on Amtrak.com or by calling 1-800-872-7245. Additional passengers may purchase full-fare tickets for the same trip (space permitting). Due to the special arrangements made to accommodate groups, there is no guarantee that add-ons will be able to sit with the rest of the group. To purchase full-fare tickets for additional passengers, visit Amtrak.com. ONLY ONE CHAPERONE PER FAMILY MAY ATTEND. IF YOU PURCHASE A SECOND CHAPERONE TICKET OR A TICKET FOR A STUDENT NOT OLD ENOUGH TO ATTEND YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A REFUND.

Is there on-site parking available? Free parking is available at the Amtrak station.

Can we pack snacks or lunch for this event or field trip? You may bring outside food and drink. Food and drinks are also available for sale on the train.

How do I contact the event organizer?

Name: Laura McCarley

Email: laura.mccarley@heartlandcharterschool.com

Phone: 805 570-7889

You must have a student enrolled in Heartland Charter School in order to attend this event. We verify enrollment for all attendees.