Welcome!

The Seashore Program provides the opportunity for 5th grade students to live, explore, and study in a beautiful setting within the Cape Cod National Seashore.  Our living space is a former Coast Guard Station with some grand views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pamet River valley.  Our classroom consists of the beaches, dunes, woods, marshes, bogs, swamps, and ponds of the National Seashore.  The N.E.E.D. (National Environmental Education Development) Academy is run by the Falmouth, Dennis-Yarmouth, and Monomoy schools, which send all their fifth grade classes. The program was established as a Collaborative in 1974, and hosts between 750 and 1,000 students each school year for their 2 ½ or 5 day-overnight environmental education experience.  

The primary focus of the week is to teach students about the history, both natural and cultural, of Cape Cod. Through hands-on experience, first person observation, and guided exploration students gain a deeper understanding of the unique and fragile place they call home.  Lesson themes are drawn from the Massachusetts Science Curriculum Frameworks for Earth and Space Science, Life Science (Biology) and the Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework.  The program also supports the educational mission of the Cape Cod National Seashore by integrating interpretive themes.

Some days are spent close to the Pamet River Station. Students may hike, walk the beaches and dunes, or explore a nearby pond. On other days, we board the bus to explore other singular locations within the Cape Cod National Seashore, including: Great Island, the White Cedar Swamp, Fort Hill, Nauset Marsh, the Beech Forest, Race Point and the Province Lands.   

Students study the human history of Cape Cod.  Lessons focus on a day in the life of a Surfman in the U.S. Life Saving Service, the challenges faced by early colonists, and the legacy of the Native American tribes who have lived on Cape Cod for many centuries.  Students also learn about how many Cape Codders have made a living through the sea, including whalers, traders, and pirates.  

The program includes evening activities that are tailored to the interests of the group. Options include, but are not limited to, star lessons, night hikes, science experiments, group games and dramatic productions. 

An important outcome of the program is a strengthened classroom community.  Through living together and through specific activities, students learn about themselves and each other. They learn to take more responsibility for themselves and the world around them, and learn to work as a team with their classmates.