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Academy to Kick Off Earth Month with Academy Day Festivities April 4

Academy Day will celebrate the institution’s 171st anniversary with special pricing, a science fair, and more.

To view this press release in Spanish, click here. 

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (March 14, 2024)—The California Academy of Sciences will kick off Earth Month on the anniversary of its founding April 4—known as Academy Day—with a wide variety of fun and educational activities, including a special science fair, giveaways, and more.

Special pay-what-you-can pricing will be offered on Academy Day (while supplies last) to expand access to every child and family and enable guests to show their support. This special pricing is one of several affordable access programs offered by the Academy throughout the year.

The second annual Academy Day will celebrate community and philanthropy, with a goal of raising $150,000 in critical funds to sustain our awe-inspiring exhibits and award-winning educational programming; support critical care for our more than 60,000 live animals; and advance our mission of regenerating nature through science, learning, and collaboration. A group of generous donors led by Visa has offered to match every donation and help the Academy hit our Academy Day fundraising goal. Donors who contribute in person or online on Academy Day will be eligible to receive a variety of prizes.

“From the Academy’s earliest days, the generosity of our members, donors, and supporters has enabled us to inspire generations of curious visitors,” said Executive Director Scott Sampson, PhD. “Today the Academy is rooted in a powerful purpose: regenerating the natural world. On Academy Day, we celebrate our regenerative community, from expert scientists and educators who generate and share knowledge, to our amazing animal care specialists and inspirational visitor experience staff.”

Academy Day offerings this year will include supersize animatronic insects at Spring in the Garden, face painting, a photo booth, and these additional activities:

Academy Day is the first of many activities that the Academy is hosting in April to celebrate Earth Month and engage the public in taking action to make the planet healthier for people and wildlife.

Academy history

The Academy was founded on the evening of April 4, 1853—just three years after California joined the United States—when seven men assembled in a candle-lit room in a Montgomery Street office in San Francisco to create the first scientific academy west of the Atlantic seaboard. They proposed to undertake “a thorough systematic survey of every portion of the state and the collection of a cabinet of her rare and rich productions."

Local naturalists’ fieldwork generated a growing collection of research specimens, leading to the opening of a public museum on Market Street to display these scientific treasures in 1874. Since then, countless other Academy staff and scientists, including some whose “untold stories” were largely overlooked due to their identity, have helped transform the Academy into a powerful voice for biodiversity science; a leader in environmental education; and the only institution in the world with an aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, and natural history museum all under one living roof.

Today, the Academy welcomes more than 1 million visitors a year and is home to more than 100 scientists who study biodiversity and apply that knowledge to our efforts to regenerate the natural world.

Additional resources:

Media contact: Ronna Kelly, rkelly@calacademy.org