Zoo Boise opened a new education building on May 21, just in time to entertain students on summer break.
The plan dates back five years ago, where a team, including zoo staff and board members, designed the Bews Foundation Conservation and Education Center.
There was only one room used for classes up until the launch of the new state-of-the-art facility.
“We recognized that was not really serving our needs, and so we had a large waitlist of students that couldn’t either get into programs just due to physicality of space,” Zoo Boise Director of Education Tierney Ball said.
The two-story building is 9,000 square feet and includes five classrooms, office spaces and habitats for animals.
Friends of Zoo Boise nonprofit organization and four private donors contributed the $5.6 million.
Summer camps start on Monday. The itinerary hasn’t changed, but the space used for it has.
With the new facility, campers will no longer have to roam around the zoo to get to different classes.
“In past years, we had to use our schoolhouse, which is normally a public access building, so that had to be closed down to the public,” Ball said. “And then we had two tents outside that we had to utilize.”
Six teachers and volunteers ages 13-17 will help run the camps.
There will be five of them concurrently each week throughout the nine-week summer program, with a break July 6-10. Two camps are half-day sessions for children ages 4-6, while three are full-day for ages 7-12.
Camp themes vary per week and will include topics such as zoo keeping, animal art and even veterinary sciences.
“We are trying to capture every single student’s intention and what their interests are, while combining that with zoology,” Ball said.
She wanted to make sure the zoo theme came through, and two staff members hand painted the murals for the four indoor classrooms.
Here are the names of the four indoor classrooms:
- Rainforest Room
- Ocean Room
- Desert Room
- Cabana Room
“They are not set up like a fully traditional classroom, and we were very intentional with that,” Ball said.
The outdoor classroom will be used for kids to have hands-on time with zoo animals.
Ball expects around 110 campers per week and 960 throughout the summer, though there are still spots left.
“We are really excited and hope everyone visits us,” Ball said. “If anyone is interested in joining us for a program, hopefully we have one that fits the need.”
Information about the specific programs, registration and cost can be found on the Zoo Boise website.
