Our form asks you to submit 3 possible date options. Please note that available dates are subject to group size, staff availability, and facility availability.

Our busiest weeks are May 1 through June 15 and fill up quickly. Fall outdoor school is a great way to create bonds that last throughout the school year, is a beautiful time of year to visit the mountain, and has more flexibility.

Program Policies. Note that groups are required to provide chaperone support at a ratio of 1:5 chaperones per students for overnight trips and 1:8 chaperones per students for day trips.

You may still have questions about our field trips. Read our FAQs and email us with any additional questions.

The required inquiry form begins your registration. For qualifying groups, the financial assistance form starts the process to provide assistance.

On the inquiry form, please include your top three dates and any information about the limits of your flexibility (ex: any Thursday in June), and dates you cannot come. We do our best to accommodate your dates based on our availability and our priorities based on grant funding.

• We will notify you of the proposed date(s) and any financial support ~ 2 weeks after we receive your inquiry.
• Once we have agreed on a date, we will send you a Program Agreement for you to sign and return to us.
• Once we received a completed Program Agreement, we send you access to pre-field trip planning materials.

• Funds are limited and will be awarded using our funding criteria determined by our grant requirements and annual budget.
• We have a limited amount of funding each year. We begin awarding funding when we open registration, usually in November.
• Financial assistance applications must be completed ANNUALLY for each school year: August 1 - July 31. This helps us ensure equity for all groups applying.
• The maximum financial assistance (including transportation assistance) we can provide for an individual group is $4999 within each annual fiscal year.
• Financial assistance funding supports in person Volcano Outdoor School field trips.
• Schools or groups must submit a W9 for their organization with an Employer Identification Number to receive an award. We do not provide funding to informal organizations.
• If you have any questions please email our team: learn@mshinstitute.org.

• Location: Some funding is unrestricted for location though we focus our support to schools and groups in our surrounding communities and the Portland/Vancouver metro area. A subset of funding is set aside specifically for youth-serving groups and public schools in Cowlitz, Lewis and Clark counties based on the grants we receive each year.
• Program fee assistance for public schools is based on the percentage of students considered low income as follows:

In order to make field trips to Mount St. Helens accessible to youth from around the region, the Mount St. Helens Institute offers reduced-rate and fee-waived programs for schools and youth groups that qualify.

Transportation Reimbursement is available for groups who have submitted a financial assistance application and who qualify according to our criteria: currently groups who qualify to receive 90% or 75% off their program.

All groups receiving financial assistance and/or transportation assistance must have a financial assistance application form on file in the same school year in which the program occurs, beginning August 1 and ending July 31.

• Submit the transportation reimbursement form after your field trip is complete.
• Each school/group is evaluated individually, based on the needs of the group.
• All groups receiving financial assistance must be able to provide a W9 for their organization.
• Qualifying groups will receive reimbursement for the cost of school bus or transportation UP TO $600 per bus or $12/person (whichever is less).
• The MAXIMUM financial assistance we can provide for groups is $4999 within each annual fiscal year.
• Availability of funding is limited by our grant funding and is funding is not guaranteed.
• Funding is only provided AFTER receiving receipts submitted after your field trip with us.
• Funds are limited. Please complete this form to get into our system and have patience as we process your request.
• If selected to receive transportation assistance for an in-person field trip, your group must submit a sample invoice within 30 days of your visits to receive a transportation reimbursement.
• Upon submitting the application form, you should receive an email summary of your responses. Sometimes our emails (sent from learn@mshinstitute.org) are filtered to spam, so please let us know if you do not receive your confirmation email.

• Complete the post-program survey which supports our recurring grant funding.
• If selected to receive transportation assistance for an in-person field trip, your school or group must submit an invoice within 30 days of your visits to receive a transportation reimbursement.