We will resume hosting programs in September 2022. To request a program for a group please fill out this form. 

Public Tuesday Night

Summer Stars & Elmo
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
Gather around and hear a few summer stories, marvel at the stars, and enjoy a few tunes played by student-musicians from Center for Irish Music. The second half of the program will feature Elmo and Big Bird in One World, One Sky.
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Summer Skies
Tuesday June 7th, 2022
Summer skies, stories, stars and tunes! Preview the Minnesota Night sky for the coming months with us. Get some practice identifying summer constellations, finding out what celestial events to look for, AND hear musical guest student-musicians from the Center for Irish Music. General audiences and children are welcome! 
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Schedule a time to visit the planetarium on Tuesdays or Thursdays between 2:30-4:30. Minimum group size is 10 visitors at $6 per person. Contact Sarah Weaver for availability (sarah.weaver@spps.org)

St. Paul Public School Visits

Como Planetarium is part of St. Paul Public Schools (ISD 625). Our physical building is currently OPEN for St. Paul Public School students! Teachers can register for an onsite field trip here (SPPS virtual field trips can also be scheduled for online schools here). 

Attending the planetarium in person is highly beneficial for student learning and has similar COVID exposure risk to what students experience in their classroom. (updated 1/31/22).

Como Planetarium limits COVID exposures by:

1. Being an SPPS site run by a SPPS teacher- all district protocols apply, including cleaning, distancing and vaccination/testing personnel.

2. Hosting only one classroom at a time in a space designed to hold twice as many people (built for 55 people). Social distancing can be maintained

3. Using a separate entrance for the planetarium field trips-students. This enables field trip students to have no contact with any other personnel or students from the rest of the building.

4. Having students bring their own iPads to eliminate a shared touch surface and increase the interaction for the lesson.

Virtual programs are available to schools both within and outside St. Paul Public Schools (ISD 625). Please contact Sarah Weaver (sarah.weaver@spps.org) to schedule a virtual experience for students.  We served over 15,000 members of the community in the  2019-2020 school year!  

We will continue to serve Saint Paul Public Schools and the community through the COVID crisis.

Covid Offerings

During COVID Como Planetarium follows the guidance of SPPS protocols for safety.  We are currently serving Saint Paul Public School students in 1st, 3rd and 8th grades with unique planetarium-based lessons in Schoology and SeeSaw platforms. On-line Public planetarium programs will be available through Community Education's on-line catalogue monthly.  

Como Planetarium limits COVID exposures by:

1. Being an SPPS site run by a SPPS teacher- all district protocols apply, including cleaning, distancing and vaccination/testing personnel.

2. Hosting only one classroom at a time in a space designed to hold twice as many people (built for 55 people). Social distancing can be maintained

3. Using a separate entrance for the planetarium field trips-students. This enables field trip students to have no contact with any other personnel or students from the rest of the building.

4. Having students bring their own iPads to eliminate a shared touch surface and increase the interaction for the lesson.