Tide Pool Cancellation Update and Opportunity

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As many first grade families already know, the tide pool field trips for the Memorial and Fox Hill elementary schools were cancelled this week due to broken plumbing in the facilities at Marblehead’s Chandler-Hovey Park that left students, chaperones, and educators without a proper public bathroom for miles.

Ms. Pavlicek and Mr. Musselman do everything in their power to reschedule experiences for our students whenever possible, and our field trips are no exception. That said, the opportunities to schedule and visit the tide pools within the time frame of a school day is very limiting due to the nature of the tides themselves and travel necessary to visit what few publicly accessible tide pools exist in Massachusetts.

While nothing can completely replace the experience at Chandler-Hovey Park, Ms. Pavlicek and Mr. Musselman visited the Fox Hill and Memorial first grades on Thursday and Friday to provide alternative programming addressing the academic goals of the trip. Students participated in a “Create-a-Creature” challenge after viewing a video created by Ms. Pavlicek during the pandemic exploring the tide pools and its inhabitants parts and function.

Though Ms. Pavlicek and Mr. Musselman are disappointed in being unable to share the shoreline with our students this year, the cancellation creates an opportunity for families to discover the joy of the tide pools for themselves with a trip this Memorial Day weekend to Chandler Hovey Park.

Chandler Hovey Park is located on Marblehead Neck. Its tide pools are accessible during low tides by traversing down a slope of large boulders. This weekend’s low tide times are 11:48AM on Saturday, May 25th and and 12:39PM on Sunday, May 26th. Because of our Moon’s 28.5 day orbital period around Earth, the high/low tide times shift by about 50 minutes later each day.

As stated before, the restrooms are not currently operational because of a plumbing failure that remains unfixed so if you do travel to Marblehead, plan accordingly! You can also go any time this summer and spend a morning or afternoon flipping rocks for crabs, snails, seastars and even urchins. Just be sure to check the tidal calendar before you go and aim your visit a little before low tide.

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