San Antonio Zoo gives Texas teachers a free standard admission ticket and 50% off Any Day Tickets for up to four guests, but only during teacher windows the zoo schedules, not all year. When we checked, the zoo’s special offers page listed no teacher offer, so look at its calendar before you plan a visit around this.
If you teach in Texas and you’ve been waiting for a reason to take your own family, the offer is built for you, with two catches: it opens in short windows, and the zoo asks for specific proof. Here’s what the zoo’s own event pages say.
How To Get The San Antonio Zoo Teacher Discount
When a window is open, you buy your tickets online. The zoo’s event page for the early-summer window says Texas teachers receive a free Standard Admission ticket plus 50% off Any Day Tickets for up to four guests, to be used on the day of the visit. The free ticket is yours, and your guests pay half.
You have to be an active teacher in a Texas school district, employed by an accredited pre-K-12 public, private or parochial school in Texas. The page asks you to provide your driver’s license and one of two items: a copy of your teaching certificate, or a photo ID or badge from your school district or school. The offer isn’t valid with any other offers, special events or experiences, and it can’t be combined with any other offer or discount.
How Long A Window Lasts
The zoo has posted this offer three ways: three days around World Teachers’ Day, when the deal was 50% off an Any Day Ticket for the teacher, then a week in spring and a month in early summer, both with the free ticket and the half-price guest tickets. Each event page says the offer is only valid for its own window.
Who Counts As A Teacher
The pages say Texas teachers, and they name the school type: accredited pre-K-12 public, private or parochial schools in Texas. The page for the week-long spring window also lists home school teachers in its eligibility line, and the month-long early-summer page doesn’t, so a homeschool teacher should read the page for the window that’s open before buying.
School Trips And Classroom Resources
If what you’re planning is a class visit, the zoo’s field trips page says school-group field trips are available year-round, and that school-group rates are only available for trips that register online and submit payment before the field trip date. Its self-guided tour pricing applies to all students, teachers and other school staff, and the teacher receives information to share with volunteer parent chaperones so they can buy discounted tickets.
The same page lists two things you can borrow for the classroom. A Teacher Trunk holds a themed curriculum with activities and biofacts such as skull models, feathers, fur pelts and snake sheds. It costs $5.00, paid by credit card at pick-up, and can be checked out for a maximum of 2 weeks at a time. Adventure Backpacks are no cost, but a state issued photo ID is required.
What We Couldn’t Confirm
The special offers page showed no teacher offer when we checked. Nothing on the zoo’s pages says whether the three windows come back each year or when the next one opens. For that, the event calendar is the place to watch.
Q&A
Do Texas teachers get free admission to San Antonio Zoo?
During the zoo’s teacher windows, yes: a free Standard Admission ticket for you, plus 50% off Any Day Tickets for up to four guests. Outside a window, the special offers page lists no teacher offer.
Are the four guests free too?
No. Guests get 50% off Any Day Tickets, to be used on the day of your visit.
What do I bring?
The event page asks for your driver’s license and either a copy of your teaching certificate or a photo ID or badge from your school district or school. You buy the tickets online.
Can I use it with another discount?
No. The page says it can’t be combined with any other offer or discount, and it isn’t valid with special events or experiences.
Does it work for teachers outside Texas?
The event pages say Texas teachers, employed by a school in Texas.
Can a homeschool teacher use it?
The week-long spring window’s page lists home school teachers. The month-long early-summer page doesn’t.
More Information:
The details above come from San Antonio Zoo’s own event, special offers and field trips pages as they loaded when we checked, and programs change without notice. See more entertainment discounts for teachers.
