Welcome to Sonoma Water's Steelhead in the Classroom (SIC) sponsor website!
Sonoma Water sponsors local schools for the Steelhead in the Classroom Program that fall within the Russian River watershed and Sonoma Water's service area.
This program is officially called the Classroom Aquarium Education Program (CAEP) and is run by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).
Important changes for the 2024-2025 season: https://classroomaquarium.wordpress.com/2024-2025-caep-season-updates/
Co-sponsors include: Redwood Empire Trout Unlimited (RETU), Russian River Fly Fisherman (RRFF), Russian River Wild Steelhead Society (RRWSS), and Golden West Women Flyfishers (GGWF)
Returning Steelhead teachers:
2025 egg pick up dates are February 12th and April 2nd
Release sites!!
Sonoma County
- Atascadero Creek
- Dry Creek
- Dutch Bill Creek
- Mark West Creek
- Mill Creek
- Santa Rosa Creek
Eggs can be picked up upon request at the Sonoma County Water Agency main office after 10 am - 404 Aviation Blvd., Santa Rosa
*Please note, if you plan to pick up your eggs from Sonoma Water's main office (404 Aviation Blvd. in Santa Rosa). Pick up at Sonoma Water will be between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on designated pick up days.
CDFW teacher sign up webpage link - 772 form PDF is on this page
2025 season important information: Due to California Department of Fish and Wildlife staffing issues they will not be doing any workshops for new teachers for the 2025 season. They hope to train new teachers in 2026.
To be safe put the release site as Russian River trib.
New Steelhead in the Classroom video
Steelhead in the Classroom Live! Watch steelhead eggs develop and hatch into fry with our remote aquarium!
Curriculum for teachers! Tools to help you teach (LINK)
Salmon Life Cycle video focused on the Russian River Watershed
Aquarium Setup Instructions
Winter 2023 SIC Teacher Workshop dates - Registration is closed for 2023 look for next years teacher workshops in August of 2023
A 9-minute video providing an overview of the program. While the video focuses on Marin County, the overall process is the same for most teachers in the greater SF Bay Area.
A collection of new digital resources designed to help teachers hatching fish in their classroom.
A collection of digital and analog resources for teachers hatching fish in their classrooms.
For more information on teacher workshops in the Bay Area, please follow the CDFW Bay Area Trout in the Classroom Blog
CDFW resources for the CAEP program:
- CDFW Bay Area Steelhead in the Classroom BLOG
- Classroom Aquarium Education Program (CAEP)
- CDFT CAEP Teacher Resources link
- Russian River Watershed approved release sites
- Approved 772 applications for current season
- CDFW Curriculum Aids
Additional SIC classroom resources:
- Sonoma Water Education program
- Adopt-A-Creek
- Warm Springs Hatchery
- Trout Unlimited (teacher resources)
- Monitoring Salmon and Steelhead in the Russian River (Sea Grant)