PSNM at work
Puget Sound Navy Museum is one of ten official U.S. Navy museums located across the United
States and funded by the Department of the Navy, but it also relies on its non-profit support
foundation to support its education, interpretive, and volunteer programs.
The Puget Sound Navy Museum Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, volunteer organization
with the sole mission of providing financial support to the Puget Sound Navy Museum. The
PSNM Foundation provides vital support for the Museum's exhibits and education programs.
During the 2024/2025 school year, the Foundation's transportation grant program provided
buses for 34 school field trips to the Museum, serving 1,673 students from 64 classrooms
around Kitsap Peninsula. The Foundation also raised the funds necessary to open We Have the
Watch: Mastering the Ordinary to Accomplish the Extraordinary, an exhibit commemorating
the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Navy.
The Puget Sound Navy Museum collects, preserves, and interprets the naval heritage of the
Pacific Northwest for the benefit of the U.S. Navy and the general public. In 2024, the museum
welcomed over 64,000 visitors and held 185 educational programs that reached over 12,000
people. Fifty-three volunteers provided more than 4,800 hours of their time to ensure the
museum was open to the public and could provide programming.
The Museum offers unique educational programs designed for families and kids of all ages. These include:
- Set SAIL Fridays run from July 4 through Labor Day and are weekly programs designed for ages pre-K through elementary. Subjects of exploration include light, robotics, circuitry, and more.
- Navy STEM Days are a partnership between Puget Sound Navy Museum, Naval Undersea Museum, the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility, and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center-Division Keyport designed to foster creative STEM learning in grades 4-6. These are full day learning field trips where the museum busses in children from Kitsap County Schools and programs are taught by volunteers from Shipyard and Keyport. Each year, hundreds of children are exposed to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math through the Museums programs.
- The Museum also offers education workshops such as Robots vs. Machines, Simple Machines, as well as in-classroom programs.
- Activities specialized to kids include Build Your Own Submarine, Buoyant Boats, Diving Bells, Knot Magic, Periscope Up, and many more.
Please visit our website for additional information on our exhibits, activities, and educational programs. https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/psnm.html