Woodleaf Outdoor School

Woodleaf Outdoor School is a residential outdoor science program owned and operated by the Sutter County Office of Education. For over thirty years, Woodleaf has been dedicated to providing children with a safe, positive, and caring learning environment. Woodleaf seeks to create a setting where children grow in self-confidence and self-esteem and have fun while learning about the world around them.

Located at 3,100 feet in the foothills of the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains, Woodleaf is visited by more than 5,000 sixth grade students each year. During their week long stay, each child has the opportunity to directly learn about and experience the world around them. In the Birds class, Students borrow binoculars and visit bird blinds to study wild birds. They also get up close with Woodleaf's injured hawks, eagles, and owls at the Radin Raptor Center. Woodleaf's Old Growth Forest Preserve provides a unique opportunity for children to learn about the forest's ecological and resource values while surrounded by this amazing outdoor classroom. in addition, during Woodleaf's Wilderness Survival class students potentially learn life-saving skills and practice teamwork and cooperation while building survival shelters with their friends.

"You're outside having fun, learning in a different way than if you where just sitting in the classroom with a book" -Woodleaf student

"It is incredible how the kids have grown, gaining respect for the environment and for each other" - Visiting School Principal

"When I listen, I hear the air sing. When I sit still, I feel the earth move. Our planet talks to all of us; We just have to know how to listen."

- Poem by a Woodleaf Student

The Woodleaf foundation is a non-profit foundation dedicated to financially supporting and ensuring the future of the Woodleaf Outdoor School program. Woodleaf Outdoor School serves 92% of the sixth grade students in its area and 65% of local high school seniors surveyed said their most important educational experience in 12 years of school was Woodleaf. These amazing statistics combined by the ongoing threats of educational funding in California, lead to the formation of the Woodleaf Foundation in 1990.

Since its inception the Woodleaf Foundation has worked hard to keep the cost of a week at Woodleaf low, provided scholarships to students affected by the flooding in 1995, and secured funding to purchase Woodleaf's Old Growth Forest Preserve and the new Radin Raptor Center. Today one of the many ongoing ways the Foundation supports the Outdoor school program is by funding a large portion of the upkeep, growth, outreach, and educational programming associated with Woodleaf's Radin Raptor Center.

Through the Woodleaf Foundation's continued financial support, the Radin Raptor Center has been able to hire Diana McKibben as its Raptor Center Manager. This position has proved invaluable, greatly improving the quality and consistency of the care and training of the birds. In addition, Diana's position has allowed Woodleaf to open up the tremendous educational resources of the Raptor Center to groups, families and children on weekends and when Woodleaf is not normally in session. The school groups who visit Woodleaf also benefit from the Foundation's support. Everything from the binoculars used to observe birds to the books used to study birds, to the food used to feed the birds is made possible by the invaluable support of the Woodleaf Foundation.

The Woodleaf Foundation recently became a member of the United Way. Through other such exciting developments and continued community support, the Foundation hopes to continue its important work of making the magic of Woodleaf happen for as many children as possible.