Students learn the keys to successful interaction, responsibility and personal growth through leadership and initiative activities in the outdoors through field study activities, challenges, group building, science studies, living and learning together in a community.

Attendance: Offered to 6-8th grade students and their teachers for 2-5 day residential programs.

Location: Choose a WOLF School campus based on your travel budget, educational goals and desire to be near/far from your school. Accommodations and trails vary between sites due to location, elevation, etc. Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Sierra Foothill areas.

Availability: Programs are offered throughout the year. Plan your program up to a year in advance! Reserve early for best date and site options. Contact us.

Curriculum: Our curriculum is closely matched to the CDE State Content Standards, the Health Framework and Physical Education Framework, and will cover many parts of the Life, Earth, Physical Science and Investigation and Experimentation sections of the Science Standards. Science Standards at WOLF (please scroll down on the Teachers page to the Science by the Standards Example).

PACC Program Goals

Students will:

• Learn to identify their personal strengths and areas for improvement.
• Develop tolerance and appreciation of personal differences.
• Practice taking positive risks in a supportive environment.
• Improve communication and problem solving skills.
• Develop an understanding that their actions effect their community.

PACC Program Concepts
The following four concepts are the foundation of the WOLF PACC Program. Using these concepts students develop patterns of understanding while building skills for success.

1) Personal Awareness
Refers to the awareness of self. With knowledge of self, students can identify their strengths and areas in which they want to improve their ability. Students will learn to identify and strengthen life skills that will help them in their daily lives.

2) Personal Interaction
Refers to the awareness of others. Knowledge of this kind helps students recognize and understand each other’s strengths. This interpersonal awareness helps build mutual respect and tolerance for individual differences. Students will gain knowledge about the diverse skills and abilities within their classmates and community.

3) Positive Risk Taking
A positive risk is taken when the potential outcome benefits the risk taker and his or her community. The challenge portion of the program allows students to practice risk taking in a supportive environment where no outcomes are seen as negative.

4) Community Action
One of the main focuses of the PACC program is to increase student involvement in their community. Students will develop an understanding of how their actions impact their community and develop skills that will enable them to make positive actions on behalf of their community.

Special Focus: Programs can emphasize certain group building concepts or subject area knowledge based on your students’ particular needs. A ropes course option is also available for an additional fee, as well as a variety of field trips (please scroll down on the Program page to field trip section). We work with your school in advance to assure your students’ curricular and social needs are met.

Cost: Student, teacher and chaperone rates vary depending on the length of stay, location and choice of program. Field trip rates vary. Contact us for more information.

Transportation: Your school provides transportation for your students. For local field trips, your school provides transportation. We can assist you in scheduling a field trip bus for an additional fee. Contact us for more information.

Chaperones: Your school provides chaperones for your students. Many successful high school and parent chaperones attend our programs each week. Chaperones live and sleep in the cabins with groups of students. We require 1 teacher/chaperone for each 7-10 students. Chaperone training is provided to each chaperone/teacher attending outdoor science school.

Teachers: Our staff works with attending classroom teachers to provide leadership throughout the week. For more in depth information, see Teachers.

Safety: Students at the WOLF School are supervised at all times by chaperones, teachers or WOLF staff. Our campuses are closed to the public. All WOLF and site staff have been background checked. All WOLF staff have been trained in the principles of First Aid and CPR and carry first aid kits and radios in case of need. Contact the WOLF School Office if you have any further questions.

Menu: Tasty meals are provided as part of the cost of the program starting with dinner the first night and ending with lunch on the last day. We provide healthy, kid-friendly food in either a buffet or family-style setting. An example of a typical day consists of pancakes, cereal and fruit for breakfast, build your own sandwich (turkey, ham, peanut butter and jelly, cheese, vegetables, tofu), carrots, trail mix and cookies for lunch, pasta with choice of vegetarian or meat sauce, salad and bread for dinner. We accommodate special diets/food allergies. Contact us in advance of the program.

Lodging: Students and teachers stay in comfortable dormitories or cabins which vary depending on the campus. Student rooms usually hold 4-14 students per room and have bunk beds. Some sites have bathrooms inside the rooms, while other campuses have a central bath house.

Schedule: At a WOLF PACC program, students can expect to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Living and learning in a community with their teacher and friends, they have the opportunity to grow academically and socially. Food and safety is taken care of, so real learning can take place!  Click here to see what a student might experience during a typical day.