Our Mission
Davis Forest School is a non-profit outdoor education and nature play organization building community through land-based programming.
Our passion is getting kids outside! Our goal is to promote and cultivate understanding of and empathy for the natural world, and for the local bioregion–the ecosystem of Putah Creek and the lower Sacramento River watershed–in particular, through encouraging exploration and curiosity, facilitating free play, and guiding children in artistic creation, active games, hiking, and quiet observation. We use a variety of gentle, age-appropriate teaching and mentoring methods to facilitate positive experiences between children and the natural world.
Davis Forest School has a mission to promote environmental justice through acknowledging the Indigenous history of the land and forging connections with local Indigenous individuals and organizations, and also through offering accessible and welcoming programming, raising money through grants and donations to offer reparations-based scholarships to Black and Indigenous families, and need-based scholarships to economically disadvantaged families.
Our Story
Davis Forest School started as a once-a-week nature play program, founded in the Spring of 2018 by Candice Wang, making use of the beautiful Putah Creek Riparian Reserve. The first session only had 6 kids in it, but it quickly grew as word spread! That fall, Candice moved away from Davis, and handed the reins over to Rosemary Roberts, who had had a child in that first session and was passionate about keeping this much-needed program alive. Rosemary grew the program to two and then three days a week, expanding its range and scope, until she moved away in 2020. A Covid-imposed hiatus was just what DFS needed to be able to pause, breathe and re-group, and following Candice’s return to Davis, sessions started up again in the Spring of 2021, this time with a small team of parents working behind the scenes to support the growth of the program. In the Winter of 2022, DFS officially became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization!
In 2023, DFS began expanding to include programs along the banks of the American River in Sacramento, and in 2025 started running programs in Folsom/Orangevale, and Lincoln/Rocklin as well. With afternoon and daytime drop-off programs, an incredibly popular Parent/Child program, week-long summer day camps, regular workshops for adults and families, and a year-round Forest Kinder program, DFS is continuously growing to fill the needs of the local community and to help foster a sense of togetherness, both with each other and with the land.
Our Board of Directors
Sonsie Hopper - RED FOX - Board President (she/her)
Sonsie was born in Palo Alto, CA and grew up in CA and Minnesota. Sonsie’s favorite part of growing up was spending time in the woods playing make believe with friends, and paddle boating, canoeing, fishing and swimming in the Minnesota lakes. Sonsie currently lives in Sacramento and loves visiting areas like Coloma, Pollock Pines, Nevada City and Tahoe. She loves hiking, swimming and camping with her family, including 3 kids. Her greatest joy is being out in nature, slowing down, observing and enjoying all the amazing gifts of Mother Nature.
Sonsie works full-time in HR for a Montessori TK-8 school and brings her knowledge of HR in the educational space. She is also a trained yoga teacher, enjoys gardening, and attending kirtan and women’s retreats in her spare time.
Scott Clements - Board Treasurer (he/him)
Scott grew up in Pacifica, CA (just south of San Francisco) enjoying bodyboarding at Linda Mar Beach and hiking around San Pedro Valley Park. Scott moved to the Sacramento area to pursue higher education (but really to get closer to the Sierra Nevada mountains). He earned a bachelor degree in business administration with a concentration in accountancy at Sacramento State while joining the Ski & Snow Club and becoming an avid snowboarder. After graduation, Scott took several accounting positions at local businesses working in both public and private accounting as an auditor. Scott and his wife moved their family to Davis about 15 years ago to participate in a welcoming, inclusive community. In his spare time, Scott enjoys leading the Davis Adult and Community Education woodshop class.
Crystal Vagnier - Board Secretary (she/her)
Originally from Amityville, New York, Crystal spent her childhood years gallivanting through what small patches of forest and bogs Long Island suburbia had to offer. Her favorite childhood memories were of “trailing” through the woods, taking photographs of clover, chicory, and willow trees, and watching fireflies dance during humid summer nights. She holds a B.A. in English with an emphasis on Children’s Literature and Drama and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing with a focus on Travel Non-Fiction. In 2011, she taught English in the Republic of Georgia and continued her work with children and creative writing in Egypt and Turkey. In 2017, she relocated to Davis, California because she heard they had beautiful flowers and persimmons. Since 2021, she has been helping raise her niece and nephew and enjoys exploring Putah Creek and the UC Davis Arboretum with them!
Sara Goulden - Board Member (she/her)
Sara is an environmental scientist whose work has spanned research, policy-making, education, and outreach. She formerly led a parent-child nature playgroup for DFS and has two children in the programs. Sara also brings experience with grant-writing and citizen science projects to the DFS Board. Sara grew up on the East Coast, where nature camps through Mass Audubon and the Appalachian Mountain Club were formative childhood experiences, and she went on to lead outdoor trips in college. She holds a Ph.D. in Soils & Biogeochemistry from UC Davis, an M.E.Sc. in Water Science, Policy, & Management from the Yale School of the Environment, and a B.S. in Geology from Yale University. Sara lives in Davis, CA, where she enjoys playing soccer, crafting, and making music.
Diego Bocanegra - SCRUB JAY - Board Member (he/him)
Diego grew up exploring in the San Gabriel Valley. While learning at UC Davis, he found his passion for naturalist studies. Studying Music and Wildlife Conservation, he became enamored with the inner workings of the world around us and how everything is connected. With a strong value in breaking down barriers, Diego hopes to share the natural world with those who are less likely to experience it.