Welcome Swallowtail Young Naturalists, our newest offering for ages 11-14!
The time between childhood and the teenage years is full of growth, curiosity, and change. Swallowtail Young Naturalists was created especially for this unique stage of adolescence: a place where older children can continue deepening their relationship with the natural world while growing in confidence, independence, practical skills, and community.
Designed as a bridge between our Homeschool Days program and Dragonfly Teen Naturalists, Swallowtail offers a space where young naturalists can challenge themselves, build meaningful friendships, and develop real-world skills through immersive experiences in nature. This program has a stronger emphasis on earth skills and outdoor competency than our younger Homeschool Days offerings.
Throughout the seasons, participants will learn wilderness skills such as fire-making, shelter building, knot tying, cooking over a fire, navigation, and foraging. They’ll also explore herbalism, plant identification, nature journaling, tracking, handcrafts, and ecological observation — all while exploring the ecology of William B. Pond.
This is a place for pre-teens and young teens who still delight in wonder and play, while craving greater challenge, responsibility, and adventure.
Enrollment for our inaugural Fall Season – Tuesdays, 9-2, at William B Pond – is now open! We look forward to welcoming the first group of Swallowtail Young Naturalists this September.
Tuesdays at William B Pond
9 am-2 pm
weekly from 9/15 – 12/8*
$655/12 week season ($630 for charter funds)
* No class November 24th
Reparations & Tuition Assistance
We have a few opportunities to offer tuition assistance for families with financial need (please contact us in advance to apply and receive the coupon code!).
Families who identify as Black and/or Indigenous to the United States are invited to use our Reparations Rate by entering coupon code REPARATIONS at checkout for 40% off tuition. We offer this rate in recognition of the enduring impacts of enslavement, Indigenous dispossession, and ongoing inequities in access to outdoor education and nature connection. No application or financial need documentation is required.
Please note that tuition assistance cannot be combined with the use of homeschool charter funds (but the reparations rate can).
Homeschool Charter Funds
If you are with a homeschool charter, you should be able to use their funds for all of our programs except Dragonfly Teen Naturalists*.
We are currently vendors with the following charters:
- Clarksville
- Compass
- Cottonwood
- Feather River
- Harvest Ridge
- Heritage Peak
- Horizon
- South Sutter
- Sutter Peak
- Visions in Education
If you are with a different charter school and would like to request that we become vendors with them, please get in touch!
In order to use charter funds, we require a $25 deposit when registering, which gets subtracted from the amount you request from your school. This deposit is retained as the cancelation fee should you cancel.
To use charter funds, select the $25 Charter Funds registration option. If you use this option, we will expect to receive a purchase order or service voucher within 2 weeks of your registration, and before the start of the program. (Fall Season is the only exception, as most charters are not yet open for funding requests at the time registration opens. In this case we expect to receive your purchase order or service voucher before the start of the program.)
Cancelations & Refunds
Refund Policy for Seasonal Programs
If you cancel your registration more than 4 weeks before the start of the season, you will be refunded in full, minus a $25 cancelation fee. If you cancel less than 4 but more than 2 weeks before the start of the season, you will be refunded 50% of the tuition, minus the $25 cancelation fee. There will be no refunds for cancelations starting 2 weeks before the first day of the season.
Refund Policy for Summer Camp Weeks
For weekly summer camps, the same principle applies, but to your scheduled week, rather than to the start of the Summer Season: cancelations 4 or more weeks in advance of your scheduled week will result in a full refund, minus the $25 cancelation fee; 2-4 weeks in advance of your scheduled week will result in a 50% refund, minus the $25 cancelation fee; and less than 2 weeks will not be refundable.
For example: If your child is registered in Week 2 camp, beginning on Monday, June 22nd, the last day to cancel and receive a full refund will be Sunday, May 24th; you will be able to receive a 50% refund between Monday, May 25th and Sunday, June 7th. There will be no refunds after that point.