Parent guide 101

Restroom usage

Students who are dropped off for programs are expected to be independent using the restroom, and able to follow Sienna Ranch safety rules.

Attire

They should be prepared with any necessary gear to stay safe during their program. If a student arrives without essential items such as food, water, rain jacket or appropriate footwear, they may be asked to wait in the office while parents/guardians bring the required items for safe participation. If you have concerns about where to source gear, please let us know ahead of time. We are happy to offer guidance or answer any questions

Class requirements

Sienna Ranch students be able to follow our core ranch rules:

(1) Stay with the group
(2) Wait at the gate
(3) Show respect (for ourselves, others, animals, and the environment)
(4) Have fun!

Our goal is to offer a safe and fun program experience for everyone. In order to participate, students must be able to follow these core 4 rules. If you have concerns about our rules and class requirements please feel free to contact [email protected]. 

We are happy to host you and your prospective student(s) for a 15 minute site tour. If the schedule permits, we can arrange the tour during the class you’re interested in, but we do not offer drop-in trial days. Tours include a general walk around the property to view our core curriculum and play areas as well as meeting zones. Please note that tours do not include animal interaction time or hiking. To arrange a tour, please call or email the office at [email protected].

If your student is feeling nervous about the first day, we recommend setting up a tour (see above). While we are unable to introduce students and instructors in person before the start of the year, we provide biographies of each of our instructors on the website, allowing students to familiarize themselves with their instructors ahead of time. For our PreK-K groups, parents/guardians are welcome to escort their children to their class circle and meet the instructor on the first day. If your child is in an older group or arriving through our drive-through and you need to speak with an instructor, please check in with the drive-through administrator, who will be happy to assist you. Alternatively, you can email the office for assistance at [email protected]

For groups doing walk-in pick-up and drop-off, you can expect to see your child’s instructor at the start and end of class. Feel free to say hello and chat for a minute or two while your child settles in. Since Sienna Ranch runs multiple classes each day, instructors only have about five minutes to check in with parents at the end of each class before moving on to their next obligation. Therefore, if you wish to have a longer conversation, please contact the office by phone or email to schedule a meeting outside regular class time.

For children using the drive-through drop-off, we recommend calling the office to arrange a time to speak with the instructor. If you have an urgent concern and the instructor is unavailable, please visit the red shipping container office to speak with our Business Manager, Sarah. She can address your concern or help coordinate a time for the instructor to speak with you.

Sienna Ranch shares the parking lot with the ILM Tree Homeschool Co-Op during the school year. , Please ensure that you park only in spaces designated for Sienna Ranch. Cars parked in ILM Tree spots are subject to towing, so be sure to check the signs. If you have any concerns about parking, please contact our office or administrative team for assistance.

For walk-in classes, please park in the designated Sienna Ranch parking spaces and walk to the main entrance by the rainbow gate. You will need to exit your car to escort your student(s) from the gate to your vehicle. As there will be many cars and people moving through the area, your cooperation in keeping students safe is greatly appreciated. If you have multiple children, please have any waiting siblings stay with you outside the gate while another sibling is being checked out.

For drive-through, please wait in the drive-through lane by the swing gate at the far right of the parking lot. Once the drive-through opens, be sure to display your student card clearly on your dashboard.

Parents/Guardians are always welcome to remain on site during the program, either in the parking lot or in the family waiting area (the benches outside the front gate). Once a group transitions to their opening circle, we kindly ask that parents and guardians say goodbye and separate from the group. If you feel your child needs extra support you are welcome to bring them to the Family Waiting area for an additional hug or conversation. We have chosen a drop-off style program for the majority of our classes to give students the chance to bond more closely with our staff and to maintain small group sizes. We ask for your support in helping your child understand that while you are never more than a phone call away, they will have the chance to enjoy their adventure independently.

Exceptions are made for students with pre-approved one-on-one aides who have specific behavioral or medical needs. Make sure to contact the office if you need to inquire about providing an aid with your student.

Please ensure that any details regarding your student’s medical needs, allergies or dietary requirements are updated in your Active Registration Profile. This information is crucial for emergency contact purposes.

Students who require medications, inhalers, and EpiPens, must carry them in their backpacks throughout the day. If you prefer the instructor to carry the medications, please place them in a clearly labeled Ziploc bag with your child’s name and emergency phone number written on it. Instructors who carry medications for students will return medications to students at the end of day during pick-up.

At Sienna Ranch, students must be able to self-administer medication. If a student needs to take medication during the school day, parents must confirm via phone unless prior arrangements have been made with our administrative team. It is essential that students can take their medication independently.

If your child has an allergy, Sienna Ranch instructors are trained to administer an EpiPen if necessary. For any specific medical requirements, please schedule a check-in call with our administrative team prior to the start of the program.

While our staff is trained to ensure the safety and well-being of all students, tasks such as blood glucose monitoring must be managed by the students themselves. If you have concerns or need to discuss accommodations, please contact our administrative team to make arrangements.

We typically open school year registration in May the year before the program starts (for example, the 2025-2026 program will open in May of 2025). We aim to offer families the chance to preview the fall options with a few weeks’ notice, providing ample time to contact the office for assistance with creating your family account, understanding class options, or navigating payment methods. To stay up-to-date on enrollment, we recommend subscribing to our email newsletter, as this is our primary way to notify prospective families about registration details.

School Year Classes and Camps are grade-based, so you may choose any program that aligns with your child’s grade level for that year. For our youngest ranchers, we offer a program for 3 & 4 year-olds with their caregivers.

For all drop off programs, students must be 4 years old by the start of the Session 1 program (September 1st for 2025-2026 School Year).

In the Ranch Play program (for 3 and 4 year olds and their caregiver), children must be 3 years old by the start of the class.

We rely on families to accurately report student grades. If you need help choosing the right grade level for your child, please let us know. We will automatically promote your student to the next grade at the end of the school year.

It is the responsibility of individual families to enroll their child in the same class and time as their child’s friends during registration. Please be sure to double-check the class name, as there are often multiple classes with the same age range offered at the same time.

NOTE ON GRADE DIFFERENCES:

If you would like for an older and younger student to be together, you may enroll the older student into the younger program.

Pease do not enroll younger students in older programs without Sienna Ranch approval.

For class periods with multiple sections, be sure to communicate with friends on which class you are choosing, as the class title will specify either #1 or #2. Please note that the office cannot guarantee space to rearrange students once rosters are finalized. Thank you for your understanding!

Our specialty classes such as Archery Adventures, Foodie Farmers, Critters + Clay (pottery),  and Woodshop Wonders, along with K-2nd Grade programs, tend to fill up quickly. To secure your spot, we recommend enrolling online as soon as the program goes live. If you are Interested in multiple sessions, you can sign up for all of them and use the payment plan option during check out. This allows you to pay a 15% deposit for each session instead of the full amount upfront. The remaining balance will be charged to the card on file once the session begins.

Sienna Ranch requires that we can collect tuition in the event that your charter school does not cover the full program cost or decides not to cover it at all.

The deposit also helps secure your spot if funds are not yet available. Please note: refunding a credit card DOES incur a non-refundable processing fee.

For more information on charter funds see:

We do not offer refunds once programs have started. If your child is unhappy with a class, we encourage you to reach out to the office to share your concerns as well as any suggestions for improvement. We will work with your child to ensure they feel safe, supported, and heard. If, after our efforts, your child still prefers not to remain in the class, we will explore options to transfer them to another program within the same session, space permitting. For more details, please refer to our refund, transfer, and credit policies for school year and camp programs.

• PreK-Kindergarten group classes typically have an 8:1 student to teacher ratio.
• 1st grade and above have a 10:1 student to teacher ratio.
• The Nature Sage program operates with a 11:1 student to teacher ratio.

Ranch Play

Children and their caretakers spend an hour and a half each week watering the garden, observing the worms, visiting an animal, making a craft, and reading a story. Crafts and projects change each week, so you’re welcome to sign up for one session or all four, especially if you’re excited to see the seasons change at the ranch. Be prepared to wear rain jackets and boots in the winter — adventures go on rain or shine!

NOTE: Ranch Play is a one-year curriculum. While you’re welcome to participate for two years in a row, many 3-year-olds who join Ranch Play choose to transition to Junior Ranchers — part of the drop-off program — for their second year at Sienna Ranch.

Junior Ranchers

Junior Ranchers begin with circle time, where students engage in an arrival activity, followed by a gratitude circle, sharing the rules, and discussing nature news. Class activities include organized group nature games, nature-based crafts, stories, naturalist skills, animal visits, and unstructured free play. A key feature of our nature program is providing space for students to enjoy unstructured nature play and empowering them to take charge of their own body, words, belongings and curiosity. With supervision and safe boundaries, we encourage students to explore their interests — whether that’s leading a group to the buckeye tree, climbing up into the lookout tower or searching for wild plums in the swamp. We hope that when you ask your student what they did in Junior Ranchers, they’ll tell you, “WE PLAYED!” — a central goal of this program.

NOTE: Junior Ranchers follow a 3-year curriculum. While there may be familiar annual or seasonal traditions, projects and take-home items vary between Years 1, 2, and 3.

Explorers

Explorers classes are dropped off through the drive-through. Once they reach their circle, students engage in an arrival activity. Every class begins with a gratitude circle, followed by sharing the rules and nature news. Activities in this class include organized group nature games, nature based crafts, stories, naturalist skills, animal visits, and unstructured nature play. Each session focuses on a different theme (e.g. mammal adaptations, bird language, winter survival) , and all activities surround that central theme. The curriculum is flexible, allowing instructors to incorporate teachable moments based on student discoveries throughout the week.

NOTE: Sienna Ranch follows a 3-year curriculum for Explorers. Students can continue in the program, ‘graduating’ to an older age bracket and experiencing age-appropriate unique projects as the curriculum circles back to previously explored topics. We aim to offer at least one unique project each year, so that students have something new to look forward to as they progress through our program.

Explorers can also expect annual seasonal traditions, such as the fall acorn harvest, trade blanket and our winter feast. These traditions, along with different quarterly themes, help students learn valuable homesteading, survival and animal-themed skills each session.

Nature Sages

The Nature Sage class follows a theme each session. Sages might join in group games with the younger groups — where they can model sportsmanship and leadership — as younger students often look up to them as peer role models. Nature Sages spend their class time working on a more complex project, typically homesteading or survival-themed. These tasks are more nuanced and challenging than those that younger Explorers work on. For example, one project may take 3-6 weeks to complete in Nature Sages, while younger Explorers usually finish their projects in 1-2 weeks. Students are encouraged to embrace the challenges of these long-term projects and seek solutions independently, though instructors are always available to provide assistance when needed.

Each week also includes exploration time, which may be structured as group team-building activities or simply a fun hike. Students should be comfortable hiking 1-2 miles on uneven terrain with a small backpack holding their lunch, and be prepared to spend the full class period outside, rain or shine.

NOTE: Nature Sages follows a 3-year curriculum for 7th-9th graders. Take home projects may vary each year.

Woodshop Wonders

Woodshop classes feature a variety of hand-built take-home projects, helping students develop body awareness and learn how to use hand tools like hammers, files, hand drills, sanding blocks, clamps, screws, nails and paints. While there may be occasional ‘free build’ days, most weeks will focus on guided activities designed to teach different hand tool techniques (like hammering, sawing, etc.)

NOTE: Woodshop programming is updated each session, to provide new projects for returning students. While some projects may be repeated in subsequent years, we strive to offer fresh challenges each session. New students will receive the support they need during their first few weeks, while returning students will be encouraged to tackle more advanced work.

Archery Adventures

Group archery programs are designed for students in 3rd grade and up. In these classes, students learn how to use a bow and arrow safely and have time to practice shooting on the range. We also incorporate archery themed games and may do a craft or two throughout the session. Breaks are included to allow time for snacks and games, giving students a chance to rest their shooting arms.

Critters and Clay
In Critters and Clay, students work in a shaded area protected from both rain and direct sunlight. All the materials needed for hand-building with clay are provided, allowing students to create sculptures, wind chimes and so much more! While we don’t have pottery wheels for throwing, hand building gives students the opportunity to experiment with texture and the slip-and-score technique to craft unique, beautiful pieces. Each session begins with a clay exploration activity led by our pottery instructor. All projects are nature-inspired, and throughout the class, students will take breaks to play games and visit the animals.

Foodie Farmers

In our Foodie Farmers class, students explore where food comes from and create delicious recipes. Six out of eight weeks are focused on the “foodie” aspect of the class, where we make something yummy while learning safe cooking practices. The other two weeks are centered on the “farmer” part of the class, where we practice gardening skills to cultivate our food. Each week of cooking starts with a ‘recipe of the day’ sheet that students can color and add to their personal cookbook, a collection they get to take home at the end of the session Please note, if your child has food allergies, we recommend choosing one of our other classes, as we do not offer substitute recipes for allergies in this program.

Trail Ramblers

Trail Ramblers is our more challenging, active movement class, primarily spent hiking Most of the class is spent off-site in Briones, where we educate students on safe hiking practices. After drop off, students will fill their water bottles and head out to explore . Along the way, they may also learn about maps, orienteering, and participate in group games.