ABOUT US
The Petaluma Wildlife Museum is the first and only high school student-run natural history museum the nation. Our student docents give conservation-themed tours of our facility and small animal zoo to children from visiting local elementary schools. In addition, our docents bring our Animal Ambassadors to community events and reptiles shows, travel to local schools and organizations to provide conservation themed workshops/presentations, and run a weekly Open House at our facility for the general public in an effort to spread our message of the importance of biodiversity and wildlife conservation.
Our program is a collaboration between Petaluma City Schools -which pays the salary of the Instructor of Classes as well as owns the grounds and building in which our exhibits are housed- and a 501(c)3 non-profit composed of adult community volunteers who help raise funds for everything else: field trips for our student docents throughout the school year, supplies for building and exhibit maintenance, and supplies for the daily husbandry of our small animal zoo. Our functional staff (with the exception of our Animal Care Technician) is composed completely of 10th-12th grade high school students enrolled in the Museum Management course at Petaluma High and our taxidermy, artifacts, and (for the most part) animals have been acquired through community donations.
We are located 50 miles north of San Francisco on the campus of Petaluma High School in Northern California and would love to share our love of wildlife with you. Make a reservation for your elementary school class or come visit us with your family and friends at one of our Saturday Open House events, 11am-3pm. We hope to see you, soon!
The Petaluma Wildlife Museum is the first and only high school student-run natural history museum the nation. Our student docents give conservation-themed tours of our facility and small animal zoo to children from visiting local elementary schools. In addition, our docents bring our Animal Ambassadors to community events and reptiles shows, travel to local schools and organizations to provide conservation themed workshops/presentations, and run a weekly Open House at our facility for the general public in an effort to spread our message of the importance of biodiversity and wildlife conservation.
Our program is a collaboration between Petaluma City Schools -which pays the salary of the Instructor of Classes as well as owns the grounds and building in which our exhibits are housed- and a 501(c)3 non-profit composed of adult community volunteers who help raise funds for everything else: field trips for our student docents throughout the school year, supplies for building and exhibit maintenance, and supplies for the daily husbandry of our small animal zoo. Our functional staff (with the exception of our Animal Care Technician) is composed completely of 10th-12th grade high school students enrolled in the Museum Management course at Petaluma High and our taxidermy, artifacts, and (for the most part) animals have been acquired through community donations.
We are located 50 miles north of San Francisco on the campus of Petaluma High School in Northern California and would love to share our love of wildlife with you. Make a reservation for your elementary school class or come visit us with your family and friends at one of our Saturday Open House events, 11am-3pm. We hope to see you, soon!
