Fire Circle is an intentional space for teens 13-17 to connect with one another, practice wilderness living skills, and be immersed in nature. Our exceptional mentors facilitate a safe space for sparking connection, inspiration, and community amongst teens.

EverWild mentors provide leadership, guidance, and support as teens are discovering their independence, pushing their edges, and creating lifelong friendships.

The benefit of mixed ages has been demonstrated throughout our youngest programs to our eldest. In a teen setting, readiness and awareness of the group’s needs are what inspires apprenticeship more so than length of time on this planet. This group setting provides the opportunity for all attendees to experience being the student and the apprentice in their own time and readiness.

EverWild mentors are trained through Wilderness Awareness School’s Coyote Mentoring. Our mentors are role models for your child, trusted leaders, and are often looked up to as magical wizards that know how to capture your child’s curiosity and engage them with their natural gifts. Nature will challenge your child as they take the long way through Los Angeles’ canyons, beaches, and wetlands to experience a journey all their own. Your child may often come home beaming from a day of excitement and riveting with stories, but when asked what they learned they will often find the answer difficult to grasp. This is a sign that they are fully immersed in an “invisible school”. With each class your child will expand their awareness and their understanding of the world around them. With nature as their teacher and alongside EverWild mentors, your child will go further into their experiences developing a deeper relationship with themselves, others, and the natural world with each adventure in the wild.

Our number one priority is your child’s physical and emotional safety. All mentors are required to be First Aid and CPR certified. We perform FBI background checks, professional, and personal background checks on all mentors prior to hire. There are several policies that we have put in place to support your child in safe exploration and risk-taking in a group setting. EverWild provides in-depth training of these policies and protocols and ongoing professional development opportunities to retain highly skilled mentors. We provide a low student to mentor ratio of 1:10 to ensure we are available to support your child’s needs in a group setting.

Learn more about EverWild mentors, administrators and founders here.

4:15pm-4:30pm Drop-off at Penmar Park (Lot closest to Lake St & Louella Ave)

4:30 Van leaves Penmar Park

5pm Hike to basecamp

5:10pm Fire Making & Council

5:30pm Game/Activity

6pm Dinner

6:45pm Skill Share

7:45pm Closing Circle - Storytelling, Music & Song

8:05pm Pack up & Hike out

8:15 Van travels to Penmar Park

8:45pm Pick up at Penmar Park (Lot closest to Lake St & Louella Ave)

There are several policies that we have put in place to support your child in safe exploration and risk-taking in a group setting. Read all of EverWild’s Policies & Protocols here.

Commonly Asked:

Cancellation Policy

EverWild is unable to provide refunds, makeups, or reschedule classes for cancellations. If EverWild cancels a class for any reason families who pay out of pocket will receive a 50% refund. We will do our best to work with our partnered charter schools to provide refunds for families utilizing charter school funds. EverWild is unable to provide refunds for any cancellations for any events or workshops

To cancel your monthly enrollment please contact our office (office hours M-Th, 8am-4pm) before the last working day of the month. We are unable to provide refunds when withdrawing mid-month. 

Sick Policy

You are the best judge of your child’s health, and we trust you will not bring a sick child to EverWild. However, if in the opinion of the Mentor, program manager or Director, your child is sick, we will call you to come and pick-up your child as soon as possible. Your child will be isolated from the other children until you arrive and will remain under the watch and care of EverWild staff. This policy is put in place to ensure the health and safety of your child, other children attending the program, and program staff.

The following criteria will be considered in determining if your child must be picked up early:

• a fever of 100 degrees or more

• inflammation of the eyes (excessive redness, glassy or discharge)

• vomiting

• more than one incidence of diarrhea or loose stool which is not contained within clothing

• communicable disease as defined by the Department of Health Services/Center for Disease Control

• unknown rash

• excessive nasal discharge, especially if yellow or greenish, since this indicates infection

• Pain (earache, cramps, headache, etc.)

If your child's symptoms are a result of allergies, we require a doctor's note confirming your child's allergies to help us differentiate when your child is displaying signs of illness or allergies.

If your child is sent home due to illness, they cannot return to EverWild until they have been free from symptoms for 24 hours without the use of a fever reducer. This is to allow your child ample time to recover and stop the spread of illness to the other children and staff.

After your child has been ill, it is important to adhere to the following guidelines when determining whether or not your child is ready to return to EverWild.

• Mood, appetite, behavior and activity are normal

• No fever for 24 hours without a fever reducer

• Antibiotics (if prescribed) have been used for a full 24 hours (48 hours in the case of strep)

• Vomiting, diarrhea cleared for 24 hours

• Frequent coughing, excessive nasal discharge resolved

• Pain (earache, cramps, headache, etc.) resolved

It is the responsibility of the parent to notify EverWild if your child has a communicable disease or infestation such as: measles, mumps, chicken pox, or head lice. A child may be readmitted without a statement from a physician only if the child has been absent for a period of time equal to the longest incubation period of the disease as specified by the Department of Health and Social Services.

Children returned to EverWild with signs of illness or communicable disease will be asked to return at a later time.

COVID-19 Policy

When experiencing a possible exposure, positive case, or when an individual develops symptoms of Covid-19 while at EverWild, we are required to follow the Decision Pathways.

$94 per Teen Fire Circle

Most children who attend EverWild are homeschooled through an online charter school by the time they turn 4.5, homeschooled through a Private School Affidavit, or are distance/online learning through their local school district. Families who are homeschooling generally enroll their children in EverWild no less than 2 days per week but up to 4 days/week while incorporating other enrichment programs into their child’s weekly schedule. To read more and to view a list of our partnered charter schools, visit our Homeschool Resource page.

Charter Schools & Funds:

EverWild’s Partnered Charter Schools:

• Blue Ridge Academy

• Heartland Charter School

• iLead Exploration Charter School

• Sage Oak Charter School

• Golden Valley Charter School

• Aveson Charter School

• Epic Charter School

• Elite Academic Academy

• Gorman Learning Network

• SunCoast Preparatory Academy

• Compass Charter School

Each charter school has its own set of guidelines when submitting for funds, Please be sure to speak to your charter teacher regarding enrollment in EverWild and Charter Fund use.

*iLEAD currently only allows enrollment in 1 day/week in classes that do not use a van for transportation.

*Compass Charter will cover the cost of classes using a van but will not cover the cost of transportation. Please contact our office to determine the cost of your child's enrollment without van transportation

Aveson Process

1. Parents pay out of pocket

2. Parents submit an invoice and reimbursement form to Aveson

Aveson contact for parents: Blanca Hernandez, blancahernandez@aveson.org, 626-797-1440 x160

How to pay using charter school funds:

Children enrolled in our partnered charter schools may use enrichment funds to offset the cost of classes.

1. Enroll through EverWild’s HiSawyer Registration system and at checkout, enter the promo code that matches the charter school your child is enrolled in.

• Charter Promo Codes: blueridgefunds, ileadfunds, sageoakfunds, heartlandfunds, goldenvalleyfunds, epicfunds, gormanfunds, suncoastfunds, compasscharterfunds

2. After enrolling, submit a Purchase Order (PO) through your charter school for the cost of EverWild tuition (this is the amount deducted from your HiSawyer order). To ensure we receive your funds by the 1st, we suggest submitting a PO 30 days in advance. If you are unsure of the cost of your child’s tuition please contact our office. If you need help with submitting a PO please contact your charter school teacher.

Monthly Billing automatically schedules payments to be charged on the 1st of each month. To pay with funds, EverWild must receive a PO 7 working days prior to the 1st of the month. We can not guarantee refunds for late PO’s.

Have questions about your enrollment and billing? Please contact our registrar office 424-210-7077 or email info@everwildla.com.

Experiencing an issue with HiSawyer? click here to contact them.

Scholarships

We believe in creating opportunities for all children to benefit from meaningful experiences in nature.

We know families who are seeking support are often over burdened by additional work to receive it so we are happy to provide an application that is based on the honor system, not on additional fees and third party processes. Scholarship amounts are based on EverWild’s scholarship fund availability, financial need, the household income and family size information according to the EverWild HUD 2023-2024 chart (located below), and additional details provided in your application.

Visit Charter Funds & Scholarship for more information and to apply.

• Proper Fitting Backpack (over both shoulders)

• Water (two water bottles in warmer weather)

• Dinner & Snack

• Change of clothes

• Swimsuit & Packable Towel (Turkish/Micro towel)

• Sun hat & Sunscreen

• Shoes your teen is comfortable wearing outdoors (hiking boots, crocs, vans slip ons, Teva/Chocos, NO FLIP FLOPS). Barefoot hiking is OK but oftentimes the ground is too hot or uncomfortable and shoes are always good to have.

• Emergency Poncho

• Waterproof bag for wet clothes/towel (old plastic bag)

• Weather appropriate layers (rain jacket & pants, rain boots, cold weather jacket, warm socks, etc.). Weather may change rapidly please prepare by packing all layer types.

• Medication in a plastic bag with the teen's name on it. (Parents must give Medication to the mentor at the beginning of the day and are responsible for collecting it at the end of the day).

• Bandana

• Journal & writing utensil

• Bushcraft knife (we reccommend a Morakniv 4-inch stiff blade with sheath)

• Easy to carry Blanket for keeping warm when the sun goes down

• Surfboards and boogie boards are welcome and are optional during activity time.

• Battery/solar powered Lantern, headlamp, or flashlight (no propane)

August 26th - Orientation Day

August 28th - 31st Mentor Training

September 5th First Day of School Year Programs

October 9th Indigenous People’s Day (no class)

October 6th - 9th Coyote Mentoring for Nature Based Leaders

November 20th - 24th Fall Break (no class)

December 18th - January 5th Winter Break (no class)

January 2nd - 7th Art of Mentoring for Nature Based Leaders

March 25th - 29th Spring Break (no class)

May 31st Last Day of School Year Programs

TBD - Annual Year-End Celebration for ‘23-’24 Enrolled Families